Every time I think we've completed the longest and most grueling scramble possible, another comes along to replace it. Previously held by Mount Rundle and our interesting attempts of Middle Sister, that dubious honour now belongs to the south peak of Mount Kidd. I'm sure that ascending the peak in summer would be straightforward, however, our ascent in the dead of winter presented quite a different scenario. 

The first 3.5 km along Galatea Trail was pleasant and easy, taking us about one hour. From the turn-off, the summit looked reasonably close and I couldn't see it taking us more than 2 hours to ascend. I couldn't have been more wrong, as our 4 and a half hour ascent would testify. The first section, up a small drainage was easy and didn't take too long. The following section, along a large avalanche gully and then up to the left, while pleasant, stretched on forever. And that was nothing! From the ridge, the hike to the summit block was hideously long, slow (on snow and rubble), and sucked every, single, living ounce of energy from me. Thankfully, some amazing scenery and improving weather conditions made the slog very enjoyable - The Fortress, Gusty Peak, Galatea, and The Tower were incredible from this perspective, and eventually, as the clouds moved on, the great Mount Assiniboine made an unexpected appearance. Finally, we reached the end of the rubble slope (sporting a magnificent view of Kidd's north peak and an airy drop-off), and it was only a short distance to the summit - a short distance that took us perhaps a full hour to traverse. At this point, the wind had picked up considerably and given our significant altitude, the wind chill factor was probably into the minus thirties (bone-chilling to say the least). We made our way along the ridge (often right on the edge), until a deep notch forced us down to a steep, snowy scree slope. Traversing the slope proved to be difficult and extremely dangerous as the snow had hardened to ice, making a slip very likely. We were only about 50 meters from the true summit and contemplated giving up. We decided to make one last effort and descended further to place where we were able to safely get across the snow-covered slope. With zero energy to spare we made a final and grueling push to the summit, where for only the second time in all our scrambles, we decided to sign the register. The 360 degree panorama  was incredible - as well as the aforementioned mountains, Mount Bogart dominated to the north, The Wedge, Opal Ridge, Fisher Peak and the stunning Opal Range further southeast, and Lorette and cringing Mount Baldy to he northeast. We didn't stay up there too long, as it was unbelievably cold.

Unfortunately, for the descent I again fell victim to my inability to pace myself on ascent, and felt extremely weak and nauseous. I imagine the intensely cold weather also had a part in it. The first part of the descent was slow, but we managed to make up some time once we were back on the trail. Overall, a great scramble and a good day.  

     
The two peaks of Mount Kidd; South Kidd is on the left and the summit is the high point on the left of the mountain