Work Begins on the Hibernation Habitat

For the past week we've been working away at clearing some of the snow and setting up Grinder and Coola's hibernation habitat.

The bears have begun to move around more frequently and have been seen looking out of their den at their habitat. This is to be expected given our slightly warmer temperatures and longer daylight hours.

If all goes to plan the habitat should be ready in the next week or two and the bears will be able to come out and play in the snow. It is always a really exciting day when the bears first emerge. They love the snow and spend most of the day romping around, wrestling and rolling in the snow to clean their fur after a long winter's dormancy.

More updates to follow as we get closer to the date!

The Eye of the Wind and our viewPOD tours have officially begun - Friday February 26, 2010

Tours of the Eye of the Wind and our viewPOD have officially begun. Visitors are now able to ride our elevator cab up to the observation platform and capture some of the most amazing views of Vancouver – not to mention an up-close look at our wind turbine. Most visitors are utterly speechless once they step onto the viewPOD. It’s wonderful to watch people learn and enjoy this structure as much as we do. While the turbine is ready to produce power we have a few upgrades to make at our final electrical connection to the grid but should be in good order to be producing and using power in March.

The commissioning of our wind turbine generator is complete - Friday January 29, 2010

It’s a nice feeling - the commissioning of our wind turbine generator is complete and The Eye of the Wind now officially has the potential to start producing power.  As excited as we are, we have to wait for a few more upgrades at our point of connection before we take that final step to producing and using the power.  In the meantime, our elevator is in the final stages of testing and inspection.  The elevator cabin can run automatically now and has the look and feel of a true elevator.  Take a look at the stunning photo taken from the bottom elevator landing.  This landing is where you enter and exit the base of the tower  -  imagine the sight from the top elevator landing in the viewPOD!

Spring approaches...

Whew, things have been a little hectic here on Grouse Mountain for the past few weeks with first the Olympic Games and now the Paralympic Games. For the entire Olympic period, the NBC Today Show was broadcasting from the mountain top and there was a flurry of activity everywhere you looked. Yet, through this all Grinder and Coola remained mostly asleep.

The last week of February was unusually warm and the bears stirred enough to prompt us into starting the fenceline of their Hibernation Habitat (the area directly outside of the bear hotel and the first section of habitat we put up each year). But, as it's want to do, as soon as we started on the fence, the snow came fast and hard. We had to delay fence construction, but it did not matter as Grinder and Coola had gone back into a deeper sleep. Now, however, a couple weeks later, things are warming up a bit and they are beginning to move around a lot more, as you can see on our den camera . Both bears are still looking chubby, probably due to the milder winter we had this year, but both look to be in excellent health.

Once we are sure Mother Nature does not plan for any more large dumps of snow we will finish off the habitat and open the doors to the bear hotel. But for now we wait and see...

For those of you who missed them, the NBC Today Show did two video features on our refuge. They focus on our pack of Timber Wolves, but Grinder and Coola do make an appearance! You can view them on our wildlife video page.

More updates to follow!

The Eye of the Wind - Grid Interface - Friday January 15, 2010

What a difference a month makes! The Eye of the Wind is now interfacing with the grid. A bit more tweaking and commissioning by our Italian team and we’ll soon be producing power. The elevator is running beautifully and now has two working doors - one at the tower base and one entering into the viewPOD at a height of 57 metres off the ground. We’re now entering into the inspection phase when the various authorities involved in this project must visit and give their nod of approval. Take a look at the photos of the inside of the shaft showing the wind turbine cabling that runs inside the tower and the elevator rails. There’s also a photo showing how the elevator cabin looks from the bottom of the tower.

The Eye of the Wind - Elevator - December 10, 2009

We’ve been asked by a number of skiers on the mountain why The Eye of the Wind isn’t spinning regularly. Rest assured it isn’t due to lack of wind! The blades are kept in a position that prevents them from capturing the movement of the wind while we wait to complete the electrical work. Since the tower was assembled, the team on-site has been finishing the installation of the electrical control building at the base of the tower. This work is integral to power production. For an idea of the gear associated with this unique project, see our photo of the inside of The Eye of the Wind. Also, the elevator installers have been steadily climbing the tower and finishing their work. The elevator cabin can now travel up and down the rails from the very bottom to the top. (See the photo showing the inside of our elevator cabin).