Hiking Overlord Mountain in Garibaldi Provincial Park
Contents
Overlord Mountain Hike Information
Difficulty: Very Difficult
Distance: 39.60Km
Elevation Gain: 2,636m
Highest Elevation: 2,625m
Average Gradient: 13.31%
Effort/Reward Ratio: Very High / Very High
Time Needed:
– Slow: Overnight
– Moderate: 12 – 14 Hours
– Fast: 10 – 11 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: No
Season: July – October
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: Moderate scrambling with little exposure while passing over Refuse Pinnacle.
Overlord Mountain Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 50°06’47.7″N 122°57’07.7″W
Overlord Mountain Overview
Overlord Mountain is the highest mountain in the Fitzsimmons Range, located southeast of Whistler Village on the outskirts of Garibaldi Provincial Park. Surrounded by numerous other summits and awe-inspiring glaciers, Overlord Mountain is a significant yet worthwhile backcountry adventure.
Overlord Mountain is more than just a hike, with moderate scrambling across a mildly exposed ridgeline and a decent amount of route finding along the way. This hike/scramble should be left to experienced parties that are confident traveling deep in the backcountry with little chance of seeing other groups after leaving the Russet Lake trail.
Featured prominently in Scrambles in SWBC, Overlord Mountain is a very long hike with a moderate scramble across a ridgeline between Whirlwind Peak and Overlord itself. While this hike is possible to complete in one day for very fit parties, most people tend to complete this as an overnight hike, camping at the nearby Russet Lake before continuing on to the summit the following day. From Russet Lake you can expect a round trip of 6 – 7 hours, from Whistler Village you can expect 12 – 14 hours.
Parties must begin by first hiking to Russet Lake, either via the Singing Pass trail or after taking the Whistler Gondola and hiking the High Note / Musical Bumps trail. Alternatively hikers can follow one of these routes in, and hike the other route out, so as not to complete the same route twice. Once at the lake the remainder of the trail is mostly unmarked, though there will be sections with clearly worn paths, and route finding should be fairly straightforward with an offline map to follow.
Due to its significant elevation and technical terrain, Overlord Mountain has a fairly short window to be hiked, typically between July and October. Any earlier or later and snow will become an issue. At times crampons and an ice axe might be recommended, but usually any snow travel is on low angle terrain. A helmet is strongly advised.
The views once you leave Russet Lake are stunning, especially once you have reached Whirlwind Peak. The imposing Overlord Glacier tends to steal the show, but numerous glaciated peaks can be seen in all directions on a clear day.
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Is Overlord Mountain worthwhile?
There’s no doubt Overlord Mountain is a massive objective that often requires an overnight stop at Russet Lake, but frankly these are some of the most incredible glacier views you will likely see on any hike. The terrain is unique and the views are staggering. For a hike that is easily accessible, starting and ending in Whistler Village, it’s quite astonishing how much you can see in a relatively short amount of time. If you are experienced and confident with moderate scrambling, Overlord Mountain should be very high on your to-do list.
How difficult is the hike to Overlord Mountain?
This is really dependent upon a couple of factors. Firstly, if you are intending to do this hike in one day, it is no doubt a very difficult hike. If you split it up into two days, while it’s still a difficult hike, it’s far more manageable. Another way to make this hike easier (and far more scenic), is to take the Whistler Village Gondola up and hike the High Note / Musical Bumps trail to Russet Lake. This significantly reduces the total elevation gained, from around 2,600m to 1,800m. The total distance remains a similar amount, around 40km.
Technically this hike has its difficulties. Whatever route you take to Russet Lake is a simple hike on straightforward terrain. Beyond the lake the first objective is to hike up to Whirlwind Peak, which is more challenging terrain, but also just a hike (no scrambling yet). The challenge is the ridgeline between Whirlwind Peak and Overlord Mountain, particularly ascending and descending Refuse Pinnacle in between the two. A lot of the ridge is just steep with little exposure, but once you reach the climb to Refuse Pinnacle there will be consistent scrambling through mostly simple terrain with little exposure. There will be a few steps with mild exposure, but they are very brief, the holds are solid and the scrambling is always quite straightforward if you take your time. Beyond Refuse Pinnacle the remainder of the hike is just a straightforward walk up to the summit.
Overlord Mountain Route Information
As noted, hikers have two options as to how to reach Russet Lake, both of which are technically straightforward and both of which start/end in the same place, Whistler Village. Day hikers can park anywhere in the village and walk to the trailhead, overnight hikers are required to park in Lot 4 in a designated overnight parking area, leaving their campsite reservation information on their dashboard. The linked trail above follows Singing Pass in both directions, but you can alternatively go via the High Note / Musical Bumps trail from the top of the Peak Express chair.
Singing Pass Route
The Singing Pass trail begins near the gondola and there isn’t a lot to say about this trail other than it is very long, very boring but not very steep. Even though it ascends 1,400m over 15km, the gradient is modest throughout and most hikers can expect to reach Russet Lake in around 4 – 5 hours. There is really not a lot to see for the first 11.50 km, the entire trail is in the forest with no views whatsoever. At 11.50km the trail joins up with the Musical Bumps Route, becoming the Russet Lake trail for the last 3.50km. This section of the trail is scenic, with some nice views for the rest of the hike to Russet Lake. The benefits of Singing Pass over the High Note / Musical Bumps routes is that it’s free, there’s plenty of water, it’s shaded and you are not restricted to gondola times, which usually mean a late start and early finish.
