Drivers along the Sea to Sky corridor are doing double takes after a Volkswagen Beetle was spotted suspended high on a mountainside near Shannon Falls, overlooking the Klahanie Campsite in Squamish.
Camp residents and staff say the car appeared sometime overnight, with workers first noticing it Monday morning.
“Crazy. One just has to think of how they manage to get it up there, and how they plan on getting it down,” said Eric Fearon, a resident at the campsite.
Manager Rolan Mendoza says he quickly realized others were seeing it too.
“I have campers calling and saying, ‘Hey, why is there a red car up on the mountain?’” Mendoza said.
Campsite worker Rick Poissant says the area is a popular hiking and climbing destination, and that he noticed unusual activity the night before the car appeared.
“Sunday evening, I noticed some suspicious activity. Some climbers, arriving back to the parking lot late at night,” Poissant said.
The beat-up Beetle, marked with a large letter “E,” has drawn comparisons to previous high-profile stunts linked to UBC engineering students, including a Volkswagen placed atop UBC’s Ladner Clock Tower in 2014 and a failed attempt to suspend a car from the Second Narrows Bridge that resulted in arrests.
UBC engineering alum Christian Kyle says those kinds of pranks typically involve extensive planning.
“It’s obviously months of planning, lots of rigorous math,” he said.
Kyle would not admit to participating in any past stunts but says engineering pranks are a long-standing tradition, often designed to be impressive rather than destructive.
“Most of the time, the pranks don’t actually involve permanent property damage. I mean, if they do, something’s gone wrong. That’s a core tenet, that it’s not just mischief or breaking something. It’s doing something—ideally, a feat of engineering—that’s impressive and shows the public that UBC engineers do have the ability to do something really cool,” he said.
Authorities, however, are not amused. The Ministry of Environment and Parks said the area has been closed due to safety concerns, warning that the vehicle could pose a serious risk.
“If the car is not secured properly, it could fall and cause serious harm to visitors. Its removal may also pose a risk to those conducting the work to remove it,” the ministry said in a statement.
The president of the UBC Engineering Undergraduate Society told CTV News the group has no knowledge of the planning, execution, or people involved in any stunts—past, present, or future.
The ministry said it’s working with police on addressing the issue.
Squamish RCMP did not respond to CTV News’ request for comment.
Back at the campsite, workers say the spectacle has quickly turned into a tourist draw, with an increase in people stopping to look or climb nearby.
“Everyone in town seems to really like it up there. You know, we’re very happy with it,” Mendoza said.
Still, safety remains a concern.
“I certainly don’t mind it, but, you know, it might be a little bit risky if it ever came down on the highway, of course,” Poissant said.
The ministry says it expects to have the vehicle removed within the next week.
