Detour #37: Sea to Sky Highway, Canada
The Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler is nothing short of magic. Through its 100 miles of gradual climbing, its flowing curves, sensational vistas and a couple of fabulous pit stops it turned a drive in a dreary Hyundai Santa Fe into one of my most memorable experiences.
Cutting through Vancouver, jet lagged and disappointed with the rental car, wondering if PJ O Rourke had even driven a tired Korean SUV when he said that the fastest car in the world was a hire car, prospects soon began to look better.
You leave the city via Stanley Park, a lush green expanse of calm after the occasionally hectic city traffic. Soon you’re crossing the Lions Gate Bridge, drifting through the West Vancouver suburbs and thinking about exchange rates and property prices. Now the climb begins, following the coastline, looking out to sea, hoping for a glimpse of a whale or two.
You can take a detour to Horseshoe Bay for fish ‘n’ chips at Trolls, or keep going to Shannon Falls to eat your sandwiches in the spray of the of one of British Columbia’s tallest waterfalls (1,099 feet since you asked). Or take the Sea to Sky gondola to the top if you’re not afraid of heights.
Next stop is the town of Squamish where you may wish to pause and gawp at the Howe Sound fjord for a while before heading inland and climbing through Garibaldi Provincial park. If you like Shannon Falls, then you may well want to take in Alexander Falls and Brandywine Falls as well. It’s a short hike, crossing the railroad tracks and re-enacting scenes from Stand By Me – or maybe that was just us.
Finally it’s a not-quite-alpine climb (the road is much wider than European passes) to Whistler.
If you’re in a hurry then the drive can be done in less than three hours, but hurrying that Hyundai was definitely no fun, so we took our time, took in the views and the sideshows. And made memories.
Words Nik Berg Twitter | Instagram
Photography Aditya Chinchure / Tom Winckels / Unsplash
ROADBOOK
Class: Mountain pass
Name: sea to sky highway
Route: Highway 99, Vancouver to Whistler
Country: Canada
Distance: 101 miles