Mt. Lefroy

  • Description

    Mt. Lefroy is a beautiful and challenging mountain to climb. Sadly, in 1896, it was the site of North America’s first recorded mountaineering fatality when Phillip Abbot fell from Lefroy’s west flanks. In his honour, the respective mountain pass between Mt. Lefroy and Mt. Victoria was named after him, as well as, the famous (& now removed) Abbot Hut. Climbing the west face of Mt. Lefroy is typically a fun challenge of your stair stepping fitness as it is best climbed when there is still enough snow to provide supportive bucket steps almost the whole way up. The route of choice is the West Face. Mt. Lefroy is usually combined with the South Summit of Mt. Victoria to make our great 3-day alpine climbing trip. Abbot Hut, which was built in 1922, was torn down by Park Canada during the summer of 2022 due to the hut’s foundation slope eroding to a point that it became a public safety concern.

    • West Face (III 40°-50° 400m). Climbing From Abbot Pass (2925m), harness up and head out onto terrain directly in front of you that steepens to 40°-50° as you get higher, with a rock band just before the summit ridge. In good conditions, expect to move quickly over supportive snow. The window for this route is getting shorter each season as more and more loose rocks get exposed when the snow melts and cause a serious rockfall hazard. Pass to pass times are usually between 4-6hrs. For length, the round trip from Lake O’Hara to the top of Mt. Lefroy is 11km with roughly 1300m of elevation gain.
  • Grade

    V
  • Duration

    2-3 days
  • Aspect

    W
  • Length

    11'293 / 3442m

  • Max Guiding Ratio

    2:1
  • Directions

    Yoho National Park. From Canmore, drive ≈ 93km west on Hwy. 1 and park at the Lake O'Hara parking lot.
  • Approach

    There are a few different approaches for Mt. Lefroy and none that are easy or without increased levels of risk. The main approach would be via Lake O'Hara using the shuttle bus and then hiking over to Lake Oesa, where you would then scrambling up the wide SW gully below Abbot Pass. Alternative approaches could be via the Fuhrmann Ledges from the Lake Louise side, or via the Huber Ledges/SW ridge of Mt. Vic from the Lake O'Hara side.

  • Descent

    Retrace your approach steps.

  • Routes Nearby

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