Mount Jordan is a non-descript peak at the far western end of the Goat Range near Nakusp. As such, it falls into the somewhat amorphous list of West Kootenay peaks that I have, for some inexplicable reason, decided to climb. This project - climbing all the peaks of the West Kootenay - has been proceeding in fits and starts for the past ten years. Frequently, I abandon the list to climb or ski in other areas, then, in a burst of enthusiasm, I revisit the list and check off a few more peaks. I was currently in the throes of one of my enthusiastic periods and the previous day Doug and I had skied up Mount Kuskanax, another relatively unknown peak that nonetheless is on the list.
We planned to ski up Mount Jordan via a logging road that switchbacks to 1350 metres on the south side. There were various options for getting to the section of road that actually gained elevation. One option was to start from the Wensley Creek Road near Box Lake, the other was to navigate a confusing series of roads from the Wensley Creek Cross Country Ski Area. We chose the latter option as being shorter (should we manage to navigate the perplexing morass of unmapped roads in the area correctly) and involving slightly less elevation gain.
We had a couple of maps, one a BC Basemap and the other a snippet of the cross-country trail map that eluded to some of the other labyrinthine roads criss-crosssing the area, but neither map showed all the roads correctly. There were two critical junctions where short-cut roads could be taken, and we managed to miss both of them. The first resulted in us skiing a long flat hairpin bend that doubled back on itself and brought us out perhaps 20 metres higher than we had started. The second was similar but on a larger scale. An extra two kilometres of skiing gained us perhaps 100 metres of elevation and left us at a prominent junction with no idea where we actually were.
Doug wanted to go right, I wanted to go left. We went left, trundled back to the west gaining elevation at a slow pace, and finally came to a three way junction where both the map and the altimeter actually agreed and we finally worked out where we were and, more importantly, where we should have been. From this point on, we simply plodded up a few switchbacks to where the road forks for the last time below the south ridge. As we had now been going for a few hours, we stopped for lunch in the sun. The final 500 metres to the top took only an hour, far less time than the previous 600 metres of elevation gain, even with wet, heavy, sticky snow.
By dint of moving here and there, we managed to get reasonable views from the top. The inevitable spring squalls were moving over the bigger mountains to our east and west, and Upper Arrow Lake was looking stormy. Skiing down was easy, except for the cement like quality of the new snow in the sun, as the trees were open and angle modest. The road provided almost perfect conditions, fast sliding on a firm surface. At three way junction, we took the correct option - a narrow road disappearing through a dense cedar forest, and were back at the parking area within an hour of leaving the top, and a good 15 minutes before a rain squall hit.
In deference to Doug, I should point out that all navigation errors were mine, and he had correctly picked out the roads we should have followed. I bought him a big Easter Bunny to make up for all the extra skiing.
Mount Jordan view
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