Sea To Sky Highway

Touring Canada with the band

By KYLIE McGLINCY

Bainbridge High School Class of 2010

In April, I had the privilege of traveling with the Troy University Symphony Band to perform a musical tour in Vancouver and Whistler Village in British Columbia, Canada.

The symphony band, comprised of 55 members, was the largest group from the university to travel internationally to date. As representatives of Troy University, we experienced life in a foreign country, explored the beauty of Canada’s natural wonders, and interacted with Canadian natives who have influenced the music world.

Our trip began with a 5 a.m. departure from Troy University that ended with an extensive stay in the Atlanta airport. Tornado activity in the Dallas-Fort Worth area caused flight delays that led to flight cancellations that ultimately left 55 college students and their directors in the Atlanta terminal for the night.

Thirty-five hours after departing from Troy, 40 of us finally arrived in Vancouver. Due to flight changes and overbooked flights, the other 15 arrived 12 hours later. Unfortunately, because of our travel delays, we were forced to cancel a concert at a local high school on the first night.

In spite of the delays, the school requested that we conduct a sound check rehearsal that the students could attend. We arrived two hours later than our scheduled concert performance, but we were greeted by applause from 100 energetic high school students. After our long and stressful journey, their enthusiastic welcome was gratefully received.

Although we were on a strict time schedule of required performances and clinics, we were also given the opportunity to see several of the well-known tourist sites that Canada has to offer. We toured the city of Vancouver on our own and immersed ourselves in the Canadian culture. This included learning how to pay for meals with Canadian money, and also dodging the exuberant Vancouver Canucks hockey team’s fans (the team had won a home game the night of our stay).

While in the Vancouver area, we traveled across the Lion’s Gate Bridge to perform a concert at West Vancouver Technical College. The Lion’s Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge that connects the city of Vancouver to West Vancouver and is one of the largest tourist attractions in Canada. I learned that its name refers to “The Lions,” a pair of mountain peaks north of Vancouver. After our performance at West Vancouver Tech, the director of bands from the school presented the Symphony Band with a statue of an “Inukshuk,” an Inuit tradition that is used to welcome travelers. The figure of the “Inukshuk” was the Vancouver 2010 Olympics logo.

Driving the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler in ...

(Highway 99) from Vancouver to Whistler in Canada’s British Columbia.

To start our short story off, I thought it might be fun to share this painting I found of contemporary Canadian artist Glen Payan’s whimsical and colorful view of this majestic drive.

According to Wikipedia, “The “Sea to Sky Highway” section of Highway 99 has a checkered history. Built on a steep cliff overlooking Howe Sound, it was a two-lane undivided highway with no outside barrier. Many motorists have lost their lives on it due to inclement weather, poor visibility, speeding, passing slower vehicles, or drunk driving.  In fact, local media have dubbed it the “Killer Highway”, the “Highway of Death”, and the “Ski-And-Die Highway”.”

However, as part of Canada’s successful bid to win the 2010 Winter Olympics, the highway has been completely overhauled and has now become a treasured resource to admire the area’s scenic beauty.

As you cross Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet, across the Lion’s Gate Bridge (pictured left), you are quickly transported from busy metropolis to a panoramic winding highway making its way north toward Squamish and Whistler.

The first 42 miles of the Sea to Sky Highway weaves its way along the cliff-side, offering stunning vistas of the adjoining Howe Sound with its collection of picturesque islands.

Our journey up the Sea to Sky Highway was checkered with clouds, gray skies, and raindrops.  So rather than share a color photograph with gray skies, I thought I would see if I could come up with a photograph that more celebrated the grayish hues.  How did I do?

The photograph above was taken just as we were approaching the town of Sqaumish.  After Squamish, we left the Howe Sound and the landscape quickly turned to towering pines with white-capped mountain peaks in the background.

As we continued our way to Whistler, another exciting part of the adventure would be a fair number of black bear sightings.  The shaky video here shows one of our black bear sightings as I quickly worked to maneuver the car from 90 kph down to zero to catch this black bear feeding along the side of the road.

As it turned out, we had the opportunity to make quite a few black bear sightings before we got to our hotel room in Whistler.

All in all, the roughly two-hour drive from Vancouver to Whistler, along the Sea to Sky Highway, is certain to be a memorable experience for baby boomer travelers.  Whether you make the journey as a day trip, or plan to spend the night in Whistler, we highly recommend it.

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Sea-to-Sky Highway Improvement Project application