Rainbow Mountain

	Out of Date
	This article contains old out of date information from an early 1990s edition of the VOC Ski guide. Road conditions may have changed considerably since this article was written.

Using This Ski Guide

VOC Ski Guide

Using This Ski Guide Preface Winter Safety Avalanche safety Waxing Navigation Snow Shelters Gear Lists

Difficulty Rating Unrated

Omer lakes | Loch Lomond | Mount Sedgwick | Mamquam | Alice Ridge | Diamond Head | Garibaldi Neve traverse | Brohm Ridge | Sphinx Bay | Black Tusk Meadows | Helm Creek | Cheakamus Lake | Singing Pass (Via Trail) | Singing Pass (Via Lift) | Spearhead Traverse | Rethel Creek | Cloudburst Mountain | Brew Hut | Brandywine Mountain | Metal Dome | Powder-Cap Traverse | Callaghan Lake | Telemagique Ridge | Puma Peak |Pemberton Ice Cap | Gin Peak | Beverley Creek | Rainbow Mountain | Mount Sproatt | Overseer | Ipsoot Mountain | Tenquille Lake | McGillivray Pass | Lizzie Lake | Microwave Road | Frosty Mountain

Route at a Glance

Rating	Location Key	Map Refs	Road	Route	Start Elevation	High Point	Technical Notes
	92G/	km/hrs	km/hrs	m	m

Introduction

Rainbow Mountain, just west of Whistler, is an excellent year round destination. Access is usually up 21 Mile Creek on a good trail that starts on Alta Lake Road and goes past Rainbow Lake.

The peak is best reached from the west, in winter or in summer. There are a variety of routes from this side, but all are easy scrambles. There's no real trail though, so you are on your own for routefinding once past Rainbow Lake. The climb to the summit is a long day trip in spring or summer, but usually takes 2 days mid winter.

21 Mile Creek is the drinking water supply for Whistler. Camping in the watershed is not permitted, although it is usually tolerated in the winter when fewer people visit the area. Good spots for summer camping are at Hanging Lake (official campground) or at Beverly Lake further north.

Access

The trailhead is located at the Whistler Cemetary on Alta Lake road in Whistler. If driving from Vancouver, the turnoff for Alta lake road is north of Function Junction and South of Whistler Creek on the left (west) side of the highway. Follow Alta Lake road for 6 km to a turnoff on the left for the Whistler cemetary. In winter, it's generally easiest to park at the cemetary and ski up the gated road rather than up the lowest part of the hiking trail. The hiking trail parking is about 200m further north on Alta Lake road. The road and trail join back together near the municipal water supply buildings, about 1km up.

Route

At Xkm is a small clearing on the trail. This is the turn off for Mount Sproat. To continue to Rainbow Lake, keep following the trail to a big log bridge and up a hill beyond. Eventually the trail reaches open meadows just before Gin and Tonic Creek. The markers become more difficult to follow, but the general route up the 21 mile creek valley is generally obvious. The deck of the bridge over Gin and Tonic creek is removed in the winter, so you will need to drop into the canyon, cross on a snow bridge and climb out the other side. This is generally done about 50-100m downstream from the suspension bridge. Beyond Gin and Tonic Creek, open meadows lead up to Rainbow Lake. The final climb to the lake is usually done in the forest on the north side of 21 mile creek.

Hazards

1. Avalanche