The first real mountain I climbed was in the German Alps. By ‘real mountain’, I mean a mountain that has a tree line with exposed rock above it. I had climbed numerous smaller mountains in eastern Canada prior to that, but because I was still in the trees on those summits, I never experienced the awe that I felt when I summited that first German alp.
I was in the military then, living in Germany. When I returned to Canada, I made it a goal to be posted to Calgary, where I could experience the joy of hiking and climbing in the Canadian Rockies, which had captivated me since I was a boy.
My Calgary dream was eventually realized and, after scrambling up to the summit of Cascade Mountain, I was hooked. Very quickly, the Canadian Rockies became my playground.
I have since moved to British Columbia. But, as part of my 55-Years-of-Age celebration, I decided to revisit the Canadian Rockies to attempt to climb 55 peaks in 55 days. In the end, I managed to complete the goal in less than 55 days. I selected the peaks from one of two guidebooks: Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies (3rd Edition), by Alan Kane, and More Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies (3rd Edition), by Andrew Nugara.
Here is the list of the 55 Peaks Climbed
Waterton Lakes National Park
- 2,515m – Sofa Mountain
- 2,440m – Bertha Peak
- 2,416m – Vimy Ridge Summit
- 2,379m – Vimy Peak
- 2,378m – Mount Crandell
- 2,258m – Prairie Bluff via South Ridge
- 2,112m – Bellevue Hill
The Castle Wilderness
- 2,619m – Mount Haig
- 2,587m – Victoria Peak
- 2,580m – Pincher Ridge Summit
- 2,570m – Pincher Ridge South Peak
- 2,530m – Victoria Ridge Summit
- 2,500m – St. Eloi Mountain
- 2,500m – Syncline Mountain 2nd Summit
- 2,471m – Barnaby Ridge
- 2,439m – Syncline Mountain 1st Summit
- 2,430m – Pincher Ridge Centre Peak
- 2,394m – Gravenstafel Ridge
- 2,350m – Southfork Mountain
- 2,225m – Table Mountain
Crowsnest
- 2,785m – Crowsnest Mountain
- 2,547m – Mount Tecumseh
- 2,530m – Mount Ward
- 2,410m – Sentry Mountain
- 2,301m – Mount McLaren
- 2,204m – Turtle Mountain
- 2,185m – Hillcrest Mountain
Kananaskis
- 2,936m – Big Sister
- 2,706m – Grotto Mountain
- 2,685m – Mount Grassi Lawrence
- 2,680m – Rimwall Summit
- 2,308-2,626m – Seven Peaks
- GR435427 (2,308 m)
- GR430436 (2,334 m)
- GR441445 (2,501 m)
- GR409437 (2,571 m)
- GR396418 (2,612 m)
- GR394404 (2,626 m)
- GR401402 (2,613 m)
- 2,427m – Miners Peak
- 2,408m – Ha Ling Peak
- 2,352m – Wasootch Peak
- 2,325m – GR333458
- 2,300m – Packenham Junior
- 2,240m – Mount Yamnuska
- 2,192m – Mount Baldy
- 2,173m – Limestone Mountain
- 2,149m – Grant MacEwan Peak
- 2,135m – Heart Mountain
Banff National Park
- 2,862m – Helena Ridge
- 2,850m – Stuart Knob
- 2,766m – Castle Mountain
- 2,744m – Fairview Mountain
- 2,649m – Mount St. Piran
- 2,590m – Mount Rundle, East End
- 2,433m – Saddle Mountain