Hiking Gin Peak via Hanging Lake near Whistler
Contents
Gin Peak via Hanging Lake Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 10.50Km
Elevation Gain: 970m
Highest Elevation: 1,803m
Average Gradient: 18.48%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / Very High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 5 – 7 Hours
– Moderate: 4 – 5 Hours
– Fast: 3 – 4 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round (Winter Preferred)
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Gin Peak via Hanging Lake Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 50°08’44.5″N 123°06’55.3″W
Disclaimer: Winter hiking (snowshoeing) involves significantly more risk than summer hiking. Hikers should be prepared with appropriate education, training and equipment for all possibilities, including but not limited to avalanches. A mistake such as going off trail, getting lost or injured can be far more dangerous in winter than summer. You are responsible for your own safety, and while I am happy to give my opinion on this website as to the avalanche risk of a specific hike, do not take this as fact and please do your own research. Everybody has different risk tolerances and mine might be different to yours.
Gin Peak via Hanging Lake Overview
Gin Peak is a summit located to the west of Whistler Village and south of Rainbow Lake and Rainbow Mountain. It’s a very popular winter objective for ski tourers, but is also growing increasingly popular with snowshoers looking for a more adventurous backcountry outing.
Gin Peak is primarily a winter objective and sees very little interest in the summer months. The winter route described here begins at Whistler Olympic Park and follows a steep and direct route up via Hanging Lake, however in the summer hikers will likely want to approach either from the Rainbow Lake trail from Alta Lake Road, or from the Rainbow / Madeley Lake trail beginning from Madeley Lake FSR near Madeley Lake itself. Generally speaking the winter trail is best traveled between December and April when there is a healthy snowpack covering the bushes on the forested approach.
The winter hike begins at Whistler Olympic Park, which charges a parking fee for backcountry access and also means you have to abide by parking hours. Unfortunately this means a later start for those who prefer to hit the trails early. Still, there is plenty of time for a hike of this length as long as you start around opening.
The first half of the hike is your typical BC approach, a steep grind through the forest, before arriving at Hanging Lake where the views open up and only improve from here on out. This is a real winter wonderland and it’s very evident why it’s a popular touring destination, with stunning views for a moderate effort. From the summit the views are absolutely breathtaking and 360 degrees.
Though Gin Peak is gaining popularity with snowshoers, you will still be heavily outnumbered by ski tourers, so do be cognizant of them, especially in the forest as they can by skiing down quite quickly without being to stop that easily.
In 2017 a skier was caught in a large avalanche to the south-east of Hanging Lake and unfortunately passed away. You will want to be well versed in avalanche preparedness, taking the right gear and going with a group.
Maintaining this website requires a significant investment of both time and money, if you find this website a useful resource, please consider making a donation using this button.
Is Gin Peak via Hanging Lake worthwhile?
Gin Peak, and in fact the entire Hanging Lake region as a whole, is a stunning area with absolutely breathtaking views. While the hike is fairly steep, much of it is in the forest, usually with a well worn trail to follow thanks to the ski tourers. As such, much of the elevation gain can be knocked off quite quickly up to the lake. In general the effort to reward on Gin Peak is very high, with stunning views for such a short hike.
How difficult is the hike to Gin Peak?
Physically speaking the difficulty of Gin Peak will likely depend on the snow conditions when you complete the hike. After fresh snow this will be challenging, with consolidated snow and a well worn trail from ski tourers it might be a fairly straightforward, albeit steep, climb up.
Technically speaking it’s not too difficult, you can get by with just snowshoes and shouldn’t need an ice axe or crampons at any point. It’s never so steep that you’ll need to kick-step up a slope or anything, and there is no point where exposure or a fear of heights should become an issue.
Gin Peak via Hanging Lake Route Information
As noted the trailhead for Gin Peak is in Whistler Olympic Park, which charges a fee and has opening/closing hours, so make sure to check them out on their website. You’ll want to park in the Biathlon Parking Lot at the very end of the road, this is where the trail begins.
If you look on the map it appears as if there are a number of different routes to go, but in reality it’s quite straightforward. There are multiple signs pointing towards Hanging Lake, you’ll want to follow these. From the parking lot you’ll follow a nordic ski route past the Biathlon firing range where you’ll see one of these Hanging Lake signs to the left. Keep following these signs and you’ll soon be out of the Whistler Olympic Village area and on the backcountry trail to Hanging Lake. It’ll take about 1km of hiking before you’re on the dedicated Hanging Lake trail and once you’re on it there is only one way to go.
At the 1km mark you’ll enter a dense forest and the gradient will begin to pick up. Thankfully, as this is such a popular touring area, the likelihood is there will be well packed snow and travel will be simple. Until you reach the 3km mark this is really just a forest grind on moderately steep terrain with nothing to see. In some ways this is beneficial as it’s simple to navigate and gets much of the elevation gain out of the way before you hit the deeper snow.
At the 3km mark you’ll come to a large opening, presumably a boulder field but it’s not possible to tell in the winter. There’ll be some nice winter scenery here as you traverse across the base of some steep cliffs well away from you.
After 500m more you’ll break out of the treeline entirely and you’ll be greeted to the wonderful views of Rainbow Mountain looming large behind Hanging Lake, which was completely buried in snow in February. As much as it’s great to get some views, this is where the hard work starts.
The trail will now loop around the south end of the lake, but at this time of year you can feasibly walk right over the lake if you want. After leaving the lake bed you’ll begin working up a hillside to gain the ridgeline that leads up to Gin Peak. If the snow is deep this will be very challenging, but ideally there should be ski touring tracks you can follow, which will make life considerably easier.
You’ll soon gain the ridge where the views of Rainbow Mountain and Rainbow Lake really open up. Gin Peak also comes into full view and is now around 300 vertical meters higher. It’s fairly obvious now where to go, you’ll be working up the west ridge of Gin Peak and ultimately approaching the summit from the south west. Refer to your map if need be.
The trail will now continue to follow the ridge as you climb gradually, initially it will lead away from Gin Peak, before looping back on itself once the terrain mellows. Once you turn back towards Gin Peak, it remains a mellow gradient until the last couple of hundred meters where it again becomes quite steep. Soon enough though you’ll be at the summit, where the views are stunning in every direction.
After soaking in the views, taking some photos and generally trying to appreciate the moment, it’s time to head back down, staying cognizant of the fact you need to be back at your car before the parking lot closes.
On the descent you might opt to take a couple of shortcuts, skipping the elongated approach the tourers took and plunging down a hill to rejoin your tracks from earlier. This will be a lot of fun and much, much easier than the ascent. In no time you’ll be back at Hanging Lake. Once back at the south end of Hanging Lake you’ll soon be back in the forest and just plodding back to the trailhead. Be careful of ski tourers here as they’ll come flying down the narrow trail and you might have to jump out of their way. Soon enough you’ll be back at the car and thankful for it.
When should I hike Gin Peak via Hanging Lake?
Gin Peak is primarily a winter objective, especially from Whistler Olympic Park. If you plan to go in summer then it’s best to approach from either the Rainbow Lake Trail beginning at Alta Lake Road, or the Rainbow / Madeley Lake trail beginning from Madeley Lake.
Top Tip
This is probably the first time I would suggest to not be the first person on the trail. It’s very advantageous to have some tourers ahead of you, it’ll make your life considerably easier.
