Cypress Mountain | Nordic Skiing

Cypress Mountain is the only ski resort in Vancouver with all of nordic skiing, alpine skiing, and snowshoeing available on mainatined and patrolled terrrain. It is a short drive up Cypress Bowl Rd. from the highway. The alpine skiing area is lcated at the end/top of the road, while nordic skiing/snowshoeing is on the left hand side ~2km before the road ends.

Transportation

The options for getting to the mountain are shuttle bus, driving, and hitchhiking. Of these options, the shuttle bus is the least convenient, as it costs $23 for adults, and its schedule is very limiting. Driving is self explanatory. It is worth noting that winter tires are not necessary except for heavy snowfall days, as the roads are constantly cleaned by the resort. Hitchhiking is a great option if one has no access to a car and money for the shuttle bus. It is also convenient when conditions make it risky to travel in one's vehicle (i.e. summer tires). When that is the case, I had parked just before the first switchback on the mountain (where there is plenty of parking space), and hitchhiked up from there. I had great success doing this with minimal wait time, and it was just as easy on the way down. Lastly, the most extreme option is to strap ski gear on one's backpack and/or bike and ride to the bottom of the mountain, then hitchhike up. This is quite a hassle in inclement weather, but it gets the job done. Also, a good strategy is to avoid going up at opening (9AM) on nice weekends or holidays because a traffic jam often develops. It is best to go a few hours after opening to avoid such delays. Parking is never really a limiting factor because a crazy traffic jam develops way before the parking lot fills up. This is due to the alpine skiers, as that area is much higher traffic than the nordic trails.

Facilities

Rentals

The most common rental skiis are the Rossignol X Tour Escape for classic and Rossignol Zymax for skate skiing.  Their boots range from Rossignol X-1 to X-10 models.  The full rental kit costs $20 for classic and $28 for skate per day, but a slight discount is applied from 3pm to closing.

Warming Hut & Waxing Room

Additional facilities that are worth mentioning are the warming huts, Nordic Cafe, and waxing room. The two warming huts are located at the bottom of the trails and at the top of the Powerline/Upper Wells Gray trail. These places are great for taking a break and warming up those cold hands. 

The waxing room is probably the most useful of these services. They have two wax benches set up with several irons available for no charge. However, be sure to bring scrapers, your own wax, and brushes because those are not provided. 

The Nordic Cafe sells basic snacks and drinks, but do not count on it as a major food source. It is best to bring your own food unless you don't mind having noodle soup and hot dogs for lunch.

Upper warming hut interior

Upper warming hut

Upper warming hut

Hollyburn Lodge (under construction)

Snow groomer

Lower warming hut

Waxing room

Waxing room interior

Nordic Cafe interior

Rentals

Trails

The 19km trail network consists of 7.5km of lit trails in the lower area, but the rest are not open for night skiing. The lower trail network is well maintained; they usually groom twice a day, but it is common to have snow accumulated during heavy snowfall creating slower conditions. Additionally, the skier traffic is not enough to pack down the fresh snow. For best conditions, it is best to go on days with no precipitation. The upper/far east trails are usually in much poorer conditions due to the lack of traffic and maintenance. They are often not even open, so the snow is not nearly as packed down as the more popular trials, even after grooming. Overall, the trails that are open for night skiing are the best maintained and fastest, and as one gets further away, the conditions generally get slower. As for waxing, the Swix CH8 (or equivalent) is a cheap option that will cover the range of conditions quite well on Cypress. A GPS recording of my ski on the day these photos were taken is available here.

A few photos from the trails:

Grouse Mountain | Snowshoe Grind

The Snowshoe Grind is the winter continuation of the infamous Grouse Grind.  However, this trail is much more scenic and less strenuous than the Grouse Grind.  Since the Grouse Mountain website does not have much visual content on this route, we thought it would be useful to provide some insightful information on this day trip.

Getting There 

Grouse Mountain is accessible by car, complimentary shuttle bus, and public transportation.  The shuttle bus departs from Canada Place in Downtown Vancouver and pay parking lots are available at the bottom of the mountain for $8 a day.  In order to avoid this hefty fee, there is a few street parking spots on Nancy Greene Way, just a few minute walk from the gondola.  Keep in mind during peak hours and holidays that these two options may be very popular, so taking public transportation may be the best option. Additionally, make sure to check grousemountain.com for current conditions, as they close the trail for avalanche inspection following significant snowfalls. This results in the trial being on "standby" that usually lasts the whole day.

Admission 

As far as expenses go, the admission for the gondola is $45 (for adults).  This can be avoided by the true hardcore by hiking up the BCMC trail that leads up the mountain and paying $10 for the gondola ride down.  The BCMC trail entrance is blocked off due to the Grouse Grind closure during the winter.  However, the fencing ends at the east end of the parking lot and there are paths established that lead to the BCMC.  The BCMC runs parallel to the Grouse Grind, approximately 50-100 metres east.  Although the trail is usually packed down, it is not recommended to use this trail after a heavy snowfall as it is not maintained.  If attempted, crampons are a must.

Trail 

The Snowshoe Grind trail begins in the Chalet area, near the Light Walk portion (Christmas addition).  Once past this area, the trail follows flat terrain for about a kilometre.  There are trail signs and orange markers labelled "SSG" to show directions for the trail.

Then, it turns into a steep uphill for an additional kilometre to the top of Dam Mountain (same route as the summer Dam Mountain trail).  This marks the end of the Snowshoe Grind.  However, there is more to explore.  Continue the marked black poles to go to the Discovery Loop.  This trail leads down to the north side of the summit, and wraps around the mountain at a lower elevation. This can either be taken back to the Snowshoe Grind or to Thunderbird Ridge (out and back trail section) by taking a left turn. The Thunderbird Ridge is the most scenic part of the whole area, as there is an abundance of uninterrupted views of the surrounding wilderness. It is also worth noting that snowshoes are not completely necessary most days due to the compaction of the snow, and hiking boots with crampons can be used as a substitute. A GPS recording of the trails can be found here.