Elevation Gain: 7,389m
Distance: 80km
Total Time: 12 days
Date: June 30th to July 12th, 2025
Andrea and I had completed a successful summit of Hammerhead Peak and joined up with Mark Grist and Mike Buda’s 2005 traverse line on the way to “Encke Peak”. This was the final summit that John Clarke, Dame Lammers and Shirley Rempel would climb as part of their 1992 traverse. The name is a creation from bivouac.com and all previous parties simply referred to it as Peak 7400. We had seen it from all over the valley and were quite excited to climb to the top. The night prior to our summit, we had settled into a lovely granite alcove among slabs and snow and were lucky to witness a spectacular sunrise.
Now on the following morning we were greeted with yet more great weather. Our camp site was staged a mere 1.5km or so from the summit and so after packing our gear we set off for the top. Under the warming sun, we booted up the south west face on easy snow. I then lead us on a traverse across the face to dry ridge line on the west ridge. Here we ditched our heavy packs and scrambled up some loose rock to the summit.
With piqued curiosity, we peered over to the north side. This peak was host to the first major crevasses we’d encounter on the trip and we were both anxious to see how difficult it would be. Our first glance washed any anxiety away though. The slopes were relatively tame and the worst of the crevasses were bypassable on skier’s right. With a plan of attack, we returned to our packs and then booted up the snow to the climber’s right of the summit. Here we went up and over a small bump on the ridge and then roped up for the descent.
Andrea lead the way and we avoided any difficulties by staying skier’s right as planned. One steep slope proved easy with the soft snow and from there it was an easy walk down the col. We stopped for some water and snacks at the bottom and then it was time to re-gain 400m up to the ridge on the other side. A task neither of us were relishing. Our phenomenal weather had also taken a turn and rain clouds loomed over us, threatening to release at any moment. Both of us dug deep and slogged it up through snow fingers in between the granite slabs. At times it was a fair bit of front pointing, but there was always a bench to rest on afterwards.
By 8pm we had crested onto the ridge. We were met with a problematic discovery; a total absence of suitable camping spots. The ridge was almost entirely uneven bedrock with boulders on top. Andrea and I spent the better part of an hour trying to find a good spot, but with incoming rain and the sunsetting we settled on a muddy patch next to the snow. With the tent set up we had a late dinner in the rain and dark and finally settled into bed.
The next day was a resting one as light rain pelted the tent throughout the day and clouds obscured everything around us. While our site was not ideal (I was sleeping on a pointed rock), it was at least nice to relax and read.
At noon on the following day, July 6th, the clouds began to clear. We thought to make a go for the next ridge system and perhaps climb up “Peak 7400” to the north east. With that we packed up and made our way over.