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Blasting underway today to clear highway debris

Some food items, gasoline in short supply while BBQ Champs, Squamish Days will go ahead

The Ministry of Transportation is planning to start drilling and blasting sometime today (Thursday, July 31) at the site of a massive slide on the Sea to Sky Highway at Porteau Cove.

According to the Ministry, a large section of granite overhanging the slide area will have to be cut back by blasting and scaling before crews can safely tackle the debris that’s strewn across roughly 100 metres of the highway. The debris is up to 10 metres deep in some places.

Some boulders are large enough that they will have to be blasted before they can be transported out of the area by truck.

The slide occurred at roughly 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, and the highway could remain closed through the B.C. Day long weekend as crews remove an estimated 16,000 cubic metres of debris. The railway tracks were also destroyed by the slide, and will likely be closed for as long as, or longer than the highway.

So far no injuries are reported, but a northbound bus was damaged by falling rocks just before the slide occurred.

The cause of the slide has also yet to be determined, but it was raining heavily at the time the granite bluff just north of the Porteau Cove Provincial Park gave way. No highway construction work has been done in the area recently.

Mike Oliver, chief engineer for the cleanup project, told reporters this morning that it would take at least four more days to reopen the highway but promised a more exact assessment this afternoon. First, a large section of overhanging granite will be blasted away, and the cliff below it scaled to remove any loose rock.

The slide has had an impact on the Sea to Sky corridor, stranding visitors and workers, delaying shipments of food and fuel, and prompting many residents to stock up on everything in anticipation of shortages. The Whistler Husky gas station ran out of regular gas on Wednesday evening and premium gas on Thursday. However, more fuel is expected in the next day or two.

At grocery stores in Whistler and Squamish, people started stocking up on food — particularly dairy and produce — Wednesday afternoon. In some stores milk, yogurt, lettuce and several other items were in short supply by Wednesday evening.

While the closure of the Sea to Sky Highway severs a major transportation artery, options still exist for getting to Vancouver or Whistler this long weekend. The local and regional air carriers are running at capacity, and adding flights where possible. Prices range from $159 for West Coast Air, to more than $3,000 for a trip by helicopter between Vancouver Airport and Whistler.

Several water taxi services have emerged to transport visitors from Squamish to Horsehose Bay.

Allan Crawford, owner of Canadian Snowmobile Adventures, started to run a water taxi using a boat his company purchased to offer sea kayaking tours next year. They ran their first trip on Wednesday, and have three trips a day scheduled through the weekend.

“(The boat) was sitting there in Squamish ready to go, and we had people contacting us and saying they need a ride. We’re using our regular tour shuttle bus to pick people up at hotels and drive them to the government dock in Squamish. From there we head to Horseshoe Bay where people can jump onto public transit or call a cab.”

Within hours of getting their first calls, Crawford had arranged CSA’s first trip, and by Thursday they had a schedule in place for customers. Prices range from $80 to $200, depending on your age, whether you’re travelling on standby, and whether you require the shuttle service.

Getting into the water taxi business wasn’t that hard, said Crawford.

“This is what we do, we’ve already got a pretty good tour info distribution system so we just added this into the system,” he said. “There was a bit of scrambling (Wednesday) to figure out how long it takes to do the trips, but we were able to tighten that up quite a bit once we figured out the trip and our costs.”

Booking is available at 604-932-1616.

Events planned for this weekend in Squamish and Whistler will be going ahead as planned. Squamish Days, the Loggers Sports Festival, will take place as promised to celebrate the festival’s 51 st anniversary, while the Canadian National Barbecue Championships will be taking place as planned at Dusty’s in Creekside.

As well, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler got to work quickly, offering a variety of deals to residents and visitors who make the trip to the community by boat or the long way around on the Duffey Lake Road — such as $99 rooms, with one night free if you buy two, $99 rounds of golf for two people, and $9.99 day passes to the health club. They’re calling it the Fairmont Rocks On ‘Til the Rocks are Gone event.

In Squamish, the situation seems to be under control, according to acting mayor Greg Gardner.

"Each independent supplier is trying to handle it as best they can," he said. "So there are a number of different access roots for goods and people. One is through Lillooet. In Squamish, we have four charter air companies, two fixed-wing and two helicopters. And there's a local company that’s set up a water taxi for individuals. I'm not sure what they're capacity is for goods. On the emergency side, health care services, that’s all in order."

Yesterday produced something of a consumer panic, with residents storming gas stations and grocery stores.

"All I can tell you is that everything we re getting is coming over the Duffey Lake Road," said Save On Foods manager Randall Bamford. "Obviously, there's some delays with that. But our suppliers are trying to get us through this. With yesterday's panic, everything was down pretty good. We re getting our milk today."

Fuel, meanwhile, seems to be a less certain commodity. While an employee with Chevron said he thinks fuel will come over the Duffey, another, with Esso, said he's still uncertain as to whether his supplier and subcontractor is willing to make the journey.

"This card lock will be out of fuel by tomorrow," said the Esso employee, referring to the bulk outlet in the Industrial Park and adding that his supply is typically replenished about once a week.

With the highway closed, supply and demand dynamics have shifted, but not as much as one might think, said the Chevron employee.

"People start to horde," he said. "Every little piece of machinery they got, they decide they should fill it up."

Amidst all the worry about goods is a determination to entertain. Organizers with the 51st Annual Squamish Days Loggers Sports Festival are encouraging residents from Pemberton, Whistler and Squamish to take part in the weekend's events. In a press bulletin issued this morning, organizers said there might be some changes to the itinerary, but that the show would go on. Organizers are busy making efforts to bring in athletes living outside the corridor.