motorcyclist dead, thousands stuck as crash causes eight-hour shutdown of sea to sky highway overnight
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a collision involving a motorcycle and an rv shut down the sea to sky highway near deeks creek bridge on july 5, 2026.
brittany michalchuk
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a motorcyclist is dead after a serious crash on the sea to sky highway between vancouver and squamish that left motorists stranded for hours.
b.c. rcmp said the woman was one of two motorcyclists who were spotted by a highway patrol officer reportedly speeding and driving erratically at around 5:30 p.m. sunday.
the officer was conducting speed enforcement checks on the highway.
“the officer left their position along the highway and moments later located one of the motorcyclists who was involved in a collision with a recreational vehicle,” said mounties in a news release on monday.
the woman died at the scene.
the independent investigations office of b.c. has been notified.
the civilian-led police watchdog agency said it was told by rcmp an officer tried to stop two motorcycles heading south on the highway, but the motorbikes did not stop.
one of the motorcycles collided with another vehicle near deeks creek bridge, north of lions bay, it said.
the crash closed down the sea to sky highway in both directions for more than eight hours. the highway reopened at around 2 a.m. although it took hours for the backlog to clear.
brittany michalchuk was on her way home from whistler to vancouver when she got stuck on the highway, joining a long line of vehicles at a standstill in the southbound lanes.
“traffic was just not budging,” she said. “there’s rvs and buses. there must have been thousands of us stuck in traffic.”
michalchuk put on her rollerblades and travelled about 11 kilometres to get closer to the crash scene to find out what was happening. she described what she saw as “apocalyptic.”
“there were people with sleeping bags and pillows sleeping on the side of the road. there were dinner tables set up, picnics. people ran out of gas and batteries died. i saw somebody jumping a car. people were running out of food and water,” she said.
a tent pitched on the side of the sea to sky highway after a crash shut down the highway in both directions near lions bay on july 5, 2026.
brittany michalchuk
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police had blocked off the highway near the crash scene, but michalchuk could see an rv sitting motionless in the distance, facing north.
the police officer at the scene said the wait could be several hours and said people can either wait in their vehicles or head back to squamish or whistler.
“we were all getting frustrated, hungry and tired,” said michalchuk.
bumper to bumper traffic on the southbound lanes on the sea to sky highway after a crash. the highway reopened at around 2 a.m. july 6.
jag walia
with darkness falling, michalchuk hitched a ride back from a vehicle that was able to turn around. she waited it out in her vehicle until 11 p.m., gave up and drove back to whistler for the night.
amid the frustration, some stranded travellers found kindness from strangers.
roxan nava and her family, including their three- and five-year-old children, were heading to horseshoe bay to catch a ferry to vancouver island after nava’s birthday celebration in whistler.
after waiting 2½ hours near porteau cove and learning the highway might not reopen until early the next morning, they turned back to squamish and posted online looking for a place to stay.
a squamish resident, derek kurucz, answered the call.
“he and his wife opened their home to our family and had already prepared beds for us to sleep in,” nava said. “even though we were complete strangers, they welcomed us without hesitation. we will always be grateful for their compassion during such a stressful situation.”
the iio, which investigates incidents involving police that results in serious harm or death, is asking witnesses, including those with videos, to contact them at 1-855-446-8477.
the b.c. highway patrol is also investigating the incident and asks witnesses who saw the motorcyclists or those with dashcam video of the riders between britannia beach and the crash site to contact police at 604-526-9744.
correction: an earlier version of the story mistakenly attributed information from the b.c. rcmp to the independent investigations office.
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