Kindersley South

Kindersley South and Kindersley East

July 1, 2009

Mountain heights:                   2690 m, 2540 m
Elevation gain:                        1600 m
Ascent time to South Peak:     3:40
Traverse time to East:             1:30
Descent time:                          2:00

Solo scramble.

I purchased Hikes around Invermere, by Aaron Cameron and Matt Gunn, several years ago and the guidebook has been sitting idly on my bookshelf, having never been used since. This trip sought to rectify that oversight.

Kindersley Summit sounded like a very scenic trip and so off I went on the Kindersley Pass Trail. The first two hours through forest were fairly dull, but at least the trail was excellent and very gently graded. Finally the objective came into view and looked to be a pleasant and easy ascent. Oddly, Kindersley Summit is actually the low col between two sub-peaks of Mount Kindersley. I decided to go directly to the summit of the highest peak and then descend to Kindersley summit (col) and ascend the lower peak. This diversion was very scenic and even provided some moderate scrambling. As usual, a few remaining patches of stubborn snow enhanced the scenery immensely.

The summit view was excellent as reported, but I couldn’t help notice how different it was than the magnificent views from recently ascended Wintour and the Potts/Evan-Thomas col. This is primarily because the valleys in between mountains and mountain ranges in Kananaskis are quite narrow, whereas some of the valleys in Kootenay are extremely wide. As such, though the true summit of Kindersley Mountain is relatively close to the summit of Kindersley South, all other mountains are a fair distance away. You don’t get that same “in-your-face” experience common in Kananaskis.

After taking in the interesting summit view, I set my sights on the lower summit described in the guidebook. That attempt last about 2 minutes. I decided instead to attempt the lower summit to the east, on the rationale that its view might be a little more varied. The descent to the col was thoroughly enjoyable, thanks to several cornices, the interesting contour of the ridge, and the wonderful colours of the mountain itself. The summit was easily reached and in fact the summit view was only marginally different. However, the aforementioned characteristics of the traverse rendered it a more than worthwhile diversion.

For descent, I went directly down to Sinclair Creek, enjoying some good boot-skiing down a long gully, and then out on another good trail. An excellent first trip from Hikes around Invermere.

P.S. I arrived home to find the trip and the variations I took are well-documented in Mike Potter’s Ridgewalks in the Canadian Rockies.

Looking back to the ascent valley