Garibaldi Park Whistler A to Z: KrummholzWhen you hike in the alpine in Whistler and Garibaldi Provincial Park, you will often encounter unbelievably hardy and sometimes mangled looking trees.  Weathering high winds, freezing temperatures, deep snow and usually growing where most other things can't.  These weather battered trees are called krummholz.  Krummholz is a German derived word that comes from two words, krumm and holz.  Krumm means bent, crooked, twisted and holz means wood.

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The lodgepole pine is commonly found in the alpine regions around Whistler.  There are many other types of trees that are known to form into bizarre krummholz trees, including spruce, mountain pine, balsam fir, subalpine fir and limber pine.  The krummholz tree pictured here is on a cliff above Cirque Lake in the Callaghan Valley.  A tremendously hostile place to live in the winter months, however, during the summer Cirque Lake is a tranquil paradise.  Most krummholz trees you will see will be found growing out of a rocky landscape with just a thin layer of dirt.  Often they have a short, yet very solid shape, pushing the bedrock apart as they grow.  Other common krummholz trees form into a flag shape, where high winds have blasted the branches so they form on one side only.  Regardless of the shape of krummholz trees, they always appear to have lived through brutal winters in improbable locations.  This krummholz tree pictured below is growing out of a rocky island, one of the Battleship Islands in Garibaldi Lake, Garibaldi Provincial Park.

Krummholz on Garibaldi Lake

Krummholz on Garibaldi Lake

Below are examples of krummholz trees at Brew Lake, Garibaldi Lake and Brandywine Meadows.  The Brew Lake krummholz on the bottom left is a great example of a twisted, mangled looking krummholz.  The centre picture from Garibaldi Lake shows two, much older, weather battered krummholz trees at the shore of the lake.  And the right side picture shows krummholz trees with the characteristic flag shape at Brandywine Meadows with Mount Garibaldi in the distance.

Krummholz at Brew Lake, Garibaldi Lake and Brandywine Meadows

Krummholz at Wedgemount Lake

Krummholz Near Panorama Ridge

Krummholz at Cirque Lake

Krummholz at Cirque Lake

Krummholz on the Upper Shannon Falls Trail

More Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking A to Z!

Chimney: a gap between two vertical faces of rock or ice.  Often a chimney offers the only viable route to the summit of a mountain.  An example of this is Black ...
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Moraines are glacially deposited ridges of debris that accumulate at the sides or terminus of a glacier.  Lateral moraines form at the sides of glaciers ...
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The Garibaldi Volcanic Belt is a line of mostly dormant stratovolcanoes and subglacial volcanoes largely centred around Whistler and extending through much ...
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Accumulation Zone: the area where snow accumulations exceeds melt, located above the firn line.  Snowfall accumulates faster than melting, evaporation and ...
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Deadfall means a tangled mass of fallen trees and branches.  There are several name variations for fallen trees that are commonly used in Whistler.  ...
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Northair Mine is wonderful, hidden world high up in Callaghan Valley.  It was a gold mine run by the Northair Group from 1976 until was abandoned in 1982 ...
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The Garibaldi Ranges are a subdivision of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains.  Deriving its name from Mount Garibaldi, the Garibaldi Ranges cover ...
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The second Caterpillar tractor in Parkhurst Ghost Town is considerably harder to find despite being just a few metres from the hulking Caterpillar at the shore ...
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The Best Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking Trails!

Wedgemount Lake itself is a magnificent destination for a day hike or spectacular overnight beneath the dazzling mountain peaks and stars above Garibaldi Provincial Park. Many sleep under the stars on one of ...
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Whistler & Garibaldi Park Best Hiking by Month!

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Free Camping Gear Delivery to Garibaldi Park

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