I've got to say, the most awesome name for anything Olympics-related so far has GOT to be The Greasebus! At first I was picturing a bus filled with hungover patrons being served a catered, Bon's-style breakfast for all who took it but was pleasantly surprised to learn that there's no grease in the cabin; this free shuttle up the mountain actually runs off of the waste from the Grouse Mountain kitchen. Soybean oil fuel!
Here's the official word:
DC ALL-NIGHTER GREASEBUS GIVES LOCALS ACCESS TO GROUSE MOUNTAIN
Free shuttle service with zero sulfur dioxide emissions will operate February 12th – 28th, 2010.
January 22, 2010 – Vancouver, BC – The DC All-Nighter Bus will offer local snowboarders transportation to Grouse Mountain at no charge for over two weeks next month. Grouse Mountain will be open 24/7 February 12th – 28th and to accommodate local riders access to North Vancouver, the DC All-Nighter Bus will operate from 8PM – 6AM daily. Vancouver snowboard retailer The Boardroom and the Lonsdale Quay bus loop, will act as the main drop off and pick up locations for riders. Both the Boardroom on West 4th Avenue and Lonsdale Avenue will be included in the service which will also link up with a 24 hour bus running from the Lonsdale Quay to downtown Vancouver.
What makes this service unique is the bus will not be running off of traditional gasoline. The DC All-Nighter Bus will run solely on soybean oil recycled from the Grouse Mountain kitchen. Named “Greasebus”, it is the first waste vegetable oil powered bus to provide riders with shuttle services to and from mountain resorts in North America. It outputs zero sulfur dioxide emissions, which is a major cause of acid rain.
“We want to make sure all local riders can access Grouse Mountain while keeping mother earth healthy,” says Shawna Olsten, Marketing Manager for DC Shoes. “Snowboarder’s all over the world recognize the responsibility we have to our environment and we wanted to make sure the DC All-Nighter Greasebus supported that initiative.”
“When I saw Greasebus in Portland last summer I thought “Vancouver needs one of these” and now DC and Grouse Mountain are going to make it happen!” says Fred Glackmeyer of The Boardroom Shop. “The minute people see how simple and subversive the fuelling system on the bus is, they are going to love it. The best part is we can all get through traffic to shred 24/7 and not burn a bunch of gas doing it.”
There will be limited space on the bus and seating will be based on a first come, first serve basis. Riders of the DC All-Nighter bus will have a chance to win a 2010-2011 season’s pass to Grouse Mountain, snowboards from DC and Boardroom gift certificates.
For more information on the bus schedule, visit www.grousemountain.com/nightbus
