Canadian Rockies’ 11,000ers

[COMPLETED 58/58 in August 2020]…

The 11,000ers of the Canadian Rockies is one of the most aesthetic lists out there. There are three editions of Bill Corbett’s books dedicated to the climbing history and routes of this group of peaks. This is also considered as one of the most difficult and dangerous lists at least in the scope of North America. There are only a handful of these that can be done without mountaineering skills and at least a dozen that boast significant objective hazards that can easily kill. One needs to be proficient in a variety of skills from 5th class choss to steep snow to skiing and winter camping, as well as possessing a reliable high clearance, 4×4 vehicle. Additionally, the timing of the 11,000ers is generally very tricky with the climbing window no more than a couple weeks per year, and in some particular years such that 2019 and 2020, the window for peaks like Mt. Alberta never opened.

How many 11,000ers are there?

The original list contained 54 peaks but the 3rd edition of Corbett’s book added 4 extra peaks. The 4 additional ones aren’t the most difficult (far from being the deciding factors), so in my opinion whether you choose the original 54 list or the new 58 list doesn’t really matter in the bigger picture. Two of the 4 added ones – Mt. Cromwell and Mt. Murchison are recently disputed as measurements done in 2019 had shown them as marginally under the 11,000 feet (3353 m) elevation. Here I would give credit to all who have finished the original list of 54 but I do think you should climb at least Warren and Crown if your quest happened (happens) in the recent era, making a list of 56. It’s also worth noting that the concept of prominence never seemed to have caught in the Canadian side so there is no prominence cut-off for this elevation-based list. There are quite a few peaks that have absurdly low prominence such as North Victoria, Goodsir Center and Lunette Peak. The good thing is that none of these can be considered as “easy” from peak-bagging perspective so they aren’t easy “add-on” from the main peak. You still have to work really hard and they are definitely legit and worthy climbs.

How many have finished this list?

As mentioned above, if you have finished the original 54-peak list then I consider it’s done. Adding the 4 bonus peaks is recommended but not absolutely needed, especially as they were added only a couple years ago, when there were already a dozen finishers. Two of the 4 extras were even disputed to be under the 11,000 foot mark.

(The information isn’t complete. And if I somehow missed anyone then please let me know).

  1. Don Forest – Finished in 1979 on Lunette Peak
  2. Rick Collier (58) – Finished in 1994, and climbed the 4 extras later. First to finish self-propelled
  3. Bill Corbett – Finished in 2002 on Twins Tower
  4. Forbes MacDonald – Finished in 2003 on Mt. Alberta
  5. Roman Pachovsky – Finished in 2003 on Mt. Alberta (together with Forbes)
  6. Nancy Hansen – Finished in 2003 on Mt. Forbes. First female finisher. Was once the fastest in 7.5 years.
  7. Jason Thompson (58) – Finished in 2005 on Mt. Alexandra, then finished the 4 extras in 2016 on Mt. Murchison.
  8. Colin Jones (58) – Finished in 2007, and finished the 4 extras in 2017
  9. Andy Evans (58) – Finished in 2010 on Recondite Peak, then the 4 extras in 2017 on Mt. Murchison
  10. Robin Sandau (58) – Finished in 2011 and then the extras in 2017 together with Andy Evans.
  11. Nathan Bernadet (58) – Finished in 2013 on Recondite Peak, then finished the extras in 2015. All solo and self-propelled after decommission of Sullivan FSR
  12. Helen Sovdat (58) – Finished in 2018. Female #2
  13. Dean Lister (58) – Finished in 2018 on Tusk Peak. Longest time span in 39 years.
  14. Robb Schnell (58) – Finished in 2018 on Tsar Mountain. Shared heli staging area with Dean’s group but climbed one day later than Dean
  15. Mark Klassen – Finished in 2018 on Recondite Peak. First to climb all as a guide!
  16. Ben Nearingburg (56) – Finished in 2018 on Tsar Mountain, all self-propelled after decommission of Sullivan FSR. Fastest time in 5.5 years
  17. Steven Song (58) – Finished in 2020 on Lyell 4. Youngest finisher at 27 years old.
  18. Roy Stadlwieser (58) – Finished in 2021 on Mt. Alberta
  19. Steven Noel (58) – Finished in August 2024 on Mt. Clemenceau. All self-propelled after decommission of Sullivan FSR.
  20. Rick Thiessen (56) – Finished in July 2025 on Whitehorn Mountain.
  21. Brad Vonau (58) – Finished in August 2025 on Whitehorn Mountain.
  22. Lida Frydrychova (56) – Finished in August 2025 on Hungabee Mountain. Female #3

