Skiing in sight of Vancouver’s lights
North Shore Mountains offer excellent facilities that are only a snowball’s throw away
The three North Shore mountains couldn’t be more convenient for those wanting to ski. The best part? After a long day or night of skiing you can head downtown or home to your own bed.
“I think of Seymour as the beginner family mountain, Grouse as a great place to ski, and Cypress as more vertical, people spread out and more of a serious skier, boarder mountain,” says long time skier and North Shore resident Janet Pople-Clement.
All three resorts offer night skiing, so you can be dazzled by the city lights of Vancouver as you slide down the slopes.
CYPRESS MOUNTAIN
For the second year in a row Cypress is expanding their snow making system. “This latest installation will be a huge benefit for our day to day mountain operations, which in turn will help us provide our skiers/riders a better product,” says Russell Chamberlain president of Cypress Mountain.
Over the summer there has been regrading work on Panorama to provide a better entrance to Crazy Raven. Top Gun and Horizon ski runs have also been improved.
A new snow making line will provide coverage from the base of Lions Express Chairlift up Lower Horizon to the exit of Humpty Dumpty. The expansion should allow them to open Horizon Ski Run earlier than previous years.
Cypress has the most terrain, and most lifts of the North Shore mountains. It offers skiers 600 acres of downhill skiing on everything from gentle groomed slopes to black diamond runs.
GROUSE MOUNTAIN
At the top of Grouse Mountain, there’s plenty of activities to choose from; skiing, skating, snowshoeing, ziplines, sledding, and a night Light Walk are all available.
For the 2018-19 season Grouse Mountain is celebrating the 25th anniversary of terrain parks on the mountain.
With 221 acres of skiable terrain, Grouse Mountain has 33 ski and snowboard runs, 15 night runs, four chairlifts, a magic carpet, five terrain parks plus the Cut Jump Line, Sliding Zone, and nine kilometres of snowshoe trails.
MOUNT SEYMOUR
New for this season is The Night Pass. A pass for those who enjoy watching sunsets and the city lights turning on beneath them. For $199, guests can ski or ride every night after 5 p.m. from January 3 onward, until the end of the season.
Mount Seymour has five lifts serving 200 acres.