Hiking Spectrum Peak near Whistler
Contents
Spectrum Peak Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 14Km
Elevation Gain: 975m
Highest Elevation: 1,817m
Average Gradient: 13.93%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / Very High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 7 – 9 Hours
– Moderate: 6 – 7 Hours
– Fast: 5 – 6 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round (Winter Preferred)
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: No real exposure or scrambling, but a very steep avalanche slope to reach the summit.
Spectrum Peak Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 50°08’44.0″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.
Spectrum Peak Overview
Spectrum Peak is an unofficially named summit situated southwest of Rainbow Mountain near Whistler Village. Also known as “Peak 1817” due to its elevation, Spectrum Peak is not a popular summit, with the nearby Gin Peak and Rainbow Mountain itself drawing in significantly more ascents than this, mostly from ski tourers.
With all that said, Spectrum Peak is a beautiful summit, with incredible views of Rainbow Mountain and 360 degree views of all the typical Sea to Sky icons. Not only that, once hikers have reached Hanging Lake the views throughout this region are breathtaking, making a large chunk of the hike a scenic one.
Like most peaks in the area Spectrum Peak is very much a winter objective that benefits greatly from a decent snowpack. No doubt in the summer this area is bushy, with no dedicated trail to the summit. Hikers should be experienced with winter travel and prepare accordingly as this is a backcountry hike covering some steep avalanche terrain. The final climb up to the summit is a sustained 30-35 degree slope that is prone to wind loading, so avalanche knowledge and gear are a must. There is another route going up a south facing gully that goes at 45 degrees (will need ice axe and crampons), but most people follow the route described here up the east face. There is a high chance you will not see many people, if any, once you have left Hanging Lake, with most ski tourers and snowshoers either hiking up Gin Peak or Rainbow Mountain.
Spectrum Peak is 2WD friendly, with hikers having the option to park at Whistler Olympic Park (note that there are gate hours to abide by and a fee to pay), or 3.5km further down Callaghan Valley Road at Alexander Falls (free, no gate hours). This guide will assume parking at Whistler Olympic Park, if you opt to park at Alexander Falls you can add another 7km to the stats. Note that this is not a summer route, and if you plan to go in summer you should begin either from the Rainbow Lake trailhead (on Alta Lake Road) or from Madeley Lake, following the Rainbow / Madeley Lake Trail.
This is also a pet friendly hike as Hanging Lake is not in the Whistler Watershed.
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Is Spectrum Peak worthwhile?
The Hanging Lake region is always a stunning day out, though the hordes of skiers can often put a dampener on it if you prefer a quieter outing. Gin Peak suffers from extensive overuse on a sunny winter weekend, which might help with tracks the whole way to the summit but certainly takes away from the tranquility. Spectrum Peak offers this tranquility and the views are just as good, if not better, thanks to being the closest summit adjacent to Rainbow Mountain. With that said, Spectrum Peak is a fantastic day out in the backcountry.
How difficult is the hike to Spectrum Peak?
Physically speaking Spectrum Peak is on the easier end of difficult, though it might be snow dependent. If you have fresh, deep powder it will no doubt be very challenging. The majority of the climb is heavily trafficked through the forest until you reach Hanging Lake, which makes life much easier as the trail is hard packed and easy to hike on with microspikes or snowshoes. From the lake you will likely be breaking trail, so if the snow is deep this will certainly be challenging. Thankfully from the lake there is only 400m more of elevation to go, and much of that is a gradual plod until the summit push. The final climb is very steep, ascending around 150m in just 300m.
Technically speaking the majority of the hike is simple forest travel followed by a fairly mellow snowshoe plod following a creek. Once you reach the eastern face of the summit you will then grind up to the top on a sustained 30 degree slope, requiring a few switchbacks along the way. You should be fine on this slope without the need for crampons, but an ice axe would be nice to have, especially on the descent.
This is a very steep slope that is prone to wind slabs, so you want to time this hike for favorable avalanche conditions. There have been a few instances of groups turning back as they deemed the slope unsafe, and there was even an instance of a group calling SAR from the top after successfully summiting, only to realize the slope had formed several deep cracks. Appropriate avalanche gear and knowledge is of course strongly recommended for anyone hiking Spectrum Peak in winter.
Spectrum Peak Route Information
As noted the trailhead for Spectrum 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. Alternatively if you don’t want to pay for parking or have gate hour restrictions you can park at Alexander Falls for free and hike the extra 3.5km (each way) to the trailhead.
From the backcountry parking lot there should be good signage directing people towards Hanging Lake, so keep an eye out. Alternatively just make sure to have a downloaded offline map ready to go as there are a few ski touring tracks in the area. The route will hike past the biathlon firing range before quickly entering the forest.
For around 500m you’ll climb gradually through a lightly wooded area adjacent to a groomed backcountry ski track before reaching a junction with a trail leading up to your left. There will be some obvious signage pointing towards Hanging Lake, so join this trail and from here on out there is only one way to go.
Most of the time the trail is very hard packed here due to the volume of ski tourers that visit the Hanging Lake region. Unless there has been heavy snow recently you will likely be able to use microspikes all the way to Hanging Lake, but snowshoes work fine too if that’s all you have (or want to carry).
