This is the view from atop the 7th Heaven chairlift on Blackcomb Mountain. The difficult rating is high, because of the cost of getting to the top. You will either have to take 3 open chairlifts (the Wizard Express, Solar Coaster Express, and 7th Heaven Express) or you can take the Whistler Village Gondola to the top of Whistler Mountain, and then take the Peak 2 Peak Gondola to Blackcomb Mountain. You can check the rates at the related website. Once at the top you will get an amazing view of the Coast Mountain range including volcanic and glacial formations.
**Please note that during certain summer periods the 7th Heaven Express might be closed. When you get off the Solar Coaster Express, take a short walk to the Jersey Cream Chairlift, then a moderate hike on a 2.5km road with an elevation gain of 340m. Average slope is 13%. Thanks to WhistlerRob for the hiking details**
To log this cache you will need to email us the answers to the following questions.
1. At the top of Blackcomb Mountain, you will be atop the Horstman Glacier. Look around for a structure that shares the same name as the glacier. What is the elevation from sea level in meters, that is listed on the structure?
2. There were a couple of informational signs in the area (check hint now as the signs have been removed). What is the name of one of the most spectacular creations formed when volcanic eruptions broke through the fields of ice?
3. What mountain is at an elevation of 2680m/8787ft?
4. What were the earlier pioneers looking for when they came to the Fitzsimmons valley?
5. Please post a picture of yourself, part of yourself, or your GPS with the Coastal Mountain range in the background (this is now mandatory as the original info sign has been removed).
Geography
The Coast Mountains are part of the larger Pacific Coast Ranges (or Pacific Mountain System). The Coast Mountains got their name from their proximity to the Pacific Ocean. The range is approximately 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) long and runs from the South western Yukon, through the Alaska Panhandle, and along most of the British Columbia coast. The range is about 300 kilometres (190 mi) wide. The Coast Mountains are made up of three smaller ranges, the Pacific Ranges, the Kitimat Ranges and the Boundary Ranges. Within the Pacific Ranges is the Garibaldi Ranges, and within this range is the Fitzsimmons Ranges, of which Whistler and Blackcomb are located.
British Columbia’s great rain forests are a direct result of the Coast Mountains. Their proximity to the Pacific Ocean means that the moisture-laden air that comes off the ocean has to rise to clear the range—thus, causing heavy rainfalls on the western slopes.
Geology
The Coast Mountain Range boasts a series of unique geological features including ice fields (areas of ice larger than an alpine glacier and less than 50, 000 km² (19,305 mile²)), glaciers and volcanoes (and related volcanic structures). This volcanic range is called the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt, and is part of The Ring of Fire, which is a group of volcanoes and associated mountains found around the Pacific Ocean. The volcanoes found here are mostly dormant stratovolcanoes and subglacial volcanoes, most of which have been eroded by glaciers. Some other interesting volcanic landforms found here include lava domes and calderas, cinder cones and volcanic plugs—the most famous volcanic plug being ‘Black Tusk’ which can be viewed from this area.
Origins
The Coast Mountains are made mostly of deformed igneous (made from the cooling and hardening of lava or magma) and metamorphosed (changed form over time due to heat and pressure) pre-tertiary rocks. The area is also made of a few different terranes from different tectonic origins. A terrane is a fragment of the earth’s crust formed on, or broken off from, one tectonic plate and then becomes fixed to crust lying on another plate creating a unique geology. The bedrock under the range is made mostly of the igneous rocks, granite and diorite. This range was created over two major eruptive periods during the Cretaceous period. The first is known as the ‘Insular and Omineca Arc’ eruptive periods and the second is called the ‘Coast Range Arc’ eruptive period. Both of these periods produced major outcrops of granite. Finally, glacial activity and erosion on these granite outcrops formed the present range.