Aiguille - Hike in Whistler Glossary

Aiguille: a tall, narrow, characteristically distinct spire of rock. From the French word for "needle". Used extensively as part of the names for many peaks in the French Alps. Around Whistler and in Garibaldi Park you will find several distinct aiguilles. Shown here is the prominent aiguille that stands like a tower at the summit of Rethel Mountain above Wedgemount Lake. Standing near the hut at Wedgemount Lake, Rethel is the towering mountain directly across the lake.

Whistler & Garibaldi Park

Ablation Zone Accumulation Zone Adit Lakes Aiguille Alpine Zone Arête ARRTI Armchair Glacier The Barrier Battleship Islands Bears Bench Bergschrund Bivouac Cairn/Inukshuk Carter Chimney Cirque Cloudraker Coast Mountains Cordilleran Cornice Corrie Lake Crevasse Dalgleish Deadfall Emerald Forest Erratic The Fissile Fitzsimmons Creek Fitzsimmons Range Fyles Garibaldi Ranges Garibaldi Volcanic Belt Gemel Glacier Window Green Lake Hoary Marmot Krummholz Lithophyte Moraine Mt Garibaldi Mt James Turner Northair Mine Nunatuk Overlord Peak 2 Peak Roundhouse Rubble Creek Scree Spearhead Range Tarn The Table Townsend Usnea Winram

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If you are looking at Wedge Mountain from Whistler Village, Rethel Mountain is the second mountain to the left of Wedge. In order they are Wedge Mountain, Parkhurst Mountain and Rethel Mountain. Parkhurst Mountain stretches down the valley to Parkhurst Ghost Town at the shore of Green Lake. Across Wedgemount Lake and still visible from Whistler are Mount Weart, Armchair Glacier and Cook Mountain. If you are new to Whistler and are unfamiliar with Wedge Mountain, it is the strikingly wedge-shaped mountain that dominates the skyline from many places in Whistler. The highest mountain in Garibaldi Provincial Park and easily spotted next to Blackcomb Mountain, which in turn is next to Whistler Mountain. Shown here is Wedge Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain as seen from Rainbow Lake across the valley. The first glimpse of Wedge Mountain, for most, is from the highway as they drive into Whistler. At Function Junction 8 kilometres south of Whistler Village you catch your first beautiful view of this towering mountain.

Wedge and Blackcomb from Rainbow Lake

From the shore of Wedgemount Lake the aiguille on Rethel Mountain is easily visible and quite distinct. Rethel Mountain and its neighbour to the left, Parkhurst are strikingly beautiful mountains to see and even hear. While camping at the shore of Wedgemount Lake, you will be startled occasionally to hear quite large boulders tumbling down these mountains and into the lake. It happens fairly regularly and you never quite get used to the unnerving sound of falling rocks. It tends to add to the interesting and hostile beauty of this wonderful place.

Another good place to see an aiguille is at Levette Lake, south of Whistler, near Squamish. Looking across the lake you get a great view of the Tantalus Range and this marvellous aiguille shown here. Levette Lake is a hidden little lake found just a short drive up Squamish Valley Road. Details, maps and directions can be found at HikeInSquamish.com.

The Spearhead Range is a subsection of the Garibaldi Ranges that runs in an arc that connects Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain. The Spearhead ...

The Table is an extraordinary flat-topped mountain located in Garibaldi Park just one kilometre south of Garibaldi Lake. Sometimes reflexively referred to as ...

Cirque: a glacier-carved bowl or amphitheater in the mountains. To form, the glacier must be a combination of size, a certain slope and more unexpectedly, a ...

Cornice: a wind deposited wave of snow on a ridge, often overhanging a steep slope or cliff. They are the result of snow building up on the crest of a ...

Paper birch, also known as white birch is a type of birch tree that grows in northern North America. Named for its paper-like, white or cream coloured ...

Charles Townsend climbed and explored several mountains around Whistler back in 1923, when much of the area remained unexplored. Along with his friend Neal ...

Columnar Jointing: bizarre looking columns of oddly angular rock formations that can be found in many places around Whistler and worldwide. Generally ...

Hoary Marmots are the cute, pudgy, twenty plus pound ground squirrels that have evolved to live quite happily in the hostile alpine areas around Whistler. ...

Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking

Alexander Falls Ancient Cedars Black Tusk Blackcomb Mountain Brandywine Falls Brandywine Meadows Brew Lake Callaghan Lake Cheakamus Lake Cheakamus River Cirque Lake Flank Trail Garibaldi Lake Garibaldi Park Helm Creek Jane Lakes Joffre Lakes Keyhole Hot Springs Logger’s Lake Madeley Lake Meager Hot Springs Nairn Falls Newt Lake Panorama Ridge Parkhurst Ghost Town Rainbow Falls Rainbow Lake Ring Lake Russet Lake Sea to Sky Trail Skookumchuck Hot Springs Sloquet Hot Springs Mount Sproatt Taylor Meadows Train Wreck Wedgemount Lake Whistler Mountain

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Holloway Falls is the beautiful waterfalls you see partway along the Joffre Lakes Provincial Park trail. Located between Middle Joffre Lake and Upper ...

Shannon Falls towers above Howe Sound at 335 metres as the third tallest falls in BC. The wonderful, though very short trail winds through a beautiful old ...

Whistler Train Wreck is a hidden little world of brightly graffiti painted, wrecked train cars along a gorgeous stretch of Cheakamus River. One ...

Rainbow Falls is located just a short hike from the start of the Rainbow Trail to Rainbow Lake. The trailhead is along Alta Lake Road on the far side of ...

More of the Best Whistler Waterfalls

Brandywine Falls is one of the must see sights on the drive to or from Whistler, and arguably the nicest of Whistler’s numerous beautiful waterfalls. Located about halfway between Squamish and Whistler, the falls ...

Cheakamus River is a beautiful, crashing, turquoise coloured river that flows from Cheakamus Lake, through Whistler Interpretive Forest at Cheakamus Crossing, then down past Brandywine Falls to Daisy Lake. ...

Newt Lake is beautiful little lake high up on the far side of Cougar Mountain near Ancient Cedars. Its location is a wonderful mix of unexpected characteristics that combine to make it a gorgeous place to ...

Nairn Falls is a wonderful, crashing and chaotic waterfall that surrounds you from the deluxe viewing platform that allows you to safely watch it from above. The beautiful, green water rushes through the ...

More Whistler Hiking Trails & Maps

HikeInWhistler.com

Wedgemount Lake

Whistler Train Wreck

Brandywine Meadows

Rainbow Falls

Panorama Ridge

Northair Mine

Black Tusk

June Hiking Update!

Garibaldi Provincial Park

Whistler & Garibaldi Park

Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking