With only one day of school behind me, I missed the next one to climb. After doing the Spearhead the previous weekend, I was not looking forward to the coming semester. My dad was hoping to get out and do a couple of big training days before an upcoming work trip. I jumped on the opportunity to mountaineer. One of the mountains that was not climbed from my Logan training list was Joffre Peak. I had summited Matier (the next mountain over) and loved going to/near Joffre park. We would ascend via Cerise Creek, as we had been on the other approach and we knew it would get busy at the lakes. My dad decided on the East ridge, it is low class 5 climbing. We reached the trail head on the Duffy lake road at 7:30am. The trail leading to Kieth’s hut was fun and a good warm up. While on that trail my dad realized that he had forgotten our rope at home. We would continue up as there was nothing else to do. Reaching the hut, my dad entered and found a static rope that would be not great but would be okay for the climb. Having a rope made me feel much safer. It had been smoky in Pemberton for most of the summer. We were hoping that it would clear up a bit, as it was expected for the weather to change. As we ascended the wide grassy ridge, the smog did dissipate slightly, although not as much as we hoped.
Looking across at the surrounding glaciers was amazing. As we moved up, our route was looking down on a glacier as well. It was so cool to see Joffre from the other side, as I had spent so much time in the park. We reached rock which alternated with snow patches for about an hour. The rocks weren’t very loose and the grade wasn’t too steep. The higher we went up the steeper it got.
Eventually we arrived at the point were there would be on and off vertical climbing(without snow). We tied into the rope and kept moving up. I was sure glad we had found a rope from there on up. The handholds were often loose and our boots were big. This was pretty slow moving, as I hadn’t done this type of mountaineering for over a year. In the last weeks of last summer my dad and I summited Mt. Sloan, Mount Wedge, Mt. Matier and Mt. Marriott. That was an incredible month. We reached a section of steep snow and put on our crampons and took out axes. This part reminded me of Wedge. Near the top of Wedge there is a section of steep snow on a ridge though it was much longer than the Joffre one, and was closer to the top. Going up this was fun. I liked the movements, repetitive but important. 
At the top off this we crossed over to a short but steep section that lead to the rocks. When I stepped onto the backside of the snow patch my crampons didn’t hold. I slid 10 feet and was caught by the rope, though I was just above the rocks. It was bit nerve wracking but it didn’t faze me because the consequences were low there, I hadn’t been in any real danger. We took off our crampons and returned to steep rock. In turns we would quickly ascend to the next ledge. It was weird to climb like this for me, hand holds like rock climbing but wearing big clumsy boots. It is so cool how many different techniques, styles and disciplines make up mountaineering. How many skills work to gather to get you to the top of a mountain. We reached a bolder field that wasn’t steep. We untied and I continued up. My dad walked around and tried to find the best descent route for when we come back down. He said he usually slides down a steep slope of snow, but that it had high consequences. I hiked up the rocks and reached the ridge when he caught up to me again.
Moving upwards for a few more minutes we reached a face we would need to down climb. I went first and it took me way too long. I didn’t trust my feet at all and was reverse chin-uping for a while. When I reached the central couloir my dad descended 4 times faster than I had. We did some more climbing and reached the crux. A few very exposed moves above the Aussie coulior. I traversed it without thinking much, but the last move took me some time. It was the same thing with needing great hand holds and sticking with my feet.
Finding myself on the summit ridge the view was incredible. The Matier glacier was uncovered(without snow) and looking at our previous ascent route was so cool. When we had climbed it a year ago there had been snow. Now the crevasses smirked at us as we pushed through the wind up to the summit. Looking around at Cayoosh, Matier, Slaylok and Marriott it was awesome to look at mountains that I had climbed before, how close such amazing mountains were to each other, and how close to my home they are. It had taken us 6 hours to get here, it would be a long day as we knew the descent could take as long as the ascent.
Down climbing to the bolder field was uneventful. It didn’t take us too long and we then split from our ascent route. We walked down fairly steep grassy and rocky patches for about and hour. Our pace was a bit slow, but not so much to worry. My dad pointed out the notch that lead to the lower snow patch we would descend. At the top it looked very steep. I had not down climbed on steep snow like that before. Putting on my crampons I was scared. The slope dropped off and I couldn’t see what was below it. On the snow my dad showed me how to be the most effective. I stuck the pick and the shaft of my ax into the snow at the same time(a pistol grip). The fingers of my other hand just grabbed the snow each step. My hands got very cold, but I had practice with using cold hands. For the first 10 minutes I was pretty cautious. As the time went I gained confidence and we spend up. It was just a pattern. The large sun cups did make even footsteps a little hard, but I was tied to my dad the whole time. I stopped once to warm up my hands and it hurt. As the blood returned to my hands it brought an aching pain that made me grimace. Once we neared the bottom I was in a good mood. The temperature around us was nice and all we had left to do was hike down.
Leaving the snow behind, we descended a boulder field that lead to a trail. Passing the cabin, my feet started to hurt. My big toes the most, this happens on most trips and all longish day trips. As we worked our way down I could also feel my legs, but I love the feeling of my legs being tired. Going down the trail seemed to take 3 times as long as hiking up it. I thought that we were so much closer than we were. It kept dragging on. We passed many groups of wasps and we finally were at the logging road. Walking along the flat was a very nice break for my feet, ankles and legs. As we started to hear the highway I was sure we were only 5 minute away, but 30 minutes later we stood at the car. Without a snack in the car, I ate my remaining bar and gulped down water. It had been an awesome day and I was already dreading the school I had to attend the following day.