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Scree: from the Norse “skridha”, landslide.  The small, loose stones covering a slope. Also called talus, the French word for slope. Scree is mainly formed from the annual freeze/thaw periods of spring and fall, where water seeps into cracks in the rock and expands when freezing.  Scree slopes are a common obstacle or simply part of the scenery around Whistler.  The terrain at Wedgemount Lake is dominated by scree slopes and a massive erratic field around the lake.

Whistler & Garibaldi 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  Sproatt East  Sproatt West  Taylor Meadows  Train Wreck  Wedgemount Lake  Whistler Mountain

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Black Tusk in Garibaldi Park near Whistler is a crumbling mountain blanketed in scree.  From the top of Black Tusk, to its steep chimney climb, jet-black chunks of rock crumble down the scree slopes everywhere you look.  Black Tusk is the extraordinarily iconic and appropriately named mountain that can be seen from almost everywhere in Whistler.  The massive black spire of crumbling rock juts out of the earth in an incredibly distinct way that appears like an enormous black tusk plunging out of the ground.  Whether you spot it in the distance from the top of Whistler Mountain or from vantage points along the Sea to Sky Highway, its appearance is breathtaking.  Black Tusk, created in the fires of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt and is one of the most admired and hiked to destinations in Garibaldi Provincial Park.  Every angle you look at it, from far away, to closer vantage points such as Taylor Meadows, Helm Creek, Panorama Ridge or Garibaldi Lake.  All views give you the certain belief that it mus be impossible to hike to the top.  In fact, Black Tusk seems to look more impossible to climb the closer you get to it.  Even when you are close enough to touch its vertical, black and crumbling sides, you wonder in amazement how anyone can possible get up to the peak of this incredible mountain.  Black Tusk is near the centre of Garibaldi Park, and is accessible from three different trailheads, all accessible via old access roads.