 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
I'm quite keen to visit Vancouver. I'm also keen to ski in BC. What's the feasibility of staying in Vancouver, hiring a car and then doing day trips to resorts? How far are the resorts - would it mean an awful lot of driving?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
There are 3 resorts on the NOrth Shore of vancouver - Grouse, Seymour and one other whose name I can never remember. You can probably drive to any of them in under an hour from the centre.
Whistler is a couple of hours drive up the sea-to-sky highway
after that you;re talking a full day in the car....
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
This is the link I kept for myself after visiting Vancouver.
I only went up to see one of them but Grouse Mountain, Cypress Mountain and Mount Seymour are within easy driving distance from Vancourver, say in 1.5 to 2 hours range including the usual traffic jams.
Whistler is a challenge if you want to do a day trip and I wouldn't recommend it because driving a long journey at night on icy roads, after a hard day's skiing, is not recommended.
What I did was to get accommodation closer to Whistler, say under 45 minutes by car. We stayed in a place called Squamish and drove to ski everyday in a MPV. One can pay top dollars if staying in the Whistler resort.
Depending on the weather condition driving can be hazardous too because not many Canadians believe in snow tyres and snow chains.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
We've done the drive up to Whistler a few times from the airport and it's been fine although we've always driven during the day and not in the evening. It's an easy drive compared to a lot of European resorts as there's no dreaded hairpin bends and it's relatively straight in comparison. However, there are a lot of roadworks going on just now while they widen the road in preparation for the hordes of people going up for the 2010 Olympics (due for completion in a couple of years time) It's about 2.5 hours from the airport, so about 2 hours from downtown providing there's not jams. Cypress is be a lot closer to downtown and I wouldn't have thought it could be much more than 30 - 40 mins without jams but I've never been there.
I think Canadians are less likely to have chains than snow tyres. However, the rental companies do not put snow tyres on their cars and use all seasons instead. This can cause a problem if there's a lot of snow as the police will stop people without the proper tyres and turn them back.
nbt is right that it will take longer to get anywhere else from Vancouver other than Grouse, Cypress, Seymour and Whistler. You'd probably be better off spending a couple of days in Vancouver and then going on somewhere else.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
 you can get the first lift at Whistler if you are on the road by 7am from Vancouver centre. I have done this several times. Might not work if it is actually snowing hard but it's only 60 miles or so and the road is pretty good.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
How many years ago was that, Arno?
The few times I drove it was ALWAYS nearly 2 hours! I know it's only 60 miles. But the traffic was always bad SOME part of the drive...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
abc, April 2005 was the most recent time
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Arno, I suppose if you leave early enough you could maybe do it in less than 2 hours but we usually end up travelling during the day and from the airport so it has always taken us at least 2.5 hours.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
geetee, I'm usually escaping the in-laws in Vancouver so a nice early start works very well for me 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Partly this depends on where you are staying in Vancouver. The local ski hills are all north of the Lions Gate Bridge, which is something of a bottleneck if you're coming from Downtown or further south. The highway to Whistler is also north of the LGB. If you're staying in Downtown, then you've got to get over the bridge - add 30 to 45 mins to your journey. If you're staying east of the LGB, you also have better access to the north side of the LGB by heading west on Hwy 99, although there can be a bottleneck at the second narrows crossing. If you're north of the LGB, you've got better access (all this makes more sense with a map of Vancouver in front of you!).
My benchmark (which I've never sinced matched) is 1 hour 15 from the north side of the LGB to Whistler Village. That was before the roadworks started, it was late at night, and it was dry. Until all the roadworks are done, it would be diffcult to get close to that sort of time, and even with the roadworks done other traffic is going to mean that you take longer.
Day trips to the resorts in the BC interior are not really feasible. You're looking a 4 hour+ drives.
Bottom line is that commuting to Whistler from Van means you'll spend as much time in the car as you do skiing. You're better off heading to the local mountains IMO.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
I love Vancouver! So, definitely visit it! As others have said, you've got Grouse, Cypress and Seymour all on the north of the city. Grouse is simple to get to, less than half-an-hour on a bus from the sea-bus terminal in North Van (great views across the bay from the top too, only been up in the summer though). My third cousin's son works at Cypress on and off, and it's easily accessible. I know almost nothing about Seymour, other than it's supposed to be quite good (I read an article about it two nights ago, but have forgotten virtually all of it).
As greg66 says, the Lions Gate Bridge can be a huge hold-up, but the traffic flows fairly well outside of the commuter times.
I've been to Vancouver a number of times, admittidly doing most of my exploring in the summer months, but I always stay a night after visiting Whistler so that I can see afore-mentioned third cousin. I agree that you'd be best planning a specific few days to visit somewhere like Whistler (go during the week, all of BC seems to decend on it at the weekend) and then set aside the rest of the time to explore the city/try out the local hills.
You could also spend a few days in Vancouver, then drive cross-country to Calgary, stopping off at various resorts along the way, there are quite a few good small hills in BC (Whitewater at Nelson has a really good reputation, but is a full day's drive from Van). You'd need a few weeks to make it worthwhile though.
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
|
from downtown Vancouver, its a good 2 hours to Whistler now days, longer if you get stopped for roadworks. someone mentioned staying at Squamish, that a good option to save accommodation money, and from there you can be at the lifts in around 45 mins.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks for the advice. Think what we'll probably do is spend a couple of days in Vancouver, then book accomodation in a resort. Is it fairly easy to get rooms for just a few days? I know in some European resorts it can be difficult if you don't want to book Sat to Sat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
It's the opposite in N. America. You'll get a nice discount for booking mid-week stays.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
