Ymir Peak

Ymir Mountain is renowned for its powder, but it’s also a perfectly hike-able summer excursion. Achieving the summit involves following a difficult trail to traverse the boulders and scree in the Ymir Bowl, but the reward is ridge-line hiking with spectacular views!

Summary

Trailhead: Whitewater Ski Hill Road
Distance, round trip: 8.5km
Elevation: +760m
Season: mid-July to late September
Difficulty:  Difficult

Trailhead & Driving Directions

Drive all the way up Whitewater Ski Hill Road to park near Hummingbird Lodge. This road is generally good for 2WD low clearance vehicles.

Looking up, Ymir Mountain dominates in the distance with the ski hill cradled between its ridges. This route cuts across Ymir Peak’s bowl to gain the west ridge and then does an out-and-back to the summit. Experienced hikers may instead chose to hike to Half Dome and then do a traverse across both of Ymir’s ridges, however the route between Half Dome and Ymir Peak has more exposure and is not recommended.

Following the Hummingbird Lodge Summer Trail Map, this loop connects the Silverking Trail (#4), West Ymir Trail (#12), Ymir Peak Trail (#13), and then circles back down on the Prospector Trail (#11) and Summit Trail (#7).

Up the Silver King Trail

After leaving behind the car, walk through the parking lots and past the winter Whitewater Ski Lodge to ascend the ‘Lower Sluice Box’ run, aiming straight for Ymir Mountain. There is a rough road ascending the ski run which narrows into a footpath which is the Silver King Trail.

The Silverking Trail winds pleasantly through wet meadows before intersecting with a road. The trail steps onto the road, walks up about 10m, then promptly steps off the road again at the end of a switchback, heading towards Ymir Peak. Look for the signed junction at 1.5km.

Hiking up the Bowl

Follow the trail carefully up Ymir Bowl, crossing multiple boulder fields and ascending a steep gully. Watch for cairns, painted blazes, and bits of path.

The climb is steep, but this area is full of fall colours with larches blazing yellow in late September. If you’re hiking in July, be careful around steep snow fields. This route is best in late summer when the snow is gone and the gully isn’t as wet.

As you approach the ridge, the trail angles southwest to ascend up a ramp. Reach the col at 2.6km with a signed junction. Turn left (southeast) to continue to Ymir Peak.

The West Ridge

Watch for orange reflective diamond blazes as you continue ascending the west ridge. The trail is hard to follow in places. The occasional rock band demands a short scramble, but the trail keeps away from the cliffs overlooking Ymir’s bowl.

It’s less than 1km from the col to the summit, but the steep terrain demands a slower pace. Hike past an impressive notch in the ridge just before the final ascent.

Ymir Peak

Reach the summit just after 3.5km from the trailhead, at 2352m above sea level. It takes most hikers 2-3 hours to get this far, with the steep ascent. Look for the summit register in the cairn and enjoy the views. Beyond the ski terrain, many familiar Kootenay peaks can be seen – look for the Valhallas as well as Kokanee Glacier.

Options

Retrace your steps back to junction at the col and make a decision. The fastest way down is retracing your steps- down Ymir’s bowl. The trail is blazed from both directions and easier to follow on the descent, but the steep grade on loose rocks is less appealing.

A better option is to continue on the Prospector Trail to make a loop, descending on the nicely graded Summit Trail. This adds an extra 1.5km of distance to the day, but offers new terrain and a better knee-hip-joint experience.

Follow the signs for Prospector Peak and continue west along the ridge. You can chose to summit the smaller Prospector and Hummingbird Peaks as you pass by on the trail with signed junctions leading to their quick viewpoints. At 6km, reach another signed junction and stay right to descend towards the Summit Trail. Watch for red-white painted blazes as you cross the rockslide on a nicely built trail.

At 6.7km, you’ll reach another junction and be descending the rest of the Summit Trail, finishing back near the winter lodge to complete the loop.