Vancouver — By thevancouverguide on January 11, 2011 at 10:52 am
Filed under: outdoors, skiing, winter recreation

Enjoy Vancouver’s Winter Sports

When you’re visiting Vancouver you don’t have to go far to participate in a variety of winter sports. Right in the heart of the city, at Robson Square (map), there’s a free public skating rink, with skate rentals until February 28. And just a short drive across to the North Shore, you’ll find the mountain winter sports resorts at Cypress, Grouse and Seymour Mountains where there’s been perfect snow conditions so far this season.

All the local mountains have been experiencing record attendance. Cypress Mountain, was a popular venue for last year’s 2010 Winter Olympics, although the lack of snow that season posed a problem. This year, however, there’s lots of the white stuff with more in the forecast. You can have the thrill of skiing classic runs like Panorama and Cascade where Canadian athletes won our country’s first gold medals. There’s been large enough crowds that a shuttle bus service has been put on at the parking lot so skiers will not have long walks to the lifts.

Vancouver's Beautiful Mountains

At Grouse you can ski, snowboard, snowshoe and skate or just take a lift up to enjoy the winter wonderland. As Grouse is so popular both blue and red trams are used at busy times to bring people from the car park to the peak.

Seymour is perfect for snowshoeing and tobogganing. The snow has been dry and powdery for excellent winter sports conditions. To avoid bottlenecks on the road, at busy times cars are stopped at the base of the mountain with a 15 minute wait.

On the Sunshine Coast there’s Dakota Ridge Recreation Area, a winter paradise offering world class cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. It’s just a 40 minute ferry ride from West Vancouver and features cross-country ski trails as well as snowshoe trails with plenty of space for tobogganing. To reach the area you’ll need a four-wheel drive but there are local companies providing transportation to and from the mountain.

Of course, if you want to go farther afield, there’s the world class Whistler Blackcomb ski resort area with the popular Peak 2 Peak Gondola. If you’re not a skier or ‘boarder you can spend the day in Whistler Village where there’s over 200 shops and excellent restaurants. This area is ranked #1 resort in North America and was the official alpine skiing venue for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Over on Vancouver Island you can ski at Mount Washington. Or travel to BC’s Okanagan to the excellent resorts at Big White, Sun Peaks and Silver Star.

Whether you’re experienced or a beginner, you’ll be sure to find adventure and excitement on our beautiful mountains.

For information about the ski resorts: