Scenes from a Vancouver Snow Day

Vancouver had its first taste of snow last Friday evening, but it was yesterday's snowfall that halted the city. I wasn't even supposed to be in Vancouver yesterday - I was supposed to be in Nanaimo for a workshop, but my float plane was cancelled and thus so was my workshop. As a result, I worked from home all day and admired the winter wonderland that Vancouver became, if only for a fleeting moment:

It's a rainy day for a Paralympic torch relay

The Paralympic torch relay arrived in Vancouver today. Today being the first day of 2010 that it snowed. 

In Vancouver. 

It actually snowed in Vancouver!

Yeah, I know.

Don't worry. 

It quickly melted.

But for the first time in 2 weeks, I heard hovering helicopters over downtown. You know? I kind of missed that sound. Alas, looking out the window, there wasn't the same kind of city-wide captive audience vibe as there was during the Olympics, but you could tell something was going on. Despite the rain, I decided to go for a walk and check out the Paralympic torch relay for myself.

It was 5:30pm and rush hour was well under way. It looked like any other ordinary March day in Vancouver. Rain. Overcast. Dull grey. Pedestrians walking home. Smeared dog poo on sidewalks. Buses with steamed-up windows. Stop and go gridlock on the street. You know, kind of uninspiring. Not too cold but not exactly pleasant, with exception to the splashes of the pink cherry blossoms just passing the peak of their bloom. Vancouver was socked in by a cloud.

I took Granville Street because it tends to be one of the more lively and interesting streets for a northbound pedestrian to walk down, versus, say Richards or Seymour, which can be downright dull. And noisy and car-exhausty during rush hour. But again, it was just like any ordinary rush hour, and if somebody said the Paralympics were happening, nobody'd believe you.

It wasn't until I arrived at Granville and Smithe when I caught sight of those orange pylons. Like an old friend, I welcomed their presence. My favourite block of Granville Street, between Smithe and Robson, was once again free to roam as a pedestrian, without any traffic allowed. But where were all the people? I was the only person walking down the center of the lane.

Granville Street appeared to be closed to traffic all the way to Georgia, but it was without the Cultural Olympiad art exhibits or any of the photo-snapping crowds. I rounded the corner at Granville and Robson and was surprised to find limited traffic being allowed to trickle through. They could only go as far as Howe, however, before being detoured back south.

But the endless crowds? That's what was missing. Perhaps it was the rain. 

There was a massive TV screen set up on Robson and Howe, but really not a whole lot of people were watching. I then noticed that everyone was crowded underneath Robson, under the roof of Robson Square. 

A-ha.

That explained things.

I had no intention of making my way through the crowds downstairs, and I knew the torch was on its way over, so I decided to go for a walk one block further down Robson to see if I could maybe catch up with it. 

Beyond Hornby Street I finally saw some tents and TV station trucks. And one guy dressed in his white 2010 Vancouver Olympics white jumpsuit was standing around with his once-used Olympic torch, but nobody was paying attention to him. Maybe he thought he'd hang around in case somebody wanted to take his picture? It wasn't clear.

And once crossing Burrard Street, I noticed a large group of people clustered around something.

But still, despite the road closures, Robson was empty.

I made my way closer to the cluster of people and realized I was about to witness somebody passing the torch.

... and it didn't even occur to me that it was Roberto Luongo until he passed a few feet in front of me a few seconds later!

As Luongo walked back down Robson toward Robson Square, crowds gathered around and snapped photos.

... and then he made his way downstairs and walked back and forth through the Robson Square crowds, to everyone's shrieking delight!

It was great to see such a good turnout at Robson Square. Seriously, I don't even think there was standing room, so people were hovering around at street level trying to look in. But as I stood there snapping blurry photo after blurry photo, the rain started to fall with a fury, it took me by surprise. As the crowds wedged in for a better look with umbrellas flailing seriously close to eyeballs, I decided it's probably best that I step back and seek refuge from the rain.

But at least I saw it with  my own eyes. There was clearly a lot of support for the Paralympics in Vancouver after all. It's just a shame about all that rain. But this is Vancouver, after all. 

And the snow season begins!

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Just yesterday afternoon I was admiring the fresh snow on the local mountains, so it should be no surprise to me that two of Vancouver's North Shore mountains will open for the ski season today! It's only November 13th (a Friday the 13th at that), so it means early ski season conditions, but what fantastic news for winter sports fans!

Cypress Mountain's Easy-Rider Chair (accessing Runway) and their cross-country runs are open from 9am until 4pm.

From there you could head on to Grouse Mountain which opens at 4pm until night. Grouse currently has Paradise Bowl and Greenway Chair open, in addition to their outdoor skating pond.

Mount Seymour (my personal fav for snowshoeing) opens next week on November 20th.

For real-time stats on snow conditions, ski or skate rentals, admission fees, and hours of operation, visit the official websites of each mountain:

Cypress Mountain: www.cypressmountain.com
Grouse Mountain: www.grousemountain.com
Mount Seymour: www.mountseymour.com

Snow, again...

A snowy day back in December
This past weekend, after almost 2 weeks of perpetual fog, the sky finally cleared up. Yesterday, though sunny without a cloud in the sky, was cooooold! Okay, it was maybe only 1 or 2 degrees Celsius, but it felt much colder. I was standing at the bus stop out in Richmond and my feet were aching and my ears were burning. Despite wearing gloves, scarf, and a wool coat, I couldn't stop shivering.

