May 5th, 2019: The summer of 2011 was the time when some local Whistler artists ventured into the wilderness between the crashing Cheakamus River and train tracks that cut through the middle of Whistler. Of the marvellous works of art that were painted that summer, Kris Kupskay(aka: Kups) has the most impressive and long lasting murals in Whistler Train Wreck. One bizarre and beautiful mural hides further out from the other wrecked train cars.
Walking into the woods for about 5 minutes brings you to the stunning Kups Zombie. This large, colourful mural covers half the side of one of the old train wrecks and stretches from bottom to top. Painted by Kris Kupskay in 2011 during the Train Wreck Paint Jam organized by another local legend in Whistler, Chili Thom. Several murals created at the Paint Jam in 2011 were gorgeous. Brilliantly coloured and surreal in such an unusual, tranquil and hidden forest with seven mangled train boxcars scattered. Whistler Train Wreck went from a curiously interesting, old train wreck site, to a brilliant collection of stunning murals during that one summer night in 2011. Located on a particularly beautiful stretch of Cheakamus River, the Whistler Train Wreck is a collection of seven boxcars that were craned into the forest here after derailing 72 years ago. Desperate to get the train tracks cleared after the boxcars jumped the rails and wedged in the rock cut nearby, a local logging company brought in a 35 tonne crane and yanked them into the forest. The boxcars lay in the forest here as junk for decades until they were brought to life by local artists that turned the train wrecks into beautiful works of art. Though most of the original murals have been painted over, some remain, and new murals appear occasionally. As a testament to how mysterious and surreal Whistler Train Wreck is, the municipality had to build a fancy, $100,000 bridge a couple years ago to this popular hiking destination.
On the other side of the Kups Zombie mangled boxcar two other interesting murals were located. One painted in 2011(same time as the Kups Zombie was painted), and another painted in 2014. RUN was painted in a large and unexpectedly striking mural. Partly concealed by the forest, the letters appear quite suddenly and can't help but make you laugh out loud. As if in some comedy/horror film where the hero stumbles upon some message left by others. Painted, as it was, at the same time as the Kups Zombie mural, it appears to be the warning for the zombie on the other side of the train wreck. Unsigned, except for the year '2011', it seems likely that it was also painted by Kups.
Another beautiful mural, and yet another continuation to the Kups Zombie and RUN murals appeared in 2014. Kups added to the side opposite the zombie, a grizzly bear zombie. This zombie eyed grizzly bear was painted on the same side of the boxcar as the RUN mural, though on the opposite side of the open door. Sadly, the RUN mural was spray painted over in the years between 2011 and 2014. In 2014, however, the Kups Zombie was still beautifully intact. It wasn't until the last couple years that it was covered over by random, pointless spray paint.
The Whistler Train Wreck bridge takes you across Cheakamus River and the first of seven wrecked train cars. The first boxcar you come to has the wonderful Kups Hidden Agenda mural inside.
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