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	Out of Date
	This article contains old out of date information from an early 1990s edition of the VOC Ski guide.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

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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.

Hazards

1. Avalanche