Quebec woman getting closer to Mount Logan peak in solo trek
Climber battling cold and snow in her gruelling ascent
MONTREAL — A Quebecer trying to be the first woman to get to the top of Canada’s highest mountain in a solo trek says she’s hopeful of achieving the feat in the coming days.
It hasn’t been easy so far for Monique Richard, who has had to deal with harsh weather, equipment woes and delays in her ascent of the 5,959-metre Mount Logan in Yukon’s Kluane National Park.
Parks Canada says there is no record in its data stretching back to the late 1800s of any woman having reached the summit in a solo climb.
The Montreal mountaineer, who began the trek May 15, finds herself at one of the camps along the King’s Trench route, about 800 metres from the summit, and waiting for a window of good weather.
“Tonight, I sleep at 5,144 metres,” Richard wrote on Tuesday in a brief exchange with The Canadian Press. “Wow! 815 metres to go. Awesome. I am so lucky. Tired. Burned face but still smiling.”
Weather was always going to be a major factor: winter conditions exist year round and temperatures regularly drop to -40 C, sometimes even during peak climbing season. Storms can last days or weeks and winds in excess of 160 kilometres an hour are common.
This climbing season, Parks Canada says the weather has come advertised.
“It has been somewhat unseasonably cold, with mountaineering groups reporting -30 C temperatures even at this time of year, but this is not far from normal,” the department said Wednesday.
Parks Canada warns all climbers the three biggest obstacles to reaching the summit are the remoteness, the weather and the altitude.
Richard described her first night on the mountain as “weird and uncomfortable.”
Various issues have arisen since — a torn tent and a stove that wouldn’t work until it suddenly did. She was also stuck at the second camp for nearly a week because of whiteout conditions.
On Tuesday, she said she slept “above the clouds” in a bivouac — a temporary camp without any cover.
Richard’s agent, Francois Masse, keeps tabs on her every few hours and said she’s in good spirits.
“She’s had two whiteouts since she flew out and that was her biggest fear,” Masse said Wednesday. “But it’s full speed ahead.”
A pair of Quebec climbers are several hundred metres behind her and give her a measure of reassurance, Masse said.
Climbing in ice fields is fraught with challenges like crevices, avalanches and serac fall — glacial ice that can fall without warning.
Before leaving, the experienced climber, who has ascended some of the world’s most challenging peaks, estimated the entire trek would take 22 days.
On Wednesday, she planned to secure her route to the summit with a simple plan to the top before beginning a slow, two-day trek down.
“Take secure routes,” Richard wrote. “Rest, lots of rest. 25 steps and rest. Having the time of my life. The mountain is all mine. No one around.”