Kayakers Document Glacial Recession in Sea to Sky Rivers

Longtime Whistler kayaker Shawn 'Puddles' Hughes describes paddling as 'recycling the snow,' skiing in winter and riding snowmelt down rivers in summer. He and fellow kayaker Archer McLeay have witnessed drastic changes in waterflow due to glacial recession. McLeay notes that snowmelt rivers like the Callaghan now have shorter seasons, sometimes cut in half by heat waves. Hughes observed 'looping'—a phenomenon where water levels peak at 4 a.m. and drop by 11 a.m., forcing him to launch at odd hours. The Cheakamus River, with a larger glacial head bond, still flows year-round but is shrinking. Fitzsimmons Creek, which feeds the Green River and supplies snowmaking, is also affected. The Whistler Museum is collecting oral histories from kayakers to document these changes, which are becoming records of a landscape transforming within a generation.