Have you ever climbed a mountain but no longer retain any memory of that day? I know of climbers who have forgotten parts of a climb, and that’s certainly understandable, but to have no memory at all of an entire climb? I didn’t think that’d be possible, but guess what? – it has happened to me.

With 57 years of climbing and more than 2,700 peaks under my belt, I could easily understand drawing a blank on some of them. Surprisingly, in spite of my aging brain, I can honestly say that I can recall some of the details of all of my peaks, as unlikely as that may seem to those of you who are not climbers. With one exception.

Ross Lillie is someone with whom I climbed many years ago in the Atlantis of my youth, back in British Columbia. Our claim to fame is the first ascent of Robertson Peak, an ultra-prominence summit in BC, back in February of 1978. Here’s a link to the story of that climb.

The First Ascent of Robertson Peak

Just yesterday, Ross contacted me and said it was the 41st anniversary of our climb of Pinecone Peak. Say what? I told him that I was stumped, that I couldn’t remember anything about that climb. He told me a few details, but it still wasn’t ringing any bells. It sounded like it took place in a beautiful area, and should be something I’d remember, but nope – nothing. So, I decided I’d do a short write-up of the climb, but virtually all of it is based on Ross’s memory, his photos and his detailed notes. He’s the one who deserves all the credit for this – I’m simply the one who cobbled it together in story form, so let’s begin.

It was September 24th of 1978. There were 4 of us that day – Ross, his wife Sonja, their friend Marilyn and myself (or so I’m told!). Ross and Sonja picked Marilyn up in Vancouver around 6:30 AM, and me at some other location in the city a bit later. In Ross’s Land Rover, we headed up the Squamish Highway, and just before the town of Squamish we turned on to the Mamquam River Road. The main road at that time headed east and then followed the curve in the river to the south, finally ending in the highest logging slash.

We left the truck at 9:30 AM and proceeded up the climbers’ trail (marked by flagging tape) and finally arrived at Knothole Lake by 11:15 AM. We stopped for a brief lunch before bidding the ladies goodbye (they had decided to wait for us there). The day had a high overcast with a ceiling about 7,000 feet. Ross and I headed up the southwest ridge of Pinecone Peak (6,650 feet) through fresh snow which was a foot deep on the summit. It was 1:30 PM when we arrived, made a short stop, then descended the east face to join the intervening ridge between Pinecone Peak and the un-named summit to the northeast.

We were to try the south ridge of our second peak, but were cut off by a large gap. We then left our packs and dropped down the east side of the ridge, traversed rockslides and went up the east face through thick Krummholz, making the summit at 3:30 PM. Returning to our packs, we crossed rockslides below the west face of Pinecone Peak to Knothole Lake, finally rejoining the girls at 7:10 PM. Our stats for the day were: elevation gain – 3,500 feet (1,060 meters); round-trip time on foot – 9 hours 40 minutes. Nothing worse than Class 2.

That’s a brief description of the day. In addition to Ross’s notes, he found some excellent photos that survived these many years. I want to share them with you here, in no particular order, because the area is truly beautiful. Some of the photos were taken on a different trip.

Ross, your pictures really make this piece. Thank you for them, and all of the details from your journal. As I look at your pictures, I’m struck by the beauty of the area, and even more baffled by the fact that I don’t remember any of it. Yet you say I was there and climbed with you that day, so I know I did. I’m just glad I haven’t drawn such a total  blank on any other peaks.