Scrambling Blanshard Needle in Golden Ears

Blanshard Needle
May 25, 2025
Distance: 11.92 km (GPX)
Elevation gained: 1,749m
Highest elevation: 1,545m
9h47m C2C

Trip Report:

Snagged a day pass two days ahead with no issues, and there were park operators checking passes when we showed up at 730am.

We followed the standard route from West Canyon up to Alouette. Refilled water at the Alouette/Evans junction, but there was still plenty more chances for another km or two. Consistent snow started around 1100m, and it was sloppy but held together well enough. Definitely trickier navigating through the boulders, so we opted to climb around the main footpath a couple of times to avoid big postholes.

From the top of Alouette, we all put on spikes and kickstepped backwards down the steep slope. Bringing an ice ax and being able to glissade down may be worth it for some. We ended up with a tiny bit of bushwhacking to the base of Blanshard. Any flagging never seemed to be visible until we were already passing it.

After looking up at the first pitch and seeing the bulge crux, we agreed that we were comfortable climbing without roping up. While the move at the bulge caught our eyes from the bottom, there were plenty of great hand holds and some high feet. The first pitch was pretty solid rock, and while the climbing difficulty eases off after the first pitch, the rock gets looser with a couple of small scree sections as well. There were also a few sections with veggie belays. Crossing the notch from the sub-peak to the peak had a little exposure but felt pretty comfy.

Great views of the surrounding mountains and nice to get eyes on the Edge traverse line from the peak, but we didn’t stick around too long because the wind had picked up. Descending Blanshard was fairly straightforward, and we passed a lovely human named Richard who was casually and quickly strolling his way up.

At the top of the first pitch, we all agreed that while it was nice to take all our climbing gear out for a long walk, we didn’t feel the need to rope up here either. I found the crux bulge a little thoughtful to downclimb and went slowly but didn’t regret keeping the rope packed away. (All three of us rock climb regularly, YMMV.)

Heading back up our kicksteps on the slope to Alouette was fairly solid, and then it was back down Alouette and over the boulder field. Probably only have about another week before the snow is going to be too messy and unconsolidated to want to deal with.

Overall, a very fun day out and left most of the group chomping at the bit to do the full traverse!