Parry Peak: North Ridge Ascent

Type: Backcountry or Sidecountry

From the Midland Group Campground gate, head across the Fraser River and continue southeast along Parry Creek. The track follows the creek almost the entire way (bearing left at the only fork) which is helpful when there aren't any tracks on the ground to follow.

When the trees begin to thin toward the top, you'll come to a small meadow/clearing. To gain the north ridge, we erred to the left and more east than one might head if you were to go directly toward Parry and boot up any of the Bear Claw lines (see Parry Peak: Bear Claw 3 - Direct Approach).

Gaining the north ridge can be done any number of ways, but this track appeared to be the most gradual and easiest to skin.

Around the 3.3-mile mark, the snow dried up and we were forced to strap up the skis, unstrap the axes, and continue by foot along drifted snow and ice on scree. Beware of false summits. Around the 3.6-mile mark, there are some rockier outcroppings that could require some more technical, awkward class-3-esque moves depending on your traverse.

Due to thin conditions, we opted to traverse below the summit to access the Parry Peak Bear Claw Descent—Claw 3, which still required some down-climbing to get to the snow line.