Poll: Sea to Sky Gondola Proposal

[FrankB]

As a long term Squamish Local, climber and business owner I would like to say that I am in complete favour of the Gondola. I want our town to become a Natural Attraction not just for the fit and able outdoor enthusiasts but for everyone. I can't wait to bring my Parents and Grandparents to the top of the Line where they can finally experience what I have been telling them about for years!

I don't have a problem with the concept of a Gondola- but not at a location where it creates huge user conflicts and parking issues, and requires unnecessarily removing land from a Provincial park.

I think there were far better locations available and this site was only chosen because it maximizes potential revenue, rather than considering all relevant factors, such as user conflicts, parking issues, and environmental impacts.

I think the Gondola project will really provide a sense of appreciation of the natural environment for people who otherwise may never experience it.

Pretty well any other site would do this too- for example, I was asked to provide some consulting advice on a proposal to build a gondola from near the West Coast Railway Museum and former B.C. Rail office area across the Squamish River to a big rock bench on the lower slopes of Mt. Lapworth. This would have provided a much better view of Squamish, The Chief, and Mt. Garibaldi, and a much better place to appreciate the local environment. It would also have provided good hiking access to the Echo Lake and Mt. Lapworth areas, as well as access to a whole bunch of granite crags on the east side of Mt. Lapworth.

If anything I think that the existence of the Gondola will actually help to foster environmental stewardship in Squamish. The area where it was built is all 2nd growth forest that will probably be logged again one day... but just maybe this project may help keep that area unlogged for future generations if it becomes a cherished landscape to more people.

Not true. Visit the site or check out Google Earth and you'll see that the Gondola route cuts through some of the only remaining old growth forest in the Oleson/Shannon Creek watersheds. From the top station, you'll have an unparalleled, almost 360° view of old clear cuts- now largely covered with advanced second growth forest that the average tourist probably won't even recognize as being part of the working forest. For that matter, I wonder how many people that hike up to the 2nd and 3rd peaks of the Chief realize that much of the lower part of the trails go through an old clear cut in the Oleson Creek valley.

As far as the economic impacts... I don't know what they will be, but I think this is a step in the right direction to making Squamish a Destination for all, and creating more opportunities for business and job creation.

If the Gondola had been placed in a different location, I believe we would have been able to take advantage of the economic benefits, as well as minimizing environmental impacts and user conflicts. That's the way to go if you want long term sustainable tourist development.

[BK]

I always thought the Lapworth idea was brilliant but I understand there was a couple of concept killers:

1) construction cost sky high.
2) abysmal location presence

The two combined equals risk off the chart, then there is the impossibility of a gondola above hydro lines, something that eliminates a lot of choices. There,s a few locations I would prefer such as Anders pick of Gonzales creek, but all are non starters due to a variety of critical factors. Which leaves us with the present. I can see only 2 real problems:

) Base area congestion/lower trail congestion.

2) restricted back road access.

Parking design and trail coordinating with bc parks should do it but trail demand growth is already a bit eye popping so no doubt it,ll be an ongoing project. The thing is, what ever growth in demand there is, the potential to absorb it with new terrain and trails is greater with the gondola than without. As far as the gate location goes, I fail to see how they would ever need it lower than the old barrier at 8 km as security could be the only legitimate need for gating a public road on crown land. If they really intend to control access as absolutely as some suggest they would have secured a greater lease area. So if all these potential problems are ironed out, what exactly are the user conflicts?

[FrankB]

I always thought the Lapworth idea was brilliant but I understand there was a couple of concept killers:

1) construction cost sky high.
2) abysmal location presence

The two combined equals risk off the chart, then there is the impossibility of a gondola above hydro lines, something that eliminates a lot of choices.

I provided some geotechnical consulting advice with regard to the Lapworth gondola concept and although I was not involved in the economic aspects of the feasibility study, the fact that it wasn't built suggests that there must have been some question about its viability. However, here are some facts about the points you raise. First, here is a Google Earth image showing the proposal:


The red line shows the proposed Gondola route from near the old B.C. Rail yard; the green line, one of the existing trails up to Echo Lake. Notice that the plan was not to go to the top of Mt. Lapworth, but rather to a prominent granitic bench located at about 375 metres elevation and BELOW the twin B.C. Hydro 500 KV lines. There is a smaller power line close to the Squamish River- but that apparently was not going to be a problem to cross.

From the proposed top station, there is a really grand view of the Squamish Valley, including The Chief and Mt. Garibaldi. Since it is east facing, the overall daily lighting conditions would have been pretty spectacular.

For access, the plan was to use barges to cross the Squamish River, just like the loggers who built all of the roads and did all the timber harvesting on that side did. The old main road parallels the right bank of the Squamish River and then climbs up into the Fries Creek valley. The Gondola folks planned to re-open part of that existing road, and then build about a kilometre of new road up to the top station of the gondola.

If this gondola had been built, it would have provided great views, and also great access to the existing trail up to Echo Lake. From Echo Lake, one can hike to the top of Mt. Lapworth- a really nice destination which is hardly ever visited because of the logistics problems.

If you look closely, you can see that there are some really nice crags just above the proposed Gondola top station- crags that are not really that well known, but which provide both summer rock climbing and in winter, ice climbing.

It is also possible that this gondola site would have provided a possible access route to the Lake Lovelywater area via a new trail up Fries Creek.