Which are the hardest?

It seems like most would agree that Mt. Alberta and Mt. Robson are the most difficult from nearly all aspects. In addition to the shear technical challenges of these two beasts the timing game of these is by no doubt the most difficult in the 11,000ers family. For amateur peak-baggers like myself to reach the summits of Mt. Alberta and Mt. Robson is only possible via the easiest route in the easiest timing window, and in some years the window would never open. The Goodsirs, particularly the south tower are considered by some as the most “dangerous” thank to the worst rock quality and the sustained high-notch scrambling on the terrain. From glacier-travel perspective, The Helmet has the most challenge navigation that resembles terrains in the Himalayas. From the access perspective the decommission of Sullivan Gorge Bridge had made Clemenceau, Tusk and Tsar extremely remote and require expedition styled climbing, or by using helicopter support but such could be difficult to coordinate and definitely very expensive. For a number of years it was thought that Tsar Mountain was the hardest of these three if not using air support but thank to Foresty Forest’s exploration in 2023 a new “standard way” had been established, now making Clemenceau and Tusk being the hardest to access. Among those working on the list after the decommission of the key Sullivan River FSR, only two (Ben Nearingburg and Nathan Bernadat) had climbed the three remote ones without air support and before Tsar’s new “beta”. Steven Noel had finished in 2024, also without air support but took advantage of the new established route on Tsar. I’m not a “human powered enthusiast” by any mean but I do think these people’s feats deserve special mentioning. It’s like climbing Everest with and without oxygen, which are 5 times different in terms of overall difficulty. Nathan’s 2013 solo ski from Fortress Lake, as well as Ben/Liam’s 2018 traverse to climb Tsar Mountain will remain as some of the grandest achievements in the Canadian Rockies’ mountaineering history.

My sequence of finishing the list:

