Grouse Mountain is a coastal mountain located about 15 minutes drive from Vancouver, Canada. The lights at the top make it a landmark up to 80km away. It is a key tourist destination spot along with the Capilano Suspension Bridge, which one invariably passes to arrive at the car park of 6400 Nancy Greene Way. A gondola or as it is known locally a red Skyride takes locals and visitors to the summit where there is a myriad of year round activities such as skiing in the winter and mountain biking in the summer.
It was a foggy Sunday morning and John Meadows from Wakefield Quebec was greeting the folk on the half empty red Skyride. His portable radio crackled as he continued.
“Below us is the man-made Capilano Lake, which provides Vancouver with about one third of its fresh water supply and is contained to the left by the Cleveland Dam”
The curtain of fog prevented any view: not an ideal August day to be taking the Skyride or doing a hike. Amongst the people on board were two colourfully dressed mountain cyclists of indeterminate sex, a Spanish speaking school party and two couples with Crystal Cruises luggage labels on their bags denoting them as cruise ship trippers. Many of the school party had names such as Monterrey, Real Madrid and Atlante written on their backpacks. A couple of the girls were sporting University of Saskatchewan sweatshirts. In the corner sat a man of about 40 years old dressed for serious hiking with boots, backpack, water and rope. The name of the hiker was Paul Tully. He sometimes stared at the floor and sometimes at his watch, which was also a heart monitor. Around his neck he wore a Skyride pass.
“One mile down the Capilano River you will find a salmon hatchery, and the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Beyond the lake rises the residential area known as the British Properties which is recognized for its fine homes and gardens.”
No one seemed to listen to John's talk. Paul had heard it many times before and his mind was far away. He had missed the other hikers in the car park at the base of the Skyride. According to some others hikers who had elected not to go up due to the fog, two of the group had taken the previous Skyride and would wait for him at the top. Why had they gone ahead? He was not late, or was he? Where at the top? Was it unwise to attempt Goat Mountain on such a day? It was never clear if cell phones worked up there; they did in certain areas.
Things were not going well at work. His wife Anne-Marie wanted him to go for a job interview. She was supposed to be on this hike but at the last moment decided against it. “ Its too foggy for hiking. Even the North Shore Rescue people won't be able to find anyone today”
“To the left, is the Lions Gate Bridge, which spans the entrance to the Burrard Inlet, one of the largest harbours on the West Coast. The bridge leads into the 1000-acre Stanley Park, two thirds which is in its natural regenerated state. The park is home to beaches picnic grounds, and our world-renowned aquarium.”
Paul was an electrical engineer with a bar code reading company. He had to solve a battery problem for a new smaller terminal within a few days. Could the box shape be changed for a different battery? His mind flirted with the surroundings. What speed were they travelling at relative to the car park? He pulled out some paper and started the calculations. Distance divided by time. One mile was 1.6km. The journey would take six minutes. He wrote down 1.6/6 which was km/min so km per hour would be 1.6/6 times 60. They were travelling at 16.09km per hour. Had he performed the calculation correctly? More importantly, he hoped the Skyride designers had done their mathematics correctly. He suddenly felt someone looking at him. It was one of the girls wearing the University Of Saskatchewan sweatshirts. She looked away. Paul thought.” Victoria Beckham or Posh Spice once wore a University Of Saskatchewan sweat shirt and changes the economy of the Province of Saskatchewan; I mean there are only 999,000 of them living there, and that's midweek during the Spring.” John Meadow's voice rambled on:
“ To the left of Stanley Park, those large white sails are part of Canada Place cruise ship terminal. Right now, the Crystal Harmony cruise ship is in the harbour. By the end of October, more than one million passengers will pass through the port of Vancouver.”
