Flute Summit is a flat-topped summit in the Fitzsimmons Range

Fitzsimmons Range

The Fitzsimmons Range is a small mountain range on the northwestern edge of the Garibaldi Ranges in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, located between the valleys of Cheakamus Lake and Fitzsimmons Creek . Its most famous summit is Whistler Mountain, which overlooks the resort town of Whistler...

 of the Garibaldi Ranges

Garibaldi Ranges

The Garibaldi Ranges are the next-to-southwesternmost subdivision of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains; only the North Shore Mountains are farther south. They lie between the valley formed by the pass between the Cheakamus River and Green River on the west and the valley of the Lillooet...

 of the Pacific Ranges

Pacific Ranges

The Pacific Ranges are the southernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains portion of the Pacific Cordillera. Located entirely within British Columbia, Canada, they run northwest from the lower stretches of the Fraser River to Bella Coola, north of which are the Kitimat Ranges.The Pacific Ranges...

 in southwestern British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is located on the north side of Cheakamus Lake

Cheakamus Lake

Cheakamus Lake is a lake in Garibaldi Provincial Park on the southeastern outskirts of the resort municipality of Whistler, British Columbia. It has an area of 5.7 km²...

 just southeast of the town of Whistler

Whistler, British Columbia

Whistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately north of Vancouver...

 in Garibaldi Provincial Park

Garibaldi Provincial Park

Garibaldi Provincial Park, also called Garibaldi Park, is a wilderness park located in British Columbia, Canada, about 70 kilometres north of Vancouver. The park is located to the east of the Sea to Sky Highway between Squamish and Whistler and covers an area of over 1,950 square kilometres...

. The mountain is part of a group of hills called the Musical Bumps.

Geology

In 2004, volcanologist Jack Souther

Jack Souther

Jack Souther is an Bancroft Award winning American-Canadian volcanologist of the Geological Survey of Canada. He is a leading authority on geothermal resources and volcanism in the Canadian Cordillera. Souther has long been in demand as a professor to lay audiences because of his ability to give...

 of the Geological Survey of Canada convinced that Flute Summit is an exposed subvolcanic

Subvolcanic rock

A subvolcanic rock, also known as a hypabyssal rock, is an igneous rock that originates at medium to shallow depths within the crust and contain intermediate grain size and often porphyritic texture. They have textures between volcanic and plutonic rocks. Subvolcanic rocks include diabase and...

 intrusion

Intrusion

An intrusion is liquid rock that forms under Earth's surface. Magma from under the surface is slowly pushed up from deep within the earth into any cracks or spaces it can find, sometimes pushing existing country rock out of the way, a process that can take millions of years. As the rock slowly...

 of an ancient volcano. Nearby mountains, such as Whistler Mountain

Whistler Mountain

Whistler Mountain is a mountain in the Fitzsimmons Range of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains, located on the northwestern edge of Garibaldi Provincial Park. It is the location of the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort and the town of Whistler, British Columbia.The original name of the mountain...

 and Piccolo Summit

Piccolo Summit

Piccolo Summit is a summit in the Fitzsimmons Range of the Garibaldi Ranges of the Pacific Ranges in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the north side of Cheakamus Lake just southeast of the town of Whistler in Garibaldi Provincial Park...

, consist of lava flows that were erupted from a volcano

Volcano

2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...

 about 100 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous

The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...

 period. The subvolcanic rock that comprises Flute Summt is igneous rock

Igneous rock

Igneous rock is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic rock. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava...

 that solidfied inside the Late Cretaceous volcano. Subvolcanic rocks can remain semi-molten and hot for hundreds or thousands or years. Because the magma that forms subvolcanic rocks solidifies and crystallizes slower than magma erupted on the surface, mineral grains grow larger. This produces a coarse grained rock. As subvolcanic magma heats and sets up convention in nearby groundwater, a hydrothermal system

Hydrothermal circulation

Hydrothermal circulation in its most general sense is the circulation of hot water; 'hydros' in the Greek meaning water and 'thermos' meaning heat. Hydrothermal circulation occurs most often in the vicinity of sources of heat within the Earth's crust...

is created. This hydrothermal system can form quartz veins like those found at Flute Summit, combined with sulfurous gasses released from the magma, cause chemical alteration of both the crystallizing subvolcanic intrusion and the neighbouring rocks. This is how Flute Summit got its red colour.