Vancouver Advice. Grouse or Cypress Mountain?

A snowHead

Mid April we have a 12 hour stop over in Vancouver on the way home, 7am land, 6.30pm out. Option A is to go walking around Vancouver. Option B is to get in a taxi straight off plane and go boarding in either of the above. Mrsfatcontroller not keen on option B but will go with the flow. Grouse seems to be the smaller but slightly closer to the airport. Neither are confirmed to be open but looking at present snow falls good chance they will be.

Plan would be to have a taxi meet up off flight and hire gear up there. I reckon we can get a good 5 hours boarding in. Cypress is further but you can board to car park as opposed to Grouse which you have to take skyride?

Any logistical advice anyone can give?

A snowHead

@thefatcontroller, I've seen some things on the web that suggest Grouse usually closes the first week in April. You may know more than I. Maybe give them a call.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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@thefatcontroller, it's an interesting question. They've got shed loads of snow, but it's a desperately low resort and it's hard to imagine they can keep going long. Personally, I think it might be a lot of hassle for minimal return. They only advantage is really to be able to say you've done it.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@foxtrotzulu, It would be on the 18th and on the 20th I will be 50 so the fact that it's pointless and a bit mad are not relevant!

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Depends on the weather - grouse was technically open for skiing until June a few years ago! Last year the north shore mountains were hardly open. It is supposed to be toasty this week. The local mountains have a pretty decent base this year, though the cut ( lowest run on grouse and the one you see from vancouver) was looking a bit patchy. I'll take a look for you in a minute and post an update
snowHead

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Sorry, it's stuck in a cloud at the moment!

After all it is free

Logistics wise, Grouse is as you noted closest. The skyride is reasonably frequent do not a big deal and only takes about 10 minutes or so. There is a ton of construction on the road up to Grouse at the moment, so factor that ito your calculation
Grouse and Cypress both have coach service from downtown I believe (and Seymour from Lonsdale Quay which you can get to on the Seabus) - not sure if it'll still be running mid-april even if open.
Cypress is the biggest of the 3, though Grouse has most all year round stuff going on, so doesn't really shut down - you can always do the Grind if it's shut for skiing! wink

Well, as they say, check it's not raining. If it's been a long year I'll ride there on the way in even if it is raining.

Here's what I do.

Leave my gear at the Airport Fairmont, where there's also a sauna and change area.
How you get to use it... that's your initiative, but if you leave your bags you need to tip the people for that.
Catch the Skytrain/ SeaBus/ Bus. The bus to the resorts leaves from the seabus terminal (Lonsdale Quay as stated) near Bean Around the World coffee (which is good). Grouse is closer: check the times. Buy a daily Skytrain ticket from the 7-11 in the basement of the local end of the terminal as it's cheaper than tickets from the machines for there-and-back. You can ride all that in your snow gear. Carry your boots in a Tesco carrier bag. If there's more than one then hiring a car would probably be the easiest thing. I've not done it using taxis but that would work for sure, although some of the local taxi drivers are rubbish in snow. If you go that way make sure you know how to get a cab to get you back - someone at the slope will help you with that I'm sure, but it may not be all that common.
They have lockers at the hills (up top in Grouse, at the base in Cypress) so swap boots for shoes and leave your shoes in there along with the carrier bag.

12 hours. Not sure if you're arriving international or not. It can take an hour to clear all that. There's no decent breakfast spot in the terminal. The Fairmont is ok but expensive and not great for breakfast. The waterfront station has some stuff but it's all chains. Bean Around the World at Lonsdale Quay would be my target: fill up there whilst waiting for the bus up to the resort. You can see it pull in from there and everyone waits there.

I've always used my own board (Kessler for that stuff), but they have rentals. They may not have advanced gear there, the hills have a sort of dry slope feel in terms of clientèle. I know one of the snowboard instructors at Cypress if you have specific questions, but chances are the resort info will all be posted on their site.

I'd probably do Grouse as it's closest. I've done both for the standard, evening flight back to the UK without hassle.

--
Otherwise, Vancouver is a pretty city and well worth a visit. In shops most stuff is about half UK prices, but of course you have to pay duty when you declare it on bringing it through customs. Unless you lose the receipts and take the tags off and forget you just bought it all of course. You can easily get to downtown on the Skytrain (same as above) and it's very safe to wander around. If you're after snowboards and stuff, the best shops (MEC etc) are a bus ride from down town, or they where when I last looked.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Off to Whistler on Weds for big ski race (kid , not me). Any of you locals got any tips? Is it worth skiing when the forecast is so hot?

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@stuarth,

@philwig, Thanks for advice, we will arrange a taxi, time is not there to be messing about with buses. One small thought, is the fact that with Cypress you can ski to base make it a better option than Grouse where you have to skyride even with extra journey to Cypress? Google maps saying Grouse is 45 mins from airport and Cypress is 52 mins?

snow reports

@gryphea,

There's plenty of snow here, right now, but at low level it varies from cement to slop. Stay above the Roundhouse and it's all in good condition. We're due several continuous days of warm weather and sunshine, but temperatures in the alpine will keep the good stuff in reasonable nick.

You know it makes sense.

Bringing allsorts for whistler trip this week. Skiing thursday, volunteering Friday, sat, sunday and fitting skiing and maybe hiking and tennis on between...............

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

So did you manage any skiing? It was definitely not looking like much of a ski day yesterday - 30C when I left work yesterday! Cool

A snowHead

@stuarth, Good lord, great memory. No sadly conditions didn't work in our favor. We took advantage of the weather and did a tour of the town, Stanley Park and Gas town until jet lag floored us about 2pm. May have only been a short trip but 1st impressions last and the place looks amazing. Lovely people and just stunning scenery. We will be back and if you live there you are very, very lucky.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@mountainaddict, Definitely +30c. Proof we made it there.

Grouse mountain is right in the middle of this photo.

adn Cypress is the 2 snowy runs on the left hand side in the distance here.

and 2 scenic shots from Stanley Park.

Help!!

Vancouver Advice. Grouse or Cypress Mountain?

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