Sea to Sky in Four Seasons

Most people know the Sea to Sky as the road to Whistler. We know it as our commute. Highway 99 runs from Horseshoe Bay up Howe Sound, through Squamish and Whistler and on to Pemberton, across the territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) and the Lil'wat Nation.

It's the same road all year. It is not the same place. Here's where we'd send a friend in each season, and what we'd tell them before they go.

Spring: everything's running

Spring doesn't ease in. The snowpack lets go, every creek in the valley turns white, and the ridgelines stay snowy long after the valley floor goes green. Bring a rain shell. Bring a second one.

Shannon Falls at full volume

Kwékwetxwm drops 335 metres right beside the highway, and in May and June it's running flat out. The walk from the parking lot takes five minutes. You'll be damp in four. Go early, beat the crowds, and stand at the bottom long enough to feel how loud it is.

Brandywine Falls

Most people blow past it on the way to Whistler. Don't. It's a flat walk through the trees to a platform hanging over a 70-metre drop into a basalt canyon. Fifteen minutes, total. Best return on your time in the whole corridor.

The Smoke Bluffs, once the rock dries

Squamish is a climbing town before it's anything else, and the Smoke Bluffs are where most climbing days here start: hundreds of short routes a few minutes from downtown. Some routes on the Chief close each spring so the peregrine falcons can nest. The falcons have seniority.

The Chief, before the crowds

Three summits, a lot of stairs, chains and ladders near the top, and Howe Sound laid out underneath you. The trail's open all year, but spring is the sweet spot. Dry enough to be fun, early enough that you're not waiting at the ladders behind half of Vancouver.

Two sports, one day

Whistler Blackcomb usually keeps spinning into May. Ski soft snow in the morning, drive back down, and be on a Squamish patio with your boots off by mid-afternoon. We'll put that day up against anything in the country.

Summer: the long days

Summer is the Sea to Sky on the postcards, and the postcards aren't lying. Long days, warm granite, cold water. The sun doesn't go down until after nine around the solstice, so the good light shows up right when everyone else heads home. Stay out.

Kites off the Spit

On a clear day the wind fills in up Howe Sound around late morning, and by afternoon the water is full of kites with the Chief standing behind them. From May 15 to September 15 the Squamish Windsports Society runs the launch on Spit Island and ferries riders out by boat. Lessons are available in town. The water is glacier-fed. Wear the wetsuit.

Garibaldi Lake, then keep going

The big one. A long climb through switchbacks to a glacier-fed lake the colour of a swimming pool, with the Black Tusk standing guard. If your legs have more in them, keep going to Panorama Ridge. That's the view. Book a day-use pass for the Rubble Creek trailhead on peak-season weekends, and start earlier than feels reasonable.

Alice Lake after work

The easiest swim in the corridor, just north of town and warm enough by July. Go late, once the day crowd has packed up. Bring a towel and not much else.

Last ride up the gondola

The Sea to Sky Gondola takes ten minutes to get to 885 metres. Cross the Sky Pilot Suspension Bridge and walk the Panorama Trail out to the Chief Overlook. Everyone goes at noon. Go at the end of the day instead, watch the light go gold over Howe Sound, and ride down after.

Festival season

Late July into early August, the corridor turns it up. Crankworx takes over Whistler for ten days of mountain bike racing and very loud crowds. Squamish Days Loggers Sports runs over the August long weekend with axe throwing, pole climbing and log rolling, in a town that's been doing it since 1957.

Burgers at Outbound Station

Outbound Station in Britannia Beach, a few minutes south of Squamish on the highway. Craft burgers, good coffee, a fire going. It's the reason more than one of our summer shoot days started late. We filmed Burgers by the Fire for them, so yes, we're biased. We'd go anyway.

Fall: the quiet season

Fall is our favourite, and it's the season most people skip. Good. The traffic thins out, the rain comes back, and the corridor gets moody in all the right ways. Cottonwoods along the rivers go yellow, fog sits in the valley most mornings, and nothing looks staged because nothing can be. Winter tires are required on the highway from October 1, so sort that first.

Salmon in the Mamquam

Right in town, flat gravel trails follow the spawning channels where coho and chum come home through October and November. Mamquam means "smelly river" in the Squamish language. You'll figure out why. Eagles and bears work the same water, so keep your eyes up and your snacks put away.

Diamond Head in the good dirt

Cool air, tacky dirt, a half-empty parking lot. Half Nelson, the flow trail that put Squamish on the mountain bike map, rides better in October than it does in August, and you won't be lining up to drop in.

Murrin Park in the fog

A short loop just south of town with lookouts over Howe Sound. On a clear day it's nice. On a foggy fall morning, with the cloud sitting below you on the water, it's the best ten minutes you'll spend all week.

Cornucopia

Whistler's food and drink festival takes over the village for about ten days every November: winemaker dinners, tastings and a lot of very good food. Thirty years in, it's still the best reason to go to Whistler without skis.

Winter: snow up high, eagles down low

In winter the corridor splits in two. Up high it's snow country. Down in the valley it's rain, cold rivers and short days, which happens to be exactly what the eagles came for. Check DriveBC before every trip. Every one.

Eagles in Brackendale

Every winter, bald eagles line the cottonwoods along the Squamish River to feed on spent salmon. BC Parks puts the peak from November into December. Watch from the Eagle Run viewing area on the dike in Brackendale, or book an eagle float with one of the local rafting companies and drift right underneath them. In 1994, volunteers counted 3,769 in a single day. A world record, and a lot of eagles.

Whistler on a blue day

Whistler Blackcomb opens in late November most years. Wait for a clear one, ride the Peak 2 Peak Gondola between the two mountains, and look back down the valley you drove up that morning. That's the whole Sea to Sky in one window.

Snowshoes at the gondola

Once the snow lands up top, the Panorama Trail at the Sea to Sky Gondola turns into the easiest snowshoe in the corridor, out to the Chief Overlook and back. Rentals at the summit. The gondola shuts for a few weeks each November for maintenance, so check before you drive.

Whistler Olympic Park

The 2010 Olympic Nordic venue, tucked into the Callaghan Valley between Squamish and Whistler. Groomed cross-country trails, snowshoe routes, rentals on site, and snow you can count on while the valley floor gets rain. If you've never tried Nordic skiing, this is the place to fall over for the first time.

Pick your season

There's no wrong season here, just different ones. Summer is the postcard. Fall and winter are emptier, moodier and, if you ask us, more interesting. Those are the ones we'd pick if you want the corridor to yourself.

We live in Squamish and film the Sea to Sky all year. If you're planning a shoot here, see our Squamish video production page or book a call. We'll tell you which season fits what you're making, and where to get a burger after.

Photos by Aditya Chinchure, Andrew Darlington, Danica Stradecke, Vitalii Rozhkov and Nature Uninterrupted Photography on Unsplash.