Ski resort Grouse Mountain

With 33 pistes, 6 terrain parks and night skiing, Grouse is a great little mountain to explore while on holiday in Vancouver. Like most Canadian ski resorts, Grouse offers a variety of groomed and ungroomed terrain and on powder days you’ll have a blast here. The ski area is reached by a combination of public transit and gondola, making this the only ski resort in Vancouver that doesn’t require a terrifying drive up the mountain. The iconic mile-long Cut, visible from the city centre, is well-suited to beginners and intermediates. Grouse Mountain is truly an amazing mountain, with some incredible black and double-black diamond runs through the trees. Unfortunately, these require quite a lot of snow cover so they are often closed.

Experts will get the best views of Vancouver from the Peak, a challenging double-black diamond run with waist-high moguls. Beginners have a small practise area but Grouse Mountain is really best-suited to intermediate skiers and snowboarders, who can take advantage of the intermediate pistes in the aptly named Blueberry Bowl as well as two funky runs through the trees, Paper Trail and Sidecut. There are only two chairs but they give easy access to all the terrain without requiring much hiking. As well as skiing, Grouse offers 9km of snowshoe trails, snow limo tours, an outdoor ice skating rink, mountain ziplines, sledging, illuminated walking trails, a wind turbine with view pod, several shops and a cinema that shows short ski documentaries. Grouse is one of Vancouver’s tourist hotspots and at the top you’ll find a handful of mountain restaurants for varying budgets, from the swanky Observatory with its panoramic views to the more relaxed Altitudes Bistro. Tuck into some traditional Canadian poutine or grab a ‘beavertail’ to eat on the go. Ski lessons for children start from age 3 and there are freeride camps for teens.