What does it take to build an attraction like the soon-to-open forest boardwalk, Squamish Canyon?
Squamish filmmaker and rigger, Matt Maddaloni answers a big part of that question with his new Squamish Canyon Construction–Highlight Reel, which he published on YouTube.
The reel is a taste of the longer film he has crafted.
Maddaloni told The Squamish Chief that he is a good friend of the canyon's founder, Robin Sherry.
Tourism as eco-protection
"I have been chatting with him about this project for 10-plus years. For both of us, the canyon was a secret locals’ spot that we would frequent a lot—rock climbing, kayaking, free diving, and just watching the falls in all its crazy moods from perfectly clear low water to terrifying monster floods," he said, adding that Sherry figured the forested beauty around Mamquam Falls wasn't going to last due to potential logging and housing developments.
"On top of that, Instagram was blowing up some of our local spots, such as Watersprite [Lake]. He thought he could do something about that. I knew it was a massive project and funding would be tough, but I wished him luck," Maddaloni said, adding he too had witnessed the increase in popularity of the area.
"Three summers ago, I show up with my free-dive gear to swim in the deeper pools below the falls, and the tiny parking lot is overflowing with cars running way down the road," he recalled.
"I figured there was some sort of event going on, and I asked people why they were there. Everyone kept saying for some waterfall they saw online," he said.
"When I reached the water, there were people everywhere and—I kid you not—two groups were taking bikini shots in front of the falls with professional setups. Standup boards were everywhere, and people were on the far side sunbathing."
When he got back to the parking lot, he saw people wiping mud off their feet with paper towels and dropping the trash on the ground before pulling away.
The next two summers were worse, Maddaloni said, and people were showing up at the spot during the winter as well.
Previously a Ziptrek Ecotours (Whistler) lead rigger for 10 years, Maddaloni said he saw how that project protected the surrounding forest from being overrun.
"It made me so happy to walk among the tree top catwalks and see mama bears suckling their young below, or a bobcat silently stalking their prey without being bothered by us above," he said.
"That forest will remain protected due to that tourism. And just like Ziptrek, Squamish Canyon will teach their guests about sustainability, ecology, First Nations and global warming."
Maddaloni said that since he had transitioned to working in film full time, he suggested to Sherry that they could capture the building process of the project, so future guests could watch while having a coffee at the Squamish Canyon café.
To create the footage, several times a month, Maddaloni would arrange his nine time-lapse cameras to capture "stories" of each construction phase.
"I would build those stories out with drone shots, sliders and standard [24 frames per second] cinematic shots. Ten terabytes of footage resulted in two hours of finished video edits that I hope will let the guests experience the build in a unique way," he said.
"You could sit in the café and watch a mesmerizing time-lapse of the construction in incredible detail, with each visit watching new stories as the reel rotates through."
‘Unreal’ shots
Maddaloni said he found a lot of the construction process fascinating and inspiring.
He pointed to mountain construction company Axis Mountain Technical installing foundation and steel while dangling over the canyon.
"Some of these time-lapse shots are unreal. One section involves a 100,000-pound, 130-foot span bridge that floats over the canyon and the crazy stacked steel arms that hold up the section that ducks under the main road bridge," he said.
Ultimately, Maddaloni stressed how proud he is of the project Sherry built.
"I want to say that, as a outdoor enthusiast himself, Robin knew he had to keep the door open for kayakers, rock climbers, free divers and local hikers, etc., to keep doing their thing amongst the canyon walls and has made sure to fund the replacement of the original trail systems and access points—with no plans to ever close that door as he understands our little blue dot belongs to all," he said.
“I am super proud that this project was founded by someone like Robin. I hope that Squamish Canyon will uphold his values going forward and help us all rethink how we operate on this planet we all call home.”
To find out more about Squamish Canyon, visit its website.
Find Maddaloni at seatoskycam.com, madsound.ca and IMDB.
•Please note, this story has been corrected since it was first posted. It should read 100,000-pound, 130-foot span bridge, not 100,000-pound, 30-foot span bridge, as originally written. The Squamish Chief apologizes for this error.
