Mount Robson - North Face and Emperor Faces

All too often, the highest point of a mountain range is a disappointing dome or easy walk up. Not so with the Canadian Rockies, which have a clear monarch in Mt Robson at 3954m, standing nearly alone in a remote northwest corner of the range. There are no straightforward ways to the top on any aspect, but the north and northwest faces (the latter better known as the Emperor Face) are the stuff of legends, offering precious few weaknesses in nearly vertical 1,500m. Adding to the difficulty and commitment levels of any of these routes is the fact that once on top of the face, one still has to climb the endless upper Emperor Ridge and its infamous snow gargoyles (or traverse on the west face).

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Route List

1: North Ridge of the Helmet, AD

2: South Ridge of the Helmet, PD

3: Fuhrer Ridge, TD- 5.4, Carlson, Fuhrer, Hainsworth, 1938

4: Slovenian Route, ED- 5.3 85°, Pocker, Skarja, 1990

5: North Face of Mt Robson, TD WI3 55°, Callis, Davis, 1963

6: Glidden-Lev-Mohling, ED- WI3 55°, Glidden, Lev, Mohling, 1963

7: Becker-Webster, ED- WI3 55°, Becker, Webster, 1982

8: Cheesmond-Dick, ED+ 5.9 A3, Cheesmond, Dick, 1981

9: Logan Stump, ED+ 5.9 A2, Logan, Stump, 1978

10: House-Haley, ED+ WI5 M7, Haley, House, 2007

11: Callis-Kanzler Attempt, Callis, Kanzler, 1974

12: Kruk-Walsh, ED+ WI5 M7, Kruk, Walsh, 2010

13: Running in the Shadows, ED+ WI5 M6 A1, Berman, Hawthorn, 2020

14: Infinite Patience, ED+ 5.9 M5 WI5, Blanchard, Dumerac, Pellet, 2002

15: Emperor Ridge, TD 5.6, Perla, Spencer, 1961

Updates

Aug 17, 2023: Fixed Cheesmond's name to proper spelling

Sep 18, 2025: Graphic design update

Sources

• “Dragons in the Mist, Mountain Profile: Mt Robson,” Barry Blanchard, Alpinist Magazine, Issue 29, Winter 2009-2010
  
• “Selected Climbing Routes of Mt Robson,” Gregory Horne, Gregory Horne Photographics, 1989
  
• “Climber’s Guide to the Rocky Mountains of Canada - North,” William L. Putnam, Robert Kruszyna, Chris Jones, AAC/ACC, 1974
  
• “Selected Alpine Climbs in the Canadian Rockies,” Sean Dougherty, Rocky Mountain Books, 1991
  
• “Mt Robson’s Emperor Face,” James Logan, AAJ, Vol. 22, Issue 1, 1979
  
• “Infinite Patience,” Éric Dumerac,  Gripped Magazine, March 2003
  
• “Mt Robson, Emperor Face, New Climbing to Emperor Ridge,” Jason Kruk, AAJ, Vol. 53, Issue 85, 2011
  
• “Mt Robson, Emperor Face, Haley-House,” Steve House, AAJ, Vol. 50, Issue 82, 2008
  
• “Running in the Shadows, A Four-Day Adventure on Yexyexéscen,” Ethan Berman, AAJ, Vol. 63, Issue 95, 2021
  
• “Big Reinhold, Little Reinhold,” Ed Webster, Alpinist Web Feature, 2015
  
• “The Alpinist,” Peter Mortimer, Nick Rosen, 2021
  
• Ethan Berman