Sea to Sky, Canada

Squamish and a surprise encounter.

Squamish is just a short stint north of Vancouver and a stones throw short of Whistler, Canada's famous ski resort. Squamish has some of the best rock climbing in the world which was news to me, news which otherwise would have come as a great surprise until I found out my cousin Alastair was hiding out here. Of course, he'd been up and down the area like a spider on it's web and proudly owns an 8 seater people mover in which he lives. Go the people mover!

Al joined us for a wee hike that morning. We were supposed to tackle the Chief but given that everybody in our party had done it we opted for a three hour uphill to 'the sky'. It was good hard work and the breathless chat lasted all the way to the top. I'm still not convinced either way on commercialised mountains but this was one. The sea to sky gondola greeted us at the top, with a hoard of tourists, a cafe, gift shop and a whole lot more including a wedding, of all things. What I did appreciate was a cold beer and a bowl of fries which revived me whilst we all enjoyed an awesome but cloudy mirador - oh wait, viewpoint. Some 800m of elevation had taken it's toll and we lazily opted for the gondola down (at $15 a head!). It was great to hike in company and to bump into family so far from home. Big Al's got big plans, much of which involve climbing and his tales of El Capitan are something else.Read more