The Eye of the Wind - Overview
Almost no one has been this close to one.
Posted by Loraine Labet July 9, 2009
For the most part, wind turbines appear to us in magazine articles or on television documentaries perhaps. But very few people have seen a wind turbine up close. And, until now, almost nobody on the planet has been able to say they’ve been inside one – let alone that they’ve been to the top of one.
The Eye of the Wind is a large wind turbine – so large that you are able to ascend the 20-storey high tower via an elevator contained within its supporting shaft. You exit into a 36-person viewPOD™ atop the tower, suspended directly below the hub of the massive 125-foot (38-metre) long blades. The viewPOD is encased in glass, including a segment of the floor. The closest corresponding experience would be flying in the clear Plexiglas nose bubble of a jet helicopter – except this bubble is approximately 30 times larger.
The views from The Eye of the Wind are of the jaw-dropping variety. All of Vancouver and its busy harbor, the Coastal Mountains (including the twin peaks known as The Lions) and a vast, green wilderness spread out before you.
On a clear day you can see southeast to snow-capped Mount Baker and Mount Rainier and, to the north their sister mountain, Mount Garibaldi. All three are part of the still-volcanic Cascade Range. To the west and the southwest lie Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, the San Juan Islands and the Olympic Mountains.
The view – 360 degrees of it – is spectacular. From here, sunrises and sunsets are more spectacular, as are the mists that seasonally enshroud the city and the silver-gray storms that blow in off the Pacific. Just being here is like walking on the wind.
