–A personal trip report submitted by Evan Martin
Ever since my failed attempt up Mount Septimus’ X-Gully last year I’ve been eyeing the Route 2 Variation. We were so close to the summit last year. All the technical parts of the route were complete – the gully proper, the glacier crossing, and the steep snow off the glacier. Hence, I still wanted to bag the summit, but wanted to do it via a fresh route. The standard “easy” rock route is 2V, which is rated 5.6, but requires multiple pitches and Phil Stone’s description in Island Alpine Climbing is “easy climbing but poor protection”. I was intimidated by the route, so wanted a solid partner. When Trevor, my climbing mentor from Newfoundland, asked me if he could come out in early May to do some climbing, I quickly narrowed in on 2V as our objective.
