Mount Weart

Garibaldi Provincial Park is a fantastic playground for outdoor enthusiasts. It is well-known for its picturesque Garibaldi Lake, Elfin Lakes and The Black Tusk. However, it has loads of other worthwhile destinations, including Wedgemount Lake, a few minutes north of Whistler. The area gives access to a nice glacial lake, ice caves, and some of the park’s most dramatic summits. This adventure takes you to the top of Mount Weart (2,835 meters), the park’s second-highest summit.

This outing uses the Wedgemount Lake Trail approach. It is a 7-kilometer, well-marked, well-maintained and steep trail that leads to the base of the lake, where a hut and tent sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis. This outing can be done as a gruelling dayhike or as an overnighter.

From the hut, the next step is to make your way to the end of the lake and the base of Wedge Glacier. This section is flat and a little over 1 kilometer. It’s worth stopping at the glacier to enjoy the small glacial lake that has developed and some of the ice caves. The colors and shapes of the caves and glacier are very impressive.

From the base of the glacier (located at 1,900 meters), head east following a creek for 2 kilometers toward a basin, following occasional cairns and gaining 500 meters in the process. This part of the ascent is on bad scree and moving boulders, so use caution. Depending on the conditions and time of year, it may be completely snow-covered.

At the alpine basin, you will need to cross part of a small, unnamed pocket glacier on Mount Weart's south-southwestern face and scramble up to the summit ridge on another section of steep rock. Continue up to an elevation of around 2,500 meters. From there, simply head 800 meters up the sometimes steep but rarely exposed ridgeline all the way to the summit of Mount Weart (2,835 meters).

The views from the summit are fantastic. You will see Wedgemount Lake, Wedge Mountain and Rethel and Parkhurst mountains to the southeast. The big glacier to the east is Weart Glacier. Mount Moe and Mount Cook are the closest peaks to the northwest and north, the latter being an easy destination from Wedgemount Lake.

Use the same route to descend. Be careful on the scree slopes and boulder fields when there is no snow because the rocks are very easy to dislodge.