Puma Peak
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Puma Peak lies between Beverley Creek and Madeley Creek. The 1890m south summit (only a few meters lower than the main summit) makes a good ski trip.
Contents
Access
Access is from Whistler Olympic Park, the cross-country skiing, biathlon and ski jumping facility in the Callaghan Valley. Whistler Olympic Park is at the far end of Callaghan Valley Road, which leaves highway 99 north of Brandywine Falls, about 20km south of Whistler. The backcountry access trails begin from the Biathlon Range Parking Lot, which is about 1km past the main Day Lodge on Callaghan Valley Road. Overnight parking is only permitted at the Alexander Falls Recreation Site parking lot outside the main gate. Parking here adds an extra 1.5km of skiing along groomed trails. Whistler Olympic Park normally closes in mid April, and the road is gated just after Alexander Falls. After the Olympic Park is closed, park at Alexander Falls and use the unmaintained cross-country trails to reach the backcountry access trailheads.
Route
The first part of the route is part of the Beverley Creek Trail. The main access route up Beverley Creek starts from the Biathlon Range. This route may be closed during Biathlon competitions, as it crosses the Biathlon race course. Use an alternate route if there is a competition in progress.
- Park in the Biathlon Parking lot.
- Head NW from the Biathlon building along the Olympic Biathlon ski trail, going underneath an overpass. Beyond the overpass is a dip in the trail.
- Pick up the start of the Beverley Creek trail on the downhill side at the bottom of the dip. The trail heads downhill at first then turns north along the Madeley Creek Loop XC trail to a bridge over Beverley Creek.
- Cross the bridge over Beverley Creek and pick up the trail markers 50m west of the bridge. Beverley Creek itself turns into a narrow canyon and is difficult to travel.
- The marked route goes along the ridge between Beverley Creek and Madeley Creek to a small lake.
- On the far side of the lake the route intersects the Rainbow Madeley Trail. The main route up Beverley Creek continues north and traverses back to Beverley Creek. The route to Puma Peak leaves the main trail here heading west.
- Follow the Rainbow-Madeley trail NW a short distance and then start up an open ramp on the west side of the ridge running south from Puma.
- Follow the ramp, keeping left to traverse a bench below cliffs. This leads to a second open ramp that heads up to the forested ridge crest.
- Cross over the ridge and find the start of another ramp, this time heading right on the east side of the ridge. Near the top of this ramp pass some large boulders then cut left to a tarn.
- Above the tarn a shallow gully leads into another ramp and up to the alpine.
- From the top of the final ramp it's a short ski through rolling alpine country to the south summit.
Alternate routes
Alternately, you can access Beverley Creek using the XC trails.
- From the Whistler Olympic Park overnight parking lot, follow Madeley Creek Trail
- From the Whistler Olympic Park Day Lodge, follow Outrun, Inside Passage then Madeley Creek trail
- When the low elevation snowpack is thin, it's best to climb high on the XC trails and cut over to the big lake on the ridge between Beverley Creek and Madeley Creek. Take Norwegian Woods trail to the east side of the final bridge over Madeley Creek, then head uphill to the east to join up with the Rainbow Madeley trail. This route follows the XC trails up to 950m elevation before entering the forest.
Hazards
- Avalanche terrain - ATES Challenging
