On Aug 11 Peter VE6FPV made the first activation of Mount Assiniboine in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
The peak is known as “The Matterhorn of the Rockies” and is a spectacular peak on the Great Divide, the border of Alberta and BC.
It is remote, requiring a full day’s hike to approach the base of the mountain and is an alpine climb with grade 5 climbing, snow and ice.
Peter posted a number of excellent photos on the sotl.as web-site.
Please enjoy them, and join me in congratulating Peter on a marvellous activation.
Ian VE6IXD
Yes, that is DEFINITELY a spectacular activation! And lovey shots of the climb. What a beautiful day.
That’s a real mountaineer’s route. I think I’d be defeated at the wet log crossing over the raging stream.
Congratulations on climbing Mt. Assiniboine AND doing an activation!
I did some alpine climbing in the Canadian Rockies in the early 80s. I remember a couple quotes from the guidebook.
“If you don’t know who you are, the Canadian Rockies is not the place to find out.”
and
“When you reach a summit in the Canadian Rockies, you are only halfway there.”
Regarding the “halfway there” quote, some of the descents were more terrifying than the climb because you didn’t have a rope on and it was loose and steep.
Thanks Peter for posting Ian’s dramatic activation. I know there are taller peaks and maybe some even more challenging but this one gets my vote for Activation of the Year 2025.
My congratulations go to Peter for this fine activation. Mt. Assiniboine, the “Matterhorn of the Rockies” is a challenging climb and a challenging place to do an activation. Photo of Mt Assiniboine attached for reference.
…the comparison is triggered by the 10 Points you get for some 1050m high hill in the Black Forest and for the dufourspiitze. I think the allocation of sota points is quite questionable and leads to unnecessary burning of fuel by point collecting hams.
I agree about the burning of fuel and SOTA points. In this regard, SOTA is a very environmentally unfriendly activity if you want to earn points activating summits. You get points only once per per summit so you have to drive farther and farther from home to keep getting points
however, this is WAY off topic of the brilliant activation of Assiniboine
