Fraser Canyon - Hell's Gate Airtram Attractions 
The wild Fraser Canyon, a drive of no more than three hours east of Vancouver, is one of Canada's most impressive gorges. Here the raging torrents of the Fraser force their way through a narrow pass between rocky walls towering almost vertically above the river. In days gone by the Indians found a perilous way across by using ladders. The first things to take the eye are the narrowness and rough-hewn walls of the Fraser Canyon and the difficulties involved in laying a road at the narrowest spot, known as Hell's Gate. A funicular railway, giving a view of the wild gorge below, leads down to the other bank which is 150 m (490 ft) lower. Down here the tourist will find souvenir shops, a restaurant and a small center providing information, by means of films, models of the "fish-ladders", etc., about the four-yearly migration cycle of the salmon. It is a climb of a few minutes down a reasonable path to the white, foaming river below. The opposite bank can be reached by means of a swaying suspension bridge.
On average, 200 million gallons of water per minute shoot through the canyon which is only 34 m (112 ft) wide at this point. Normally the river here is about 40 m (130 ft) deep, but when the snow thaws it can rise by more than 20 m (65 ft) within a very short time.
When dynamite was used to provide a way through for the railroad in 1914 a massive rock-fall resulted, thus narrowing the river-bed still further. The estimated 5 million salmon swimming upstream were now no longer able to battle against a river flowing at 37 kmph (23 mph) and so found themselves cut off from their spawning grounds. This resulted in a catastrophic reduction in the numbers of salmon caught in the Fraser River. Therefore from 1944 "fish-ladders" were built, long stepped concrete tunnels through which the water flows comparatively slowly, thus enabling the salmon to pass through Hell's Gate once again. Today more than two million salmon a year successfully negotiate the canyon.
The Hell's Gate Airtram is the best way to view this part of Fraser Canyon.
On average, 200 million gallons of water per minute shoot through the canyon which is only 34 m (112 ft) wide at this point. Normally the river here is about 40 m (130 ft) deep, but when the snow thaws it can rise by more than 20 m (65 ft) within a very short time.
When dynamite was used to provide a way through for the railroad in 1914 a massive rock-fall resulted, thus narrowing the river-bed still further. The estimated 5 million salmon swimming upstream were now no longer able to battle against a river flowing at 37 kmph (23 mph) and so found themselves cut off from their spawning grounds. This resulted in a catastrophic reduction in the numbers of salmon caught in the Fraser River. Therefore from 1944 "fish-ladders" were built, long stepped concrete tunnels through which the water flows comparatively slowly, thus enabling the salmon to pass through Hell's Gate once again. Today more than two million salmon a year successfully negotiate the canyon.
The Hell's Gate Airtram is the best way to view this part of Fraser Canyon.
