Oasis Mountain

April 26, 2018

2561m

Whistler / Garibaldi Provincial Park, BC

Oasis Mountain is a broad summit at the headwaters of Ure Creek guarding the toe of Weart Glacier. It’s in a remote area behind the popular Wedgemount Lake but not extremely difficult to access. The standard approach route goes up and over Wedge/Weart col from Wedgemount Lake Trail and takes one day. The ascent of Oasis Mountain is an easy stroll from Oasis/Eureka col but to get there one needs to traverse across glaciers. For die-hard peak-baggers who dare to dash that far this peak should be ascended in a combination with other objectives nearby, and that’s how Alex and I did. We ascended Mt. Neal, Eureka Mountain and Peggy Peak on the previous day and camped at Eureka/Peggy col.

Mt. Neal to Ure Peak peak-bagging slam.

Given the warm temperature in the forecast we opted to wake up and cook breakfast at dawn, and while waiting for sunrise we would break camp. By the time the sunrise show was over we were just about to go. The descent down Weart Glacier was very easy on firm snow and in short time we were down to the flats below “Eureka Couloir”. We found a nice rock platform to drop the heavy packs and swapped for the day-packs. From there it was again, and easy snowshoe stroll to Eureka/Oasis col albeit a little steep towards the end.

The moon and Wedge Mountain at 4:30 am…

Starting to see the morning horizon over Gunsight Peak

Wedge Mountain catching its first bit of alpenglow

Wedge Mountain and Lesser Wedge Mountain

Alpenglow on Mt. Weart

The north slopes of Peggy Peak from our camp

Alpenglow on the east face of Eureka Mountain

Me soaking in the views. Photo by Alex R.

Sunrise behind Mt. Neal

Another photo looking towards Gunsight Peak (In-SHUCK-ch Mountain)

Another photo of Wedge Mountain and Lesser Wedge on alpenglow

A zoomed-in view of The Owls

Mt. Weart and The Owls

Wedge Mtn. and Lesser Wedge Mtn. from the upper Weart Glacier

A closer look at the mysterious Lesser Wedge Mountain

Alex now ascending underneath the North Face of Eureka Mtn.

Alex snowshoeing up with Eureka Mountain’s north glacier as a backdrop

At Eureka/Oasis col now, looking back across Weart Glacier

There was one narrow stretch to traverse over on the connecting ridge as well as one steep roll that was 35-40 degrees but short-lived. We kept snowshoes on for the whole time. After that steep roll the rest of the ascent via south ridge was a no-brainer. It was super scenic though that we stopped to take a lot of photos.

Ahead is that short narrow stretch on the connecting ridge

Alex balancing the narrow arete with snowshoes still on

The north face and NE Ridge of Eureka Mountain

“Peggy Peak” behind some unnamed gendarmes

Alex snowshoeing up the upper south slopes of Oasis Mountain

Alex plodding up

Me plodding up Oasis Mountain’s south slopes. Photo by Alex R.

A full show of Weart Glacier

Partial Summit Panorama from Oasis Mountain. Click to view large size.

Looking over a sub-summit towards Joffre Group on the skyline

A closer look at Mt. Moe, our next objective

Wedge Mountain and Lesser Wedge Mountain

Looking deeply down the Lillooet River Valley

Another shot of “Peggy Peak”, our previous objective

The north face of Mt. James Turner

A closer look at Lesser Wedge Mtn. with peaks on Spearhead Range behind

Mt. Neal was our first objective in this trip

A wider view looking down Chaos Creek into Lillooet Lake Valley

Mt. James Turner and “Peggy Peak” and the immense glaciers around

Me on the summit of Oasis Mountain

Again the summit was cold and windy despite the forecast so after a while we reluctantly started the descent. For the south ridge descent I opted to boot-pack as the snow was still firm enough. That steep roll required us to strap snowshoes back on and down-climb facing into the slope. The rest of the descent back to our heavy packs was uneventful and then it’s time to plod across Weart Glacier to aim for Mt. Moe.