High Note / Musical Bumps Route
This trail begins at the top of the Peak Express Chair, which is accessed via the Whistler Village Gondola. Unfortunately this means you are restricted to starting your hike within gondola hours, and typically the Peak Express Chair only runs on weekends (inc. Fridays), so make sure to check this is even possible.
From the top of the Peak Express Chair, hikers simply follow the extremely scenic High Note Trail as it saunters for 4.5km, where it intersects the Musical Bumps Trail. Continuing on the Musical Bumps trail, the scenery continues to be beautiful but the terrain becomes more challenging, with lots of ups and downs as you ascend and descend Flute and Oboe Summit. Eventually the trail joins up with the Singing Pass trail before continuing on to Russet Lake.
The benefits of this route is mostly that it’s much easier (~600m elevation gain vs. ~1,400m) and the views are stunning basically the entire time. One thing to note is that there is little to no shade on this route the entire time, and few, if any, water sources.
Overlord Mountain
From Russet Lake, you’ll want to head to the campsites at the northern end of the lake. From here you will cross over Russet Creek leading out from the lake, where the trail continues beneath Fissile Peak. Following your map, the trail will no longer be distinct as the terrain becomes loose rocks, but the general direction should be fairly obvious towards a notch in the distance. You might pass over some snow patches here depending on the time of year.
Beyond the notch you will cross an unusually flat gravel area, which we speculated was likely from an old lake given the unnaturally flat terrain, but that’s just a guess. You’ll soon climb briefly, before dropping down and crossing several small streams leading off from the tail of Overlord Glacier.
The trail ahead will be obvious as it climbs up loose scree towards the Whirlwind Peak ridgeline. This can be challenging in the early summer when cornices persist on the ridge, in which case an ice axe may be necessary. Once you’ve gained the ridge, the remainder of the trail to Whirlwind Peak is obvious and straightforward, albeit steep.
From Whirlwind Peak the views will now be stunning, especially towards Fissile Peak and Overlord Mountain, with the enormous Overlord Glacier below. You’ll also have excellent views of Castle Towers and Cheakamus Lake. Many people stop at Whirlwind Peak, given the remainder of the route becomes far more technical.
You’ll now see Overlord Mountain dominating the skyline at the end of an undulating ridge leading from the summit of Whirlwind Peak. The ridge might look particularly challenging terrain from a distance, but it’s a lot more straightforward than it appears so don’t be too deterred.
The route will now drop down from Whirlwind Peak, before climbing briefly to an unnamed sub-summit. From here you’ll drop steeply to the col between the sub-summit and Refuse Pinnacle, the crux of the scramble.
You’ll now begin ascending Refuse Pinnacle, with some fairly simple, unexposed scrambling to begin. As you climb higher you’ll scramble up a fairly narrow ridge before topping out on the pinnacle. While unmarked, the route will be fairly obvious with a well worn path for large parts of the scramble.
Once on the summit, you’ll descend the other side of the pinnacle, with one or two moderate scrambling steps with mild exposure, choosing whether to go left or right around the pinnacle. Soon enough you’ll reach the Refuse-Overlord col.
From here the remainder of the hike is a walk up loose, rocky terrain. You may cross a snow patch depending on the time of year, but the gradient will be mellow enough that an ice axe won’t be of much use. In no time you will reach the summit of Overlord Mountain.
The views along the entire ridge between Whirlwind and Overlord will be stunning, and the summit is of course no different. You’ll have absolutely breathtaking views of Overlord and Fitzsimmons glaciers, with the most notable peaks being Mount Benvolio, Mount Fitzsimmons, Diavolo Peak, Mount Macbeth, Tremor Mountain, Mount Davidson, Castle Towers and countless more.
After finishing up at the summit, you return back to Russet Lake the same way you came, taking care again on the Refuse Pinnacle scramble. If you’re returning back to Whistler Village you will most likely be hiking out via Singing Pass. Given the time restrictions on the gondola it’s unlikely you will make it to the gondola in time for the last gondola down, as it’s approximately a 4 hour hike to the gondola from Russet Lake, on top of the 6 – 7 hour hike up Overlord.
When should I hike Overlord Mountain?
As noted Overlord Mountain is best saved for mid-late summer when the chances of snow and cornices on the route are minimal. Most people complete this hike between August to early October. It might be possible to go a month earlier but you might be hiking on some snow and as such crampons and an ice axe are recommended.
Top Tip
If you are intending to hike this in one day your only real choice is to start/end on the Singing Pass trail given the gondola time restrictions.
If you are going over two days and don’t mind paying for the gondola, it’s highly recommended to take the gondola up and hike out via Singing Pass. This reduces the elevation gain of your trip significantly, and it means you are not limited to gondola times on the same day you hike Overlord Mountain (day 2). It will be extremely difficult to hike Overlord Mountain and take the gondola out due to the early time of the last gondola down.
You will want an offline map for sure, as the route beyond Russet Lake is unmarked.
