Hiking Whirlwind Peak in Garibaldi Provincial Park
Contents
Whirlwind Peak Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 36Km
Elevation Gain: 2,200m
Highest Elevation: 2,430m
Average Gradient: 12.22%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: Overnight Hike
– Moderate: 10 – 12 Hours
– Fast: 9 – 10 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: No
Season: June – October
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Whirlwind Peak Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 50°06’47.5″N 122°57’07.2″W
Whirlwind Peak Overview
Whirlwind Peak is a summit within the Fitzsimmons Range located in Garibaldi Provincial Park near Whistler. With panoramic views of glaciers and jaw-dropping peaks, Whirlwind Peak makes for a great hike through some beautiful backcountry terrain.
Just a few kilometers from Russet Lake, Whirlwind Peak makes for a short, fairly straightforward hike for anybody overnighting at the lake, but as a day trip this would be a sizable hike, especially if you start from Singing Pass as linked below. Alternatively hikers are able to take the Whistler Village gondola, reducing the total elevation significantly and maximizing the time spent in the alpine. The drawback of this, of course, is paying for the gondola, which doesn’t come cheap.
Unlike the far more challenging Overlord Mountain, Whirlwind Peak is a relatively straightforward hike, with no scrambling required to reach the summit. Many experienced parties continue on to Overlord, which requires moderate scrambling over some exposed terrain.
Most hikers going up to Whirlwind Peak will indeed camp at Russet Lake the day prior, hiking to the top, then departing from the lake back to Whistler Village on the same day. From the lake this is a short hike at around 6.5km and 600m elevation. It’s possible to complete this hike from the lake in 2 – 3 hours at a good pace. Hiking to/from Russet Lake usually takes around 7 – 9 hours for most parties.
Groups 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.
Due to its elevation, Whirlwind Peak has a fairly short window to be hiked, typically between June and October. Any earlier or later and snow will become an issue, particularly when gaining the west ridge where cornices can persist in the early summer. At times crampons and an ice axe might be recommended.
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 Whirlwind Peak worthwhile?
As a day trip Whirlwind Peak is a big objective. If you are hiking up and down Singing Pass the majority of your day will be spent in the forest. Most people completing this hike do so as an overnight, enjoying Russet Lake on the first day, before summiting Whirlwind Peak on the second. As an extension to a trip to Russet Lake this is a great hike, as a standalone hike from Whistler Village I would suggest taking the gondola up and following the High Note / Musical Bumps route to Russet Lake, hiking Whirlwind Peak, and exiting via Singing Pass. That would be a long day, but you would have excellent views the entire time.
If you hike up and down Singing Pass, the majority of your day will be very boring and it’s likely not worthwhile without staying a night at the lake.
How difficult is the hike to Whirlwind Peak?
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 difficult hike with significant distance and elevation, though for most part it’s not that steep. If you split it up into two days, while it’s still a difficult hike overall, 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 by around 800m. The total distance remains a similar amount.
Technically this hike is fairly straightforward, though you will need some route finding skills as at times the route will be unmarked. Gaining the west ridge of Whirlwind Peak can be tricky early in the season as cornices can linger, blocking the route up. The climb up to the summit is steep and if you are traveling on snow it would be advisable to take an ice axe and crampons. If there’s no snow it’s a straightforward hike up with no scrambling required.
Whirlwind Peak 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
Singing Pass Route
The Singing Pass trail is the one linked above, it 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.
Whirlwind Peak
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 gentle notch in the distance. You might pass over some snow patches here depending on the time of year.
Beyond the notch you will cross a flat gravel area, which we speculated was likely from an old lake given the unusually flat terrain. You’ll soon climb briefly, before dropping down onto a talus field 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 is the part that can be challenging in the early summer when cornices persist on the ridge, in which case an ice axe may be necessary. If cornices are particularly problematic you may need to go off trail to find a way up to the ridge, or you may even be completely blocked by cornices if it’s too early in the season. Once you’ve gained the ridge, you should have a fairly clear view of Whirlwind Peak, and the trail should now be well worn for the route to be obvious.
The trail now climbs quite steeply and in a few hundred meters you’ll find yourself on a small sub summit overlooking Overlord Glacier and Fissile Peak. The trail drops briefly and crosses a snow patch that persists for much of the summer, though this is now fairly flat and wouldn’t require an ice axe. Once you’ve crossed the snow patch you again climb steeply, and now you’ll be on a wide open scree field with a very obvious trail to follow. In a few hundred meters you’ll gain the summit of Whirlwind Peak.
From the 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. The true summit isn’t very obvious and you can walk a ways along the peak to get better views of the area. The peak will likely live up to its name with swirling winds, so make sure to take layers.
From the summit you’ll see the route to Overlord Mountain along a long, undulating ridge. It looks like a long and technical scramble from here, but as is often the case it’s easier than it appears.
After finishing up at the summit, you return back to Russet Lake the same way you came. When you get back to the west ridge of Whirlwind Peak, before dropping down you will notice you can actually walk the other length of the ridge towards Cheakamus Lake. It might add 30 mins or so to your day, but you’ll get some great views of Cheakamus Lake and Castle Towers from the other end of the ridge. If you’re returning back to Whistler Village you will most likely be hiking out via Singing Pass, which is a long and dull end to the day, but at least it’s all downhill.
When should I hike Whirlwind Peak?
As noted, Whirlwind Peak 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 Mid-July to early October. It might be possible to go a little 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 you are likely going to be hiking Singing Pass, at least in one direction, as the gondola hours are too limiting to take it each way as a day trip.
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 Whirlwind Peak (day 2). It will be difficult to hike Whirlwind Peak 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.
