B.C. before the Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics are set to make British Columbia a worldwide “superstar,” said Robert Earle Howells in National Geographic Adventure. The “Pacific-hugging province” is as big as California, Washington, and Oregon combined—but far less populated. It also “outscores the American West across the board” as a wilderness outpost. Fly into Vancouver, and within two hours you can be trekking backcountry or kayaking the coast of the Great Bear Rainforest. Of course, there’s plenty to do if you stick close to the city. Navigate the waters of the Broken Group Islands, where “sea lions sun themselves on rocky outcroppings, orcas and Pacific gray whales migrate by, and otters cavort offshore.” Take the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, linking Whistler to Blackcomb “via a stomach-dropping 1,427-foot-high unsupported tram.” Or catch the speed skaters training at “the freshly renovated Richmond Olympic Oval.” After a few days, you may be “tempted to switch allegiance.”
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