THE KITIMAT STORY CROOME 361 



cable is runner-up for the world record; the only larger one is the 

 380,000- volt cable in use at Harspranget.) 



To carry out all this work a settlement of about 5,000 people was 

 established at the foot of Mount DuBose by 1953. Apart from the 

 forbidding country around, they were snug. They had their own 

 neat homes, schools, churches, and in the cinemas first-run Hollywood 

 films were screened. A 2-lane road ran 10 miles down the valley to 

 the anchorage on Gardner Canal— and the rest of the world. 



THE POWERLINE 



It is certain that without helicopters the power so boldly seized at 

 Kenney Dam and Kemano would never have been piped across the 

 mountains to the aluminum ore at Kitimat. Grit can get men so far 

 but it cannot swing heavy loads to an eagle's eyrie — and this was the 

 sort of task that was now ahead. Between Kemano and Kitimat lie 

 50 miles of savage mountain country, clogged with snow and lashed 

 by winds that could rise to an 80-mile-an-hour gale off the sea. At one 

 point on the route the transmission line must go over a 5,300-foot pass, 

 the highest elevation in the whole project. In these conditions hun- 

 dreds of specially strengthened pylons had to be set up and the massive 

 transmission cables rigged — the biggest ever made and designed to 

 support a 5-inch sheath of ice if necessary. It was difficult enough 

 getting the men to some of the sites, not to speak of heavy equipment. 



Seven helicopters were brought to Kitimat, the largest fleet to be 

 used for civilian purposes at that time. But there were other snags. 

 Carl Agar, one of Canada's best pilots, was called west to pioneer 

 high-altitude landings and takeoffs. The rarefied atmosphere and 

 treacherous mountain downdrafts were variables that no one had ex- 

 perienced on this scale. 



But the venture worked. In fact the helicopters became so indis- 

 pensable that on favorable days they flew 75 round trips on a tight 

 schedule — more than at the height of the Berlin airlift, as somebody 

 pointed out ! Each machine would work on a 4-hour shift, back and 

 forth, back and forth, without ever touching down. 



Meantime on the mudflats below at Kitimat the new aluminum 

 smelter had been going up, and 4 miles away the new town was rising, 

 a planned community scheme to house the rapidly increasing popu- 

 lation in the wilderness. Port facilities were also installed on the 

 cleared foreshore. Stalwart as these rapid achievements were they 

 seem dwarfed by the rest of the development story. 



On July 15, 1954, the last switch was made. The power from the 

 lakes in the mountains began to heat the smelters. The plant was 

 officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh a fortnight later and the 

 first ingot poured in his view. 