Over the next two kilometers the trail meanders through the forest with a decent amount of steep and icy slopes. Ski tourers can often be found flailing around or generally moving very slowly through this awkward, icy terrain while you cruise on by with your spikes. The forest is a bit of a slog but the benefit is you gain a lot of elevation rather quickly and easily compared to traveling on fresh powder. At around the 3km mark you’ll reach a large boulder field below a cliff band, which the skiers enjoy skiing down on their descent. You want to avoid ascending this boulder field and instead traverse the bottom of it, sticking close to the forest.
In around 500m you’ll finally reach Hanging Lake and the views begin to open up. Immediately you will see the imposing Rainbow Mountain on the horizon, and if you left to the left of it you will have your first glance of Spectrum Peak. Most people stop for a break on Hanging Lake, partly because they need one after the long slog through the forest, partly because it’s a good place to put on the snowshoes if you’re wearing microspikes, but mostly because it’s the first time you will have any sunlight. It’s a great place to warm up, have a rest, grab some food and do any gear changes you need to do.
Now you will likely see a lot of tracks leading around the east side of Hanging Lake, these generally go to Gin Peak and/or Rainbow Mountain. Usually there are not many tracks heading west of the lake, where you will be heading. Most likely for the rest of the hike you will be breaking trail, so this is where it can get challenging if there’s fresh powder. Either way, not much you can do but keep going, thankfully it’s not that steep for the next few kilometers.
Looking at your map you will want to reach the northern tip of the lake where a drainage creek leads into Hanging Lake. The majority of the hike now follows this creek as it gradually climbs up towards the southeast face of Spectrum Peak. This is a very direct and gradual climb and it’s easily the most efficient approach to the summit. Following the creek will be obvious but refer to your map if needed. In some spots there might be some holes you need to avoid as they could prove tricky to get out if you stumbled into one.
As you continue following this creek bed you will note some steep cliffs on either side of you throughout the trail, again providing some overhead avalanche risk if conditions aren’t favorable. The views throughout this section are stunning and serene, likely without a soul around. After a couple of kilometers you’ll reach the southeast face of Spectrum Peak and you’ll note a chute leading up to the blocky south face, as well as some gullies leading up the bluffy summit. This is the route you can take up if you want a more technical and adventurous ascent, but it would require crampons and an ice axe to do so safely. Assuming you are continuing to the eastern face you’ll continue north leading away from the chute, wrapping around to the eastern face. After passing by some bluffs the eastern slope mellows out into a steep snowy face. Here you will want to take a moment to assess the slope for any avalanche risk before beginning your ascent.
Immediately the mellow climb will become increasingly steep, involving a few switchbacks along the way. One or two rolls perhaps touch on 35 degrees but for the most part it’s just a sustained 30 degree slog. Most of the time you will be fine to keep snowshoes on, but if for any reason it’s particularly icy it would be worthwhile to have crampons (and an ice axe). There are a couple of flatter areas on the climb that provide some comfort as they break up the climb into sections, where if you did happen to slip and fall you would almost certainly stop at one of these flatter spots rather than continuing all the way down. Thankfully the ascent is fairly short lived, just 150 vertical meters or so. We were all a bit surprised at how short it was, topping out much earlier than we had anticipated.
The views from the summit are absolutely stunning, with the dramatic Rainbow Mountain dominating the views to the northeast. Gin Peak will also be prominent to the southeast, with Mount Sproatt and Tonic Peak behind. Also visible will be Whistler Blackcomb, the Wedge groups of peaks, the Tantalus Range, Garibaldi Massif, the Black Tusk, Mount Callaghan, Ring Mountain, Tricouni Peak, Sky Pilot Mountain, Cypress Peak, Mount Cayley, Pyroclastic Peak, Brandywine Mountain, Metal Dome and countless more. The views are really stunning.
Unfortunately we had powerful icy winds on the summit and while we lasted around 45 minutes, we couldn’t stick around much longer. The descent off the eastern face is rapid, you can glissade almost all of it, with those few flatter spots stopping you momentarily before jumping into the next one. You can likely descend it in mere minutes if you take your snowshoes off.
Once at the bottom of the eastern face it’s just a matter of following the same tracks back to Hanging Lake and joining up with the hordes again for the hike out via the forested trail. It’s probably easier to switch back to microspikes for the forest again. Keep an eye out for ski tourers racing past, but for the most part this trail is so icy, bumpy and twisty that skiers are in survival mode, with many of them falling over throughout. It takes a very skilled skier to get down through this quickly, and in all likelihood you’ll be just as fast on microspikes.
When should I hike Spectrum Peak?
Like most peaks in this region Spectrum Peak is primarily a winter objective and as such you should go while there is a healthy snowpack. The season will approximately run from December to May, but you might be fine slightly outside of that too depending on the snowpack. If you want to go in summer your best access is from the Rainbow Lake trailhead on Alta Lake Road, or from Madeley Lake, following the Rainbow / Madeley Lake trail.
Top Tip
You’ll definitely want to save Spectrum Peak for favorable avalanche conditions due to the steep summit climb, and of course you’ll want to take all the appropriate avalanche gear. You’ll also likely want to go with a group of people to aid in breaking trail, especially if there is fresh powder to deal with.
It is pretty easy to fit this hike into the Whistler Olympic Park gate hours, even for slower groups. Just make sure to arrive at opening time and always be cognizant of the time as you hike, making sure to be back at your vehicle at closing time. It is only really beneficial to park at Alexander Falls if you want to begin hiking 2 hours earlier than the WOP gate hours, since parking there adds around 2 hours to your hike.
