It's forecasted to be a decent day on Saturday so there should be some views to be had. 

We'll take the Hanging Lake trail from the Biathlon Parking lot at the Whistler Olympic Park and summit Gin Peak. Gin Peak is the summit immediately south of Rainbow Lake.  

I'll be on snowshoes this trip. If you're a beginner backcountry skier looking to progress from the likes of Zoa this is a good opportunity to comfortably scout this next level route on snowshoes first before coming back another day to ski. 

For more seasoned skiers it's a classic. Though this is more of a point A to B there and back trip (hence the slightly later civilized start time). The focus of the day will be more on the journey and getting back down vs getting in laps, though there will be some skiing to be had of course.   

The pace will be an easy going moderate-moderate pace. We'll set a turn around time to make our way back to the trailhead in time to ensure we're down at the vehicles before the gate locks at 4:30pm. Or we may alternatively opt to park at the overnight lot outside the gate (adds about 3km). Hence tentative TBD 7 or 7:30am meet.  

Avy bulletin and weather conditions will be re-reviewed and posted the day before the trip in case of any changes from the 2/28 bulletin expiring Thursday afternoon. (trip dependent on avy conditions). 

Rating: The Baldwin guide has it classed as difficulty level 3 (Zoa and Hollyburn are level 2). 

Stats: 10-13km, 1000m elevation gain, 6-7hrs 

Needed: AST 1 and avalanche safety gear (shovel, beacon and probe), snowshoes or backcountry ski/skin/splitboard set up, the 10 essentials including a headlamp, food and water for the day.