| Images taken on October 23, 2013 by Bill McComish – www.photoscanada.com Squamishs Sea to Sky Gondola project gears up for a spring opening …http://seatoskygondola.com/ By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun August 17, 2013 .A Squamish gondola project that some tourism analysts are calling B.C.s top new attraction for 2014 is on track to open in May, the developers have announced. The $22-million Sea to Sky Gondola project, just south of the Stawamus Chief, should attract over 200,000 visitors in its first year, while enhancing Squamishs reputation as an outdoor recreation mecca. The gondola itself is just one component, said Jayson Faulkner, general manager and a founding partner of the project. He said the project is a good fit for Squamish, which calls itself the Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada. Its a much bigger facility, with a lot of other amenities. Bored with Grouse Mountains gruelling Grind? Get ready for a new GrindTrail for the hardiest of hikers thats planned to open in 2015 as part of the project. Proponents promise it will take hikers up 853 vertical metres on a 2.5-kilometre trail to a 9,000-square-foot lodge also opening next spring where they can have a beer and a burger on a large deck overlooking Howe Sound. There will be a restaurant, group private function facility, caf, retail and a spectacular deck, Faulkner said. Out on the deck will be the place to go to watch the sun go down with a glass of wine. Hikers can then take one of the 20 Swiss-made Dopplemayr eight-person gondolas back down. The only hitch weve had, which was a surprise, was the snow load, Faulkner said. We had to double the size of beams and our construction cost of the upper facility to accommodate a seven-metre snow load. A 110-metre-long suspension bridge at the summit with 360-degree views of Howe Sound below is almost complete but will open with the gondola and lodge.
It spans a ravine, but its different because youre on the side of a mountain and all the terrain falls away below you. So its very dramatic. You can see all the way down Howe Sound. Theres spectacular views all the way to Whistler, Mount Garibaldi, with a very alpine feel to it.
At the top, weve got multiple trails, including two interpretative trails, a suspension bridge, and two viewing platforms, one with a very significant cantilevered platform about 300 feet in the air. And there will be trail systems accessing the upper reaches of the Upper Shannon watershed, accessing both the Mount Habrich and Skypilot mountains, Faulkner said. Faulkner said that while the GrindTrail wont open until the projects second phase, likely in 2015, an existing trail goes to the summit but is much longer and rougher than whats planned. The new trail a direct route to the summit will take hikers through terrain that includes steep granite cliffs and outcrops to first growth forest and open sub-alpine areas, with views to Howe Sound and the Coastal Mountain range. People love the exercise and the nice thing here is you can get up to the top, have a burger and beer or a glass of wine, look at a spectacular view and then ride the lift down. Read more: Vancouver Sun Dream adventures and places of wonder await you in this dramatic land | ||||
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Spectacular suspension bridge, copyrighted images by Bill McComish – 
