Some Prefer It On Top

Welcome to On-Top.ca: a website dedicated to those who prefer it on top - of a mountain. This website documents my many ascents in the Canadian Rocky Mountains (and occasionally elsewhere). It is my intent to share with you, my passion for the outdoors, for hiking and for scrambling. This website is designed to allow you to vicariously follow my adventures in the Canadian Rockies and to enjoy the splendor of their glaciated peaks and lake-filled valleys as I do. It will be updated frequently with new ascents as I complete them. Photos and a blog-style entry will be recorded for every ascent. It is my hope that these will serve as a resource for other outdoorsmen (and women) who wish to add their names to those already listed in the summit registers high atop. May you enjoy all of your scramble adventures as much as I have mine!
-Matthew Hobbs

What's New?

• Salvaging a sunny Sunday from a summer sickness: a big effort for a little peak (Powderface Ridge East).
• Just the two of us (we can make it if we try)! A bigger, longer, more ill-advised 😂 Daddy-Daughter day on Akamina Ridge with my "Penny Bear"! 🐻🥰
• So nice I decided to do it twice! A family trip of the "new" and improved Ha Ling Peak trail!
• Seeking a reversal of my 2025 summit fortunes - trying to get lucky atop Heart Mountain & Grant MacEwan Peak. 😏🍀🤞
• Escaping the snow (and the SAND) atop Cerro de la Cruz in sunny Puerto Vallarta, Mexico! ☀️🏖️🍺
• Up Zephyr Creek Hills West without a paddle 🛶 (starting the new year with a test of will and good sense)!

My Tribute to the Forefather of Scrambling in the Canadian Rockies Alan Kane: