Judging by the widely spaced contour lines on the map, I thought this peak might be possible to ascend on snowshoes, but without a vantage point to observe it we didn't know what to expect. This unnamed peak is only two kilometres south of Mount Hector. It's probably overlooked since it cannot be seen easily from the highway and since Mount Hector overshadows everything in the area, but the South Peak is nearly 3000 m high!

I selected a likely place to start and set a waypoint where we would park. We set off up a wooded slope. The grade was gentler than I expected. The terrain varied so it wasn't a mindless slog and the trees weren't so thick you had to fight your way up. After about an hour and 15 minutes, the trees thinned and we could take in the views.

At this point we heard voices behind us. We were baffled. We were in a remote area far from any trail and we couldn't understand why anyone would follow snowshoe tracks without knowing where they were going. Eventually five people came into view far below us. They were carrying snowboards! We never ran into them, however. After snowshoeing about 300 m in our tracks they rode down the gully and climbed up the other side where they did some more boarding.

We continued on and ascended above the treeline. Here it became too steep to snowshoe straight up so we angled right. The grade eventually eased and the slopes became rolling hills. Our destination became obvious: a rocky prominence thrusting straight up from the slope.

It looked too steep and snow-covered to climb but we managed to scramble a short way up before turning back, about 150 m short of the summit. Although we had good footing in the rocks, without helmets or ice axes it didn't seem prudent to go on.