Emergency Phone Numbers in Jasper National Park
Royal Canadian Mountain Police (780) 852-4848.
P.O. Box 1800 600 Pyramid Lake Road, Jasper, AB.
Jasper Hospital (780) 852-3344
518 Robson St. Jasper, AB.
Fire & Ambulance (780) 852-3100
Jasper Firehall, Patricia St. Jasper, AB.
Park Warden Office (780) 852-6155 / 56
Maligne Rd. Jasper, AB. (km 2)
Sunwapta Park Warden Station (780 )852-6181
Mile 45, Highway 93 (Icefield Parkway)
Pobotkan Creek Warden Station (780) 852-5383
Highway 93 (Icefield Parkway)
Search and Rescue (780) 852-3100
Emergency calls can be directed to the Jasper Park
Warden at (780) 852-3100
or by calling the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) at
(780) 852-4848
Camping and Backpacking in Jasper National Park
Columbia Icefield Campground
The Columbia Icefield Campground is located 1 km north of the Icefield Centre. There are enclosed cooking shelters with wood stoves and picnic tables. A pay telephone and bulletin board is at the entrance to the campground as you drive in. Outhouses are maintained regularly. There is no running water on a regular basis other than an outdoor hand-pumped fixture.
Wilcox Campground
Camping also is available at Wilcox Campground, 2.7 km south of the Columbia Icefield Centre on Highway 93. It usually opens in mid-June and is open until October. In the spring plenty of snow will still be around, sometimes blocking access to the campground. When the Icefield Campground is not plowed out, Wilcox Creek campground, or even Jonas Creek Campground, located well north of the Icefield Centre in Jasper National Park may be options, although the drive is significantly longer if accessing Mt. Athabasca or Mt. Andromeda via the Icefield Centre / SnoCoach road.
Sites in both campgrounds cost $18 - $20 per night. You must self-register. There are bivy sites on the mountain: pick a spot which will be safe from avalanches or slides. Technically, mountaineers bivouacking on Mt. Athabasca require a backcountry permit, available from Park Wardens at the Ranger Stations or the Icefield Centre for $6 a night. Hiking, trekking, scrambling and backpacking information in the Canadian Rockies is available atThe Canadian Rockies.com . There is a backpacking information page available, just click on this link: Backpacking Jasper National Park.
This scramble is basically just a one-day trip; however, Wilcox Pass to the west of Nigel Peak is a beautiful place to rest or camp with rolling, grassy fields and wildflowers everywhere. The view from Wilcox Pass alone is incredible, and Wilcox Pass was rated one of "Canada's Best Five Hikes" in 2003 by Outside Magazine.
Photo by Dow Williams
Columbia Icefield Campground
The Columbia Icefield Campground is located 1 km north of the Icefield Centre. There are enclosed cooking shelters with wood stoves and picnic tables. A pay telephone and bulletin board is at the entrance to the campground as you drive in. Outhouses are maintained regularly. There is no running water on a regular basis other than an outdoor hand-pumped fixture.
Wilcox Campground
Camping also is available at Wilcox Campground, 2.7 km south of the Columbia Icefield Centre on Highway 93. It usually opens in mid-June and is open until October. In the spring plenty of snow will still be around, sometimes blocking access to the campground. When the Icefield Campground is not plowed out, Wilcox Creek campground, or even Jonas Creek Campground, located well north of the Icefield Centre in Jasper National Park may be options, although the drive is significantly longer if accessing Mt. Athabasca or Mt. Andromeda via the Icefield Centre / SnoCoach road.
Sites in both campgrounds cost $18 - $20 per night. You must self-register. There are bivy sites on the mountain: pick a spot which will be safe from avalanches or slides. Technically, mountaineers bivouacking on Mt. Athabasca require a backcountry permit, available from Park Wardens at the Ranger Stations or the Icefield Centre for $6 a night. Hiking, trekking, scrambling and backpacking information in the Canadian Rockies is available at
Hostels
For those who don't want to camp or bivouac, there is an excellent option to distant and expensive mountain park hotels.Hostelling International runs a chain of excellent, low-cost hostels which provide accomodations at several convenient locations close to popular climbing and touring sites. Five hostels, four open year-round, are located near the icefield. These hostels are clean, well-kept and managed by full-time custodians. The hostels are extremely economical in comparison to the costs of mountain park resorts and area hotels, as well as being surrounded by some of the most magnificent mountain scenery in the world.
Check-in at hostels starts at 3:00 p.m. and check-out is by 10:00 a.m. the next morning. Self-cook kitchens are the rule, featuring gas and wood stoves, outdoor water pumps (well water) and cleaning up after yourself is a rule as well. The facilities range in description from "rustic", with bunkhouse-style sleeping quarters, to "very comfortable", with private family rooms (Lake Louise). Hostels close to Mt. Athabasca are located at Athabasca Falls, Beauty Creek, Hilda Creek and the town of Jasper. Reservations should be made well in advance. Payment by cash or credit card (Visa) is accepted, upon checking in.
For those who don't want to camp or bivouac, there is an excellent option to distant and expensive mountain park hotels.
Check-in at hostels starts at 3:00 p.m. and check-out is by 10:00 a.m. the next morning. Self-cook kitchens are the rule, featuring gas and wood stoves, outdoor water pumps (well water) and cleaning up after yourself is a rule as well. The facilities range in description from "rustic", with bunkhouse-style sleeping quarters, to "very comfortable", with private family rooms (Lake Louise). Hostels close to Mt. Athabasca are located at Athabasca Falls, Beauty Creek, Hilda Creek and the town of Jasper. Reservations should be made well in advance. Payment by cash or credit card (Visa) is accepted, upon checking in.
