Dynamiting, bulldozing, and building in Whister, British Columbia

destruction and construction on 99 to Whistler

I have been at Whistler Mountain in British Columbia for the last few days. Driving up here was a complete circus. Hundreds of trucks parked everywhere; huge mountains of gravel and scree everywhere, waiting to be deployed by trucks and bulldozers; dynamite shacks and blasting off hillsides; literally hundreds of flaggers on the road between Vancouver and Whistler. They are seriously widening this gorgeous, winding road to make way for the thousands of people who will be attending and participating in the Winter Olympics 2010. It is completely insane! The road to Whistler is faced on one side by rocky hills/mountains, and on the other by a steep cliff. 99 is about the last road you'd want to widen...which explains all the dynamiting. And it looks like everything they dynamite away is being used on the cliff side to build up the road so they can add another lane on that side.

click to enlarge the bobsled run

Then, when you actually get to Whistler, there is an insane frenzy of building all over the place. As if it wasn't insane enough in the first place! We are having meetings on top of the mountain, which entails going up rocky, windy, and muddy switchback roads in a HumVee caravan every morning. The drivers on the road are all in constant communication, since the road is about a lane and a half, and you have to plan ahead for possibly meeting a Semi-truck trailer, or another HumVee, or possibly even a little ATV. It's a little spooky. Let's put it this way, you have to sign an insurance waiver every morning to get in the truck.

The most interesting thing here, aside from the mountains, of course, is the construction of the bobsled run. I am naive enough that I actually believed bobsled runs were just carved out of the ice and snow. Au contraire. It is a massive undertaking...way longer than I ever expected, with reinforced concrete, and it looks like piping (to cool the snow?) and, of course, lights, and platforms. It is a massive undertaking, and that's just for one sport. Just like on 99, there are hundreds of trucks here and building going on non-stop.

It began snowing today when we were on top of the mountain. In a month, you won't be able to drive to the top, and the construction will presumably slow down until the thaw next spring.

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