Fall 2009
Our landmark 200th issue! Take a small-town tour up the Sea-to-Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler—literally, the road to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. On the way, we’ll stop in sporty Squamish, this issue’s featured travel destination. Other great stuff: Biologists working deep in grizzly country. Our Annie Oakley of the Chilcotin. A visit to Klemtu, land of the “spirit bear.” And a paddling trip through the lush Columbia wetlands.
Cover: Travellers enjoy scenic West Coast views on the Sea-to-Sky Highway.
Photo: Michael Bednar
Spitfire and true grit
Observations from the editor of British Columbia Magazine.
Rockin’ in Squamish
Midway along the Sea-to-Sky Highway between Vancouver and Whistler, this fast-growing community is welcoming under-40 outdoor enthusiasts keen to climb, paddle, hike, bike, and kiteboard in the natural surroundings.
Secrets of Klemtu
The ancient culture surrounding this Kitasoo/Xai’xais coastal village holds unexpected magic for travellers lured to the Great Bear Rainforest by its legendary white bears.
Sea-to-Sky
Its beauty is mythical. Its knuckle-whitening turns are legendary. This winter, the upgraded highway between Vancouver and Whistler will bring the world to the 2010 Winter Games, flaunting its bounty of mountains, ocean, rivers, and forests.
Annie Oakley of the Chilcotin
Years before locals carved the “Freedom Road” through this remote backcountry, pioneer cowgirl Gerry Bracewell broke trail and rode shotgun into the Coast Mountains surrounding her Tatlayoko Lake home.
Canoeing the Columbia River
Stretches of lush wetlands between the Purcell and Rocky mountains are as untamed and aflutter with birds as when explorer David Thompson paddled through 200 years ago.
GSI: Grizzly Site Investigators
By setting barbed-wire traps to snag tufts of fur for DNA analysis, biologists are able to gather crucial genetic data about West Kootenay grizzlies—without them even knowing it.
Alpine ambassadors
Swiss guides helped the Canadian Pacific Railway establish a mountain tourism empire in the early 1900s, introducing hundreds of novice climbers to the thrill of the peaks.
Planning a greener getaway
Roam close to home and do right by the planet.
