Old Meets New in Whistler

The Cheakamus River flows fast through the canyon below. Our family crew of 15 people cross the modern suspension bridge, naive to what lay on the other side. I would learn that the bridge serves to connect a divide - a divide between old and new.

The side we started on is new. The well maintained, crushed gravel trail starts near the 2010 Olympic Athlete Village. After an easy twenty minute walk, we come to the bridge. On the other side, a sight that no one expected.

Box cars from the 1950’s are strewn throughout the British Columbian forest. The forest is not disturbed. How did this train from another century come to rest here without leaving a trace on the trees and vegetation around it?

The wreckage feels energized by graffiti and the remnants of bike jumps. The depleted bike jumps are no longer possible, but a YouTube video from 2011 shows what was once possible.

The site that is now covered in graffiti would have been a treacherous place to crash, just meters away from the cliff. Luckily the train crew were never in danger of falling into Cheakamus.

The train, conducted by John Millar, was speeding through a section of track, when a car got wedged. The Pacific Great Eastern Railway did not have the machinery to move the train, so a local logging family, the Valleau’s, moved the train to it’s final resting place in the forest with their logging equipment.

North of the wrecked train, is a classic Whistler mountain biking trail. “A River Runs Through It” twists and turns through the forest near Alta Lake, not gaining or losing much altitude over the course of four miles. The trail features countless bridges. Long and short; skinny and fat.

The North Shore region of Vancouver is a famed place for mountain bike riding and trail building. The steep, forested terrain required a certain style of trail building that suited the “freeride” style of riding.

“Ladder bridges” or “Skinnies” are some of these freeride features that are found on A River Runs Through It trail. These features can be anything from riding across a skinny 2x4, to a less precarious bridge made out of split boards nailed into a fallen log.

Riding across countless bridges in Whistler reminded me of why I love to travel, see new places, and ride new trails. Stories of old and new drive me. The story of the wrecked train and it’s new life as an art attraction in the forest. The story of mountain bike legends on the North Shore making way for the trails and bike technology that I enjoy today.

These two days on vacation present a narrative that is easy to miss, but fulfilling to find.

References:

http://globalnews.ca/news/2634433/a-twisted-mystery-whistlers-train-wreck-mixes-the-old-with-the-urban/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a1roUGbYe8