Sea to Sky Highway 99, British Columbia – Enroute to Whistler, B.C.

Sea to Sky Highway 99, British Columbia – Enroute to Whistler, B.C., originally uploaded by **Mary**.

Went and burned $15 of gas today by driving up the Sea to Sky highway from my place to Squamish. Known as a bit of a death trap over the years the highway is getting a major upgrade right now in time for the 2010 Olympics. Some sections are sweet, fast 4 lane bits while others are treacherous, narrow 2 laners lined with rubble on one side and a cliff on the other.

It was an absolute delight driving it – the fast stuff is broad and smooth and you can carry huge amounts of speed through it despite the twisty nature. I comfortably went 120kph through it and could have safely done 140 if I had used both of the lanes on my side. The slow stuff is narrow, bumpy and is frequently lined with either rubble or pylons. I didn’t go that fast through those sections due to the traffic but the level of precision needed to go fast through it was beyond my level of comfort, better to play it safe and not do double the posted limit.

While the highway can and has been a death trap from time to time it’s nothing that couldn’t be overcome by a driver paying some attention while driving it. I never exceeded 3/10th of my limit in the slow stuff and never put my car offline by more than half a foot. Just pay a little attention and you’ll be fine.