Elevation Gain: 1,567m
Distance: 21.21km
Total Time: 11 hours 35 minutes
Date: May 31st, 2026
Andrea and I were just outside Smithers on our way to an interesting summit around Terrace when we hit a road block on Highway 16. Craning our necks out the window, we discovered that a power line had fallen down across the road. This didn’t bode well for what was going to be a long day of bushwhacking; still several hours of driving away. We waited for half an hour before deciding we’d burned through the time we had to tackle our original plan. There were some areas east of Telkwa that I had been thinking about as alternatives and we decided to head out that way to see if anything piqued our interest. The range that I had been researching the most was the Sibola Range. There were a few established hikes up to Sibola Peak and Mount Sweeney, but further North the harder to reach Mount Ney also drew my eye.
As I worked through the maps, I spotted something a bit further north from the Sibola Range: Kidprice Peak. It’s the highest summit in small group nestled between Nanika Lake and Morice Lake. To the Northeast there was a roughed in approach for Redslide Mountain which had some beta on the local Houston Hikers website. However, Kidprice itself had no established trail and would require fording Redslide/Glacier Creek. Early prospectors and geologists had likely combed over this area already like much of the Eastern side of the Kitimat ranges. Nonetheless it looked really interesting and Andrea was all in.
The next step was driving roughly 91km of service roads deep into the eastern end of the Kitimat Range. How far we’d make it was big unknown. As we reached the last 10km I waited for a big washout, a tank trap or a fallen log, but it never came. We gleefully pulled up to our intended stopping point at the second to last cut block and set out on a wonderful sunny day.
Our first order of business was bushwhacking roughly a kilometer to our creek crossing. This section of forest was riddled with deadfall and quite sickly in nature, but we reached the creek before too long. By pure luck we arrived at wide spot in the creek and we were across without a hitch. The forest travel improved drastically on the other side and snow coverage started around 1200m. Where there forest floor was snow free, devil’s club sprouted from all over, but it wasn’t in bloom and we found safe passage.
Once we reached the alpine we were greeted with superb views of the Sibola Range and the numerous lakes that filled the horizon to the east. From just above treeline, it was around 6km of wonderful rambling on the north east ridge to the summit. Much to our surprise there wasn’t a cairn to be found anywhere on top. I scrutinized the ground for any disturbances, but there were none. While it’s highly unlikely we were truly the first to be up there, we setup a cairn nonetheless. After a short building session, I spent some time admiring an entirely new range of summits before me. There’s something very special about seeing a new area for the first time. That feeling is bolstered all the more when mountains when the scene is filled with sharp glacier covered summits like Atna Peak.
Satiated with our adventure, we scrambled back down the ridge and made a great strides through the soft snow down to the trees. We were pleased to see that the creek hadn’t swollen much in the afternoon heat and we crossed again with ease. The last part of the bushwhack dragged a bit with all of the deadfall, but we reached our car before dark. On the drive out we were witness to a spectacular sunset on the mirrored water of McBride Lake.
After our ascent, I canvassed around to find more details on this summit. I contacted the Houston Hikers group, but they were not aware of any ascents of the summit itself. One member had made it to a plateau but turned back. Glenn Woodsworth also provided some insights into the area and was of the opinion it had likely been climbed by prospectors at some point. They don’t always leave traces and so we’ll never really know. We also can’t rule locals with a similar call for adventure. Nonetheless it was a great day out and perhaps it was a first record ascent or perhaps not.