Holy fast responses! Friday morning I received a nice email from Chris, a pr guy for Grouse Mountain, outlining the reasons that the lights are on at night. With his kind permission, I’ve included the email below.
Aaron-
Here is why the lights of Grouse Mountain remain on until 2am every morning:
1. Grouse Mountain has a population of staff members who reside on site. These employees are on-call twenty-four hours a day to respond to any and all alpine emergencies, and their mountaintop homes are primarily situated along the slopes of The Cut. Safe and swift navigation through alpine areas at night requires sufficient lighting.
2. Much of Grouse Mountain’s outdoor operations take place at night, and require illumination. For safety reasons, extensive run grooming (both winter and summer), routine machine maintenance, and alpine patrol/training operations are performed when our guests have left for the evening. Note that our last up-hill Skyride departs at 10:00 PM, with restaurant guests often leaving several hours later.
3. Grouse Mountain has an alpine helicopter pad that can serve both commercial and rescue aircraft. As the lights of The Cut are an easily identifiable landmark, they serve as an immutable navigational tool for pilots. Search and rescue helicopters routinely survey the forests of the Capilano Valley in and around the high-traffic trails of Grouse Mountain. Also, our "Fly, Dine, & Drive" program operates year-round and involves Helijet Airways shuttling Observatory guests from the Vancouver Harbour to the top of the mountain for evening reservations.
4. The lights of the Cut are a Vancouver landmark, intrinsic to the North Shore Skyline much in the same way illuminated urban structures such as the CN Tower, Statue of Liberty, and the Space Needle are revered symbols of their respective cities. That said, they are extinguished at 2am every morning.
5. Grouse Mountain works closely with BC Hydro to improve energy efficiency.In fact, as an active participant in the Powersmart program, we have undergone an extensive energy audit. From retro-fitting to more efficient technology, numerous recommendations stemmed from this audit, which Grouse Mountain has implemented and will continue to implement in the coming year.
Our commitment to sustainability is not a static undertaking. It is an ongoing journey that requires constant evaluation and modification, infiltrating every aspect of the social and economic culture of our operation. We strive to put more back into the environment than we withdraw, and we will remain diligent in this pursuit.
On that note, thank you for taking the time to offer your comments; concerned voices such as yours reassure us that our environmental mission is shared by the public at large. If you still have any questions or concerns on this subject, we’d appreciate a chance to answer them directly before you create another post in this thread.
Best,
Chris
Grouse Mountain Resort
While I’m not sure I’m entirely convinced by the reasons he listed, this has certainly given me pause for thought. Where before the lights looked frivolous, they’re now starting to look kind of meaningful.
Kudos to Chris and the Grouse Mountain team on their speedy response — It’s rare, I think, to hear anyone respond to criticism (especially public criticism) in such a reasonable manner. And kudos again for letting me post the response — this shows a refreshing willingness on GM’s part to engage in dialogue with the general public as part of their ongoing commitment to sustainability. Hoorah!
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