Fotoeins Fotografie

location bifurcation, place vs. home

Posts tagged ‘North Shore mountains’

irst Narrows, Salish Sea, Lowden's Lookout, Prospect Point, Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC, Canada, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: a view to a prospective summer

One of the most prominent landmarks in Stanley Park, the viewing area at Prospect Point looks over First Narrows. Appearing in green in the background at far right, the Lions Gate Bridge crosses Burrard Inlet and links the North Shore (North and West Vancouver) with the city of Vancouver. While five at the left are involved in a group-portrait selfie, the couple at centre and the bicyclist at right are looking up at an overhead seaplane that’s left Vancouver harbour. On the North Shore in the background, snow lingers on Crown Mountain (left), and the wind turbine pokes up over Grouse Mountain (right-centre).

I made this photo on 29 April 2016 with the Canon EOS6D, 24-105 zoom-lens, and the following settings: 1/160s, f/11, ISO200, and 65mm focal-length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-8p5.

Up, up, and away: Helijet chopper tour over Vancouver

Fortune often favours the brave, especially for those who rarely get to see Vancouver from a height of 1500 metres (5000 feet). This city may be my birthplace, but this is my first helicopter tour. The only other occasions I’ve seen Vancouver from the air are from planes on approach to YVR international airport.

We arrive at Vancouver Helijet Heliport on a weekday morning, and hang out for a few minutes in the spacious waiting area, sipping on coffee and chatting with the folks at the front desk. We head outside, file down the walkway to the landing pad, and hop into a Bell 206L-3 LongRanger helicopter (chopper) for our 20-minute sightseeing tour.

The “West Coast Spectacular” tour heads across Burrard Inlet to the North Shore, goes up and over the nearby coastal mountains, flies past Crown Mountain and The Lions (The Sisters), before emerging over Howe Sound. It’s easy to forget this abundant B.C. evergreen wilderness is at the doorstep to Vancouver. After heading south down the Sound, the final half of the tour proceeds past West Vancouver to English Bay (Salish Sea), enters and covers False Creek, crosses over the downtown Vancouver peninsula, makes a small loop over Burrard Inlet, before landing at the harbour base. The map below shows in green the chopper’s path, the Heliport in downtown Vancouver is marked by the helicopter icon, and the blue pins indicate mountains I identified during the tour.

The scheduled 20-minute tour goes by quickly; blink or look away for a moment, and a part of that view in that moment disappears. Not surprisingly, there’s not a lot of chatter throughout the flight, and we’re astonished by what we’re seeing below. After returning to base, we rediscover our voices and express our wonder with grateful enthusiasm. Helijet’s sightseeing tours go for a pretty penny; the “West Coast Spectacular” tour costs $224 CAD per person (minimum of two people, 2014), but the price goes down to about $150 per person for a group of five. These photos show there’s a different side to Vancouver that’s tantalizingly close and within reach.

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Vancouver: Grouse Mountain, in winter

All of the peaks on Vancouver’s North Shore have a frosting of snow on their respective peaks. Most residents refer to the North Shore mountains which go up to about 5000 feet as the “local hills”.

However, my knees are wobbly, and my ankles are crap. I don’t ski nor do I snowboard. What that means is I cast envious glances at those who do. But instead of envy, why not capture them in action?

It’s really beautiful at the summit of Grouse Mountain.

From downtown Vancouver, it’s 15 to 20 minutes drive to the base of Grouse Mountain. Alternatively, there is public transport: with the 247 bus directly from downtown Vancouver; across Burrard Inlet on the Seabus to Lonsdale Quay, followed by the 236 bus; or with the 232 bus from the eastern side of North Vancouver. There’s an aerial tramway or Skyride service between the mountain’s base and the top.

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