64 Hours of Snow and Rain Pelt Pinkbike.com

Jan 9, 2009

The past week has been hell in the Lower Mainland. We have been through hip high snow, ice rink streets, and pelting rain. We have experienced it all, and for a small mountain based city that doesn't usually even accumulate snow during the winter season, this is a huge deal for us, and it's starting to pose a pretty big issue.

Read on to see the damages,

For those of you that don't know where Pinkbike.com is located, we're based in the Fraser Valley in the town of Chilliwack. We are located about a hour and a half East of Vancouver, and about 40 minutes out of the mountains. This winter has been crazy for us, not only for the amount of snow that we've received, but for the "hurt" mother nature is putting on us with this week's rain and warmer temperatures.

First off, Chilliwack got a dump of about 4 feet of snow prior to Christmas time. The last time we had a large snow fall was in 1996, and that consisted of about 4.5 feet of snow. Since then, Chilliwack has slowly been building up its protection from the Vedder River, by the use of dykes, however this recent snow and rain fall has put our dykes in peril. Are they actually high enough is the annual question and with all the rain and snow run off, no one is sure.


We now have roads that are inches under water, full road closures and sections of town unreachable. Our local riding spot is even being compromised. Parmenter Road, better known as the road to Vedder Mountain recently collapsed, creating a large hole on the road. What a crazy winter time!

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Here's a small "humorous" write up explaining our predicament:

Chilled Vancouver commuters faced their second day of winter hell today, as an additional 2 centimeter of the peculiar white stuff fell, bringing the lower mainland to its knees and causing millions of dollars worth of damage to the marijuana crops. Scientists suspect that the substance is some form of frozen water particles and experts from Saskatchewan are being flown in. With temperatures dipping to the almost but not quite near zero mark, Vancouverites were warned to double insulate their lattes before venturing out.

Vancouver police recommended that people stay inside except for emergencies, such as running out of espresso or biscotti to see them through Vancouver's most terrible storm to date. The local Canadian Tire reported that they had completely sold out of fur-lined sandals.

Drivers were cautioned to put their convertible tops up, and several have been shocked to learn that their SUV's actually have four wheel drive, although most have no idea how to use it.

Weary commuters faced soggy sushi, and the threat of frozen breast implants. Although Dr. John Blatherwick, of the Coastal Health Authority reassured everyone that most breast implants were perfectly safe to 25 below, down-filled bras are flying off the shelves at Mountain Equipment Co-op.

"The government has to do something," snarled an angry Trevor Warburton. "I didn't pay $540,000 for my one bedroom condo so I could sit around and be treated like someone from Toronto."

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The Rain has subsided, for now. Here are a couple up to date images of the view from the deck of Pinkbike. Our recent snow pack has depleted greatly due to the rain fall. The amount of snow you see here is usually what we would receive over the whole winter season, not a few the left overs of a few quick storms.


It's straight up crazy here. Hopefully we don't get flooded even worse but no guarantees. Let's all just be happy that Pinkbike.com is running off some server based out of sunny Texas.

Thanks boys!

Bring on the heat as I want to ride!

-Jordan.