This morning at 9am I woke up to snow! It covered the buildings, the rooftops and the parks, but the roads and sidewalks remained clear. Right now at quarter to 4, almost all of it has melted and it looks like your typical cloud-covered Vancouver winter day. Surprisingly, we really haven't had much of the famous rain this month - maybe a few days, tops.

While I didn't take any photos of today's light snowfall, I never did post the photos I took when I walked around downtown on December 17, 2008. These photos were taken at the beginning of many subsequent snowfalls which collectively became the largest snowfall ever recorded in Vancouver history. I mean, it just doesn't snow once and then melt like it normally does. It started to snow on and off in mid-December and didn't stop until January 4!

Even still, today, especially in higher altitude residential neighbourhoods (like around Shaughnessy or Point Grey), you can still see remnant snow piles on the side streets and in people's front yards. Even in low altitude Richmond (where the average altitude is below sea level!) there are piles of crusty snow lingering around in parking lots. It's pretty crazy. In all my 28 years, I've never seen snow last on the ground for this long, ever.

On that note, here's a glimpse of downtown Vancouver when the snow fell on December 17:

Homer Street

Looking down Davie Street

Davie Street

Power lines and business signs

Footprints outside the Vancouver Public Library

Walking down Richards

Seymour & Georgia

Walking along Dunsmuir

Robson & Hornby

Vancouver Art Gallery lion

The art gallery steps

Robson Street

Granville Street

Yaletown's Mainland Street

Yaletown's loading bay sidewalks

The Opus Hotel

Saturday night in the snow

It's just after 11pm on a Saturday night and just as predicted, it has started to snow... but this time the snow is sticking! It's amazing to see in how just one hour the city can change itself into a winter wonderland!




I just phoned my significant other who is, believe it or not, working at this late hour, but away from windows. I told him to go outside. His reaction over the phone was priceless.

There is something so exciting about walking into a building without windows - a restaurant, a theatre, a nightclub, anywhere really - and upon leaving, discovering everything has been covered in snow since you've been inside.

I remember back in 2002, friends and I went to the Blinding Light!! Cinema (when it still existed) in Gastown to see The Matrix synchronized to the entire discography of Radiohead. When we walked into the theatre, it was clear outside. After the film, Gastown was covered in snow and everyone was in complete awe. It was just magical!

Then two years ago, friends of mine threw a birthday party at the Anza Club. The main floor feels a bit like a church hall with its stage, tables and chairs. But they have this secret lounge downstairs that's not only out of a 70's time warp, but the only way to access it is to go through the bathroom! The lounge has a fireplace, comfy couches, pool tables, and darts. What it doesn't have are windows. So that night after spending hours drinking, playing darts, and enjoying one another's company, we all shuffled outside to find the entire ground covered in snow. Everyone immediately ran around in delight.

Tonight when I noticed that it was snowing, I opened the window to take some photos. Usually on Saturday nights I'll hear drunken people spilling out of the nearby nightclubs. Well, as the snow fell tonight, the atmosphere completely changed. I could hear people shrieking and laughing in pure joy of the snow, probably stumbling outside for the first time in hours, discovering a fairytale world. So sure, nobody's prepared for the snow in this city, but it makes everybody see the world as if they were 6 years old, and I like it for that.

Let it snow

Well, we experienced our first snow fall yesterday morning! It fell over the city in large, fluffy flakes, but it wasn't sticking - at least not downtown. It maybe fell for about an hour before it turned into rain - the typical Vancouver snow experience.

Whenever it snows in Vancouver, the city gets caught in a panic. Unlike yesterday, usually the snow does stick for at least a day or two before the rains wash it away. The snow is almost always wet and slushy making it very treacherous. Because it maybe snows two or three times a winter and then promptly melts, nobody bothers preparing for snow. Almost nobody installs snow tires on their cars. Snowblowers? Snowploughs? What are those? Transplanted Ontarians, Albertans, and pretty much any other Canadian from anywhere but the BC coast love to laugh at us whenever it snows.

The typical remark?

"Vancouverites just don't know how to drive in the snow!"

It's true.

Without much of a municipal budget for snow removal, we just don't have the infrastructure to adequately deal with snow. Unlike most Canadian cities, Vancouver has little snow removal equipment. Main roads will eventually be cleared, but it's never done immediately. The side streets are almost never cleared. Combine that with the lack of snow tires, the lack of people's experience driving in snow, the slush, and the hilly terrain, then you begin to understand Vancouver in the snow. And you can understand why public transit and taxis are in such high demand on snow days, or why many people just stay home.

When there are really heavy snow falls, schools and universities will close. I remember a few times when I was at UBC, classes were cancelled due to the snow. Yesterday at SFU, exams were cancelled because people were having difficulty driving up Burnaby Mountain, where SFU is located.

This morning when I woke up, the clouds lifted high enough to see the fresh snow on the mountains.









I know that on Cypress, Seymour, and Grouse, they're thanking the snow gods. I'm sure they're also celebrating up in Whistler too as they've had such little snowfall since the start of the season. With this unusual cold spell (tomorrow's high -5 Celsius?!), I'm sure there will be more where that came from.