Nigel Peak Miscellaneous Information
There are 1175 meters / 3820 feet of vertical gain on this peak, from trailhead to summit. There is a minor glacier on the east side of the mountain. Although it is not necessary to climb this glacier, (it can be bypassed by climbing several hundred feet of very crumbly 4th class boulders and rock) great care must be taken not to fall onto it when climbing the loose, rocky crest of the final summit ridge. The glacier is moderately steep, and an unarrested fall would almost certainly result in a severe injury or fatality.
The option of climbing the edge of this glacier to a point just below the summit would likely be easier, quicker and safer than climbing the loose rock ridge, provided the climber was equipped with an ice ax, crampons, was skilled and experienced in their use, and stayed right at the edge of the glacier where it borders the rock up the final summit ridge.
Routes have been done up the northwest bowl of the main summit, but the rock is very loose, protection is dubious, and risk of a fall would be far greater to a climber on this face than one who simply chose to scramble up the ridge route.
It is not at all unusual to see large pools of scree slowly making their way down the faces of this peak, like liquid rock; even passing the climber as he makes his way up. It is advisable to descend and return to the trailhead by the same route you came up, as a longer hike down Wilcox Pass will leave you descending steeper, more difficult and unpleasant scree-covered slabs or dirt surrounding the basin of the creek which flows into Wilcox Campground.
There are 1175 meters / 3820 feet of vertical gain on this peak, from trailhead to summit. There is a minor glacier on the east side of the mountain. Although it is not necessary to climb this glacier, (it can be bypassed by climbing several hundred feet of very crumbly 4th class boulders and rock) great care must be taken not to fall onto it when climbing the loose, rocky crest of the final summit ridge. The glacier is moderately steep, and an unarrested fall would almost certainly result in a severe injury or fatality.
The option of climbing the edge of this glacier to a point just below the summit would likely be easier, quicker and safer than climbing the loose rock ridge, provided the climber was equipped with an ice ax, crampons, was skilled and experienced in their use, and stayed right at the edge of the glacier where it borders the rock up the final summit ridge.
Routes have been done up the northwest bowl of the main summit, but the rock is very loose, protection is dubious, and risk of a fall would be far greater to a climber on this face than one who simply chose to scramble up the ridge route.
It is not at all unusual to see large pools of scree slowly making their way down the faces of this peak, like liquid rock; even passing the climber as he makes his way up. It is advisable to descend and return to the trailhead by the same route you came up, as a longer hike down Wilcox Pass will leave you descending steeper, more difficult and unpleasant scree-covered slabs or dirt surrounding the basin of the creek which flows into Wilcox Campground.
Topographic and GPS coordinates
The Google Earth website lists topographic and GPS coordinates derived by satellite measurement for Nigel Peak as follows:
North Summit
52 deg 14 min 24.15 sec N / -117 deg 10 min 21.70 sec W
(GPS) 52.240042 N / -117.172694 W
South Summit
52 deg 13 min 31.92 sec N / -117 deg 07 min 16.25 sec W
(GPS)52.225533 N / -117.121181 W
The North Summit is 776 feet higher than the South Summit
Note: The actual topographic coordinates listed for Nigel Peak by the Government of Canada Natural Resources Geographical Database are 52.25N -117.1666W. I have used the coordinates listed at the top of this page to allow the redpoint to show up on the actual summit, as the coordinates listed by Google Earth do not match the official figures.
One last bit of information .........you are in bear country here, so act appropriately with respect to the indigenous grizzly and black bears, and even the odd mountain lion you may happen to bump into at the trailhead or up along the approach; and especially at Wilcox Pass, where grizzlies have been spotted in the past.
The Google Earth website lists topographic and GPS coordinates derived by satellite measurement for Nigel Peak as follows:
North Summit
South Summit
Note: The actual topographic coordinates listed for Nigel Peak by the Government of Canada Natural Resources Geographical Database are 52.25N -117.1666W. I have used the coordinates listed at the top of this page to allow the redpoint to show up on the actual summit, as the coordinates listed by Google Earth do not match the official figures.
One last bit of information .........you are in bear country here, so act appropriately with respect to the indigenous grizzly and black bears, and even the odd mountain lion you may happen to bump into at the trailhead or up along the approach; and especially at Wilcox Pass, where grizzlies have been spotted in the past.
Disclaimer - Hazard Warning
The Alpine Club'sEdmonton Section and Calgary Section both conduct an excellent mountaineering orientation program, which prepares novices for their initiation to mountaineering, and also features three days of practical instruction on the lower slopes of nearby Mt. Athabasca, Parker's Ridge, and Hidden Valley. Instruction is done by top-notch volunteer members with many years of experience. The program includes theory and practical training in crevasse and rock rescue, subjective and objective hazards, mountain conditions and weather, clothing, ropework, use of technical equipment and personal gear, mountain safety and other relevant subjects. Avalanche awareness courses are available, as well as both summer and winter trips for members. Avalanche reports can be obtained as well. In addition, the Canadian Avalanche Association is an excellent source of current avalanche information.
The Association of Canadian Mountain Guides can provide information regarding guide services for those who wish to retain a guide. Several guide services, such asYamnuska Mountaineering, Inc. , also provide a three-day on-site mountaineering orientation program, highlighted with a guided ascent of either the North Glacier route or the AA Col route on nearby Mt. Athabasca.
Climbing is dangerous. Climb at your own risk.
The Alpine Club's
The Association of Canadian Mountain Guides can provide information regarding guide services for those who wish to retain a guide. Several guide services, such as
Climbing is dangerous. Climb at your own risk.