  1. Mount Temple   2011-09-24 alone
  2. Mount Hector   2013-03-29 with Ben Nearingburg, Mike Mitchell and Grant Myers
  3. Mount Athabasca   2013-07-16 with Ben Nearingburg, Grant Myers and Ken Harris
  4. Mount Brazeau   2013-07-24 with Shaun Vincent and Clayton Dunham
  5. Mount Cline   2013-08-01 with Liam Harrap
  6. Mount Edith Cavell   2013-08-05 with Grant Myers and Mike Mitchell
  7. Mount Assiniboine   2013-08-14 with Dan Kim
  8. Recondite Peak   2013-08-17 with Ben Nearingburg, Eric Coulthard and Vern Dewit
  9. Mount Willingdon   2013-08-31 with Ben Nearingburg, Eric Coulthard and Vern Dewit
  10. Crown Peak (Willingdon Center)    2013-08-31 with Ben Nearingburg, Eric Coulthard and Vern Dewit
  11. Mount Andromeda   2014-04-13 with Ben Nearingburg
  12. Mount Joffre   2014-06-21 with Ben Nearingburg and Vern Dewit
  13. Mount Victoria North Peak    2014-07-09 alone
  14. Mount Lefroy   2014-07-10 with Ben Nearingburg
  15. Mount King George    2014-08-09 with Ben Nearingburg, Eric Coulthard and Vern Dewit
  16. Mount Harrison   2014-08-30 with Ben Nearingburg, Eric Coulthard and Vern Dewit
  17. Mount Woolley   2014-09-06 with Ben Nearingburg and Vern Dewit
  18. Diadem Peak   2014-09-06 with Ben Nearingburg and Vern Dewit
  19. Mount Alexandra   2014-09-27 with Ben Nearingburg and Vern Dewit
  20. Mount Columbia   2015-04-18 with Ben Nearingburg and Vern Dewit
  21. Snow Dome   2015-04-19 with Ben Nearingburg
  22. Stutfield Peak   2015-05-08 with Ben Nearingburg, Vern Dewit and Kevin Barton
  23. Mount Cromwell  2015-05-08 with Ben Nearingburg, Vern Dewit and Kevin Barton
  24. Stutfield NE2  2015-05-08 with Ben Nearingburg and Kevin Barton
  25. South Twin  2015-05-09 with Ben Nearingburg, Vern Dewit and Kevin Barton
  26. West Twin  2015-05-09 with Ben Nearingburg
  27. North Twin  2015-05-09 with Ben Nearingburg and Kevin Barton
  28. Twins Tower  2015-05-09 with Ben Nearingburg and Kevin Barton
  29. Mount Bryce  2015-05-18 with Ben Nearingburg
  30. Mount Forbes   2015-06-01 with Ben Nearingburg
  31. Lyell 3 (Ernest Peak)   2015-06-26 with Ben Nearingburg and Vern Dewit
  32. Lyell 2 (Edward Peak)    2015-06-26 with Ben Nearingburg and Vern Dewit
  33. Lyell 1 (Rudolph Peak)   2015-06-26 with Ben Nearingburg and Vern Dewit
  34. Lyell 5 (Christian Peak)    2015-06-27 with Ben Nearingburg and Vern Dewit
  35. Mount Victoria   2015-07-04 with Ben Nearingburg and Ferenc Jacso
  36. Mount Huber   2015-07-04 with Ben Nearingburg and Ferenc Jacso
  37. Mount Sir Douglas   2015-07-19 with Ben Nearingburg and Vern Dewit
  38. Mount Murchison   2015-08-01 alone
  39. Resplendent Mountain   2015-08-27 with Robb Schnell
  40. Mount King Edward   2017-05-29 alone
  41. Mount Robson   2017-07-18 with Ben Nearingburg and Ferenc Jacso
  42. Deltaform Mountain   2017-07-27 with Ben Nearingburg
  43. Hungabee Mountain   2017-08-03 with Ben Nearingburg
  44. Whitehorn Mountain   2017-08-10 with Steven Noel
  45. Mount Alberta   2017-09-06 with Robb Schnell, Blair Piggot and Jim Everard
  46. The Helmet   2018-06-16 with Ben Nearingburg
  47. Mount Bryce Center Peak   2018-07-27 with Ben Nearingburg
  48. Tsar Mountain   2018-08-06 with heli support, with Robb Schnell, Rafal K., Jeff Nazarchuk and Lyle Rotter
  49. Mount Goodsir North Tower   2018-08-14 with Michel Beauchemin
  50. Mount Goodsir Center Peak   2018-08-14 with Michel Beauchemin
  51. Mount Goodsir South Tower   2018-08-15 with Michel Beauchemin
  52. Mount Fryatt   2018-08-21 with Mike Mitchell
  53. Mount Kitchener   2019-04-21 with Alan Blair, Mel Olson, Eric Gilbertson, Natalia Frolova, Antonie Harris and Tom
  54. Mount Clemenceau   2019-08-05 with heli support, with Oakley Werenka
  55. Tusk Peak   2019-08-07 with heli support, with Oakley Werenka
  56. Mount Warren   2020-08-05 with Steven Noel and Oakley Werenka
  57. Lunette Peak   2020-08-23 with Steven Noel, Yanick Jean-legros, Jesse Scotland, Noah Macdonald and Natalia Frolova
  58. Lyell 4 (Walter Peak)   2020-08-26 with Steven Noel, Austin Goodine, Yanick Jean-legros and Jesse Scotland