Last Saturday went up Grouse Mountain for the first time in years and years.  I went with my Olympic pals Rachael and Dave (see Rachael’s post on our adventure here).  As easy as it is to get to Grouse Mountain from downtown Vancouver I admit I don’t go even though I think about it fairly often.  So what prompted this visit?  It was a deal from Groupon.  For $36 each we got tickets up the gondola plus a tour of their new wind turbine – this is 50% off the regular price (children aged 5-12 years old can go on the tour for free though so definitely something to think about doing with family).  Though it can be a bit pricey without a Groupon I highly advise everyone visit this attraction – it was an amazing and wonderful experience!

Looking up at the Eye of the Wind turbine on Grouse Mountain.

When we first arrived at Grouse Mountain things looked a little worrying.  One gondola was closed for maintenance and the other gondola seemed to be stopped dead – with a load full of people.  Hmm…. Well, we picked up our tickets and worked at being patient (not one of my stronger skills).  They did manage to get the gondola down and the people out (they were only 10 metres from the bottom) and then they decided to run the other gondola (the one that had been under maintenance) to get us all to the top.  We got there just in time to meet up with our tour guide and to watch a woman be arrested, then slip her cuffs, and subsequently get hand-cuffed much more firmly.  (Nope, don’t know why she was arrested at the top of Grouse, but it was sorta interesting to watch, surreptitiously of course).

Our guide Giovanni was from Mexico and seemed excited that snow is starting to fall on the North Shore mountains.  He started by introducing us to the mountain and then bringing us to the grizzly bear wildlife refuge where two grizzly cubs rescued in 2001 live now.  I do appreciate the idea of educating people about bears, but having spent some time in bush I’m sorta good not being around bears.  So while it was interesting it definitely wasn’t an activity for me.

Grizzly at Grouse.

After the bears though the experience got so much better.  We took a ride up a chair lift to the top of the mountain where we walked to the wind turbine.  It is so big!  I knew that it would be, given how easy it is to see from the city, but standing at the bottom of a tower that stretches more than 20 stories high really brings it home.  The Eye of the Wind is the only electricity generating wind turbine in the world with a viewing platform for visitors.  It is reached through an elevator in the centre of the tower.  Because of the wind the tower moves a lot – generally not an ideal combination with an elevator – they had to get creative.  Cruise ships also have the same problem with a lot of movement though so marine elevator technology was used at 1,230m above sea level – an elevator for a moving structure.  Very nifty!

Looking up at the viewPOD on the Eye of the Wind turbine.

The viewPOD (the name of the enclosed viewing platform) is the most amazing place to be.  With a 360° view from the sea to the mountains, the city to the valley, it is an exceptional place to see the Vancouver area from.  There is a glass floor in one area so that you can see directly down the tower.  The blades go whipping by the pod as they spin in the wind and generate electricity – the tips of the blades can go up to 300km/hour, though not so fast when visitors are in the pod.  After exiting the elevator and taking a quick tour around full of awe and excitement I felt the tower move with the wind and then in a new way, and that’s when I remembered that wind turbines always turn to face directly into the wind.  On the Eye of the Wind the whole viewPOD also turns into the wind.  It was great!  (I get silly, giddy about things like this – combining a fantastic view with scientific nerdiness? Sweet!!).

Looking through the glass floor.

I think this is Castle Mountain, to the north of Grouse.

If I could take the turbine home and put it in my backyard (assuming I had a yard) I would!  It was way too much fun and as I said before, something I really think everyone should go and see (think they’ll let me camp in it every night??).  It was a great day and I am so happy that we went.  If you would like to see a few more photos of the trip you can  check out my Vancouver photo album here.

At the Eye of the World.

For those of you that have been looking for a new NerdBird post I’m very sorry for the long delay.  I will try to get myself back on track over the next couple of weeks!  Thank you all for reading!  I really do appreciate your support!