Dunn Peak Video
Dunn Peak – Standing over 8,600 feet tall it is the largest and tallest mountain in the Shuswap highland mountain range. The only thing larger in the area is the will of the climbers who attempt to summit the monster. This two-day climb is not for the faint of heart but for those who are willing to attempt this great massif stay tuned for my first-hand experience submitting the beast.
Pre Trip
In October of 2022, my friend and photographer, Riley Schutz, and myself RJ MacDonald set out of Kamloops to take on Dunn Peak. The both of us being Adventure studies students spent days leading up to the climbing gathering equipment and mapping our route, everything from nylon runners to ice axes and sleeping bags was added to the list and triple-checked before our departure. Forgetting gear and equipment on an overnight camp trip can make for an uncomfortable time, but forgetting equipment on a 2-day technical alpine ascent carries far greater consequences.
Our Journey started in Kamloops at 4:30 in the morning as we set out north to Barriere where we could begin navigating through backroads to bring us to the trailhead. The road into the trailhead is notorious for damaging and disabling vehicles not designed to take on the task. I would not recommend going with anything less than 4×4 ability and capable driving skills as the drive-in resembles more of a dried river bed than a road.
Once we got to the trailhead, our adventure began with a 10-kilometre hike through the forest, across bridges, and through a meadow where we were first introduced to the mountain with our own eyes. Photos do not do the mountain’s size and height justice. Being the tallest mountain in its range it can’t be missed.
After navigating a single trail for a few kilometres we entered the boulder field – for experienced climbers and backcountry enthusiasts the trail is fairly well marked as long as you stay alert and aware of trail markers – Dunn peak uses a simple ribbon-on-tree approach to trail markings making for quick and easy location.
Our first scrambling section began when we entered the boulder field. We spent 2 hours navigating our way through boulders the size of small homes and school buses. This section is not marked so choose we chose our route bringing us to the north face of the peak. The most technical route the mountain has to offer. For less experience, I recommend summiting via the Eastern face for a class 3 scramble. The north face was a Class 4 scramble with multiple roped-in sections.
Upon completion of the boulder field, we were faced with our first roped section. We did not bring cams or stoppers but instead harnessed in, climbed the section and set an anchor before descending and doing the section again with our equipment and gear on – throughout the climb, we asked each other questions like ‘are you good’ and are you comfortable as safety was our priority. If at anytime one was uncomfortable we would stop and reassess.
Finishing our first roped section totalled an 11-hour day and thousands of feet of elevation so we set camp on a ridge and relaxed for the evening. With camp just above the 6000-foot threshold, we were experiencing some mild symptoms of AMS.
Credit – RileySchutz Photography
The Final Push
Waking up at 5 am the next morning we began our final ascent to the summit. Only a few hundred meters of elevation but the hardest section of the climb. We recommend ice axes and crampons if you take the North Face because of the section through the couloir between peaks. It is steep and we advise only experience climbers to do it. We ran a 15-foot rope team between us setting body anchors using a self-arrest maneuver while the other person would move. This continued for hundreds of feet taking us over 2 hours. Following the Col., It’s an easy scramble (Class 3) to the summit where you can get some gnarly photos of the valley and range.
I hope this helps you on your Dunn peak adventure; pack smart, know your route, and keep safety as number 1. For any additional information or photos feel free to reach out to me at rylan1639@gmail.com.
