Hi there,

Moving to Vancouver from London in September, and I am trying to get few information before getting there.

I am planning to keep on riding every weekend, and I think you can do day trip to Whistler from Vancouver. We'll probably to try as well the other resorts, I saw there is few good big ones not too far from Vancouver as well... will depend how much fresh powder there is I guess!

I saw that there was closer resorts as well opening quite late (until 10ish in the evening?). What about them, any advice on which ones to go? I guess it is mainly slopes and park activity over there? Isn't it too icy?

About ski passes, better to get year pass I guess?

Well anyway, any helps is welcomed! And though there is going to be 4 of us (plus another one in January) moving to Vancouver, if there is people from there we would be happy to meet up for ride (and drinks!).

Cheers
Alex

whistler is about 1.5-2 hrs away from vancouver. there are 3 local hills in vancouver; seymour, cypress, grouse. if your living in van i would suggest a pass to one of these, they also all have night riding. cypress is my favorite and i think has the most terrain. all the local mountains can get a lot of snow, more then whistler is quite common. vancouver rains alot so that usually means lots of snow on the hills, but its not very cold here, just below freezing sometimes that means the snow can be heavy. you'll just have to work those legs a little harder. if you are up for a drive there is also hemlock just past mission which gets a lot of snow but is very small and isn't open every day, its worth making a day trip and checking it out. even further out there is mt washington on vancouver island or hop across the border to baker. mt washington gets a ton of snow but like the vancouver local mts it can be heavy.

Ok, thanks a lot for the advices! Well, I have good legs, no problem with this, just need to get a bigger board for the powder days in Canada, especially if the powder is a bit heavy since my longer board is 161cm but with the 90 - 95kg that is a bit pain if you don't have speed!

I guess the best way is to have a go at each of the 3 resorts near Vancouver when then open and I will chose one which is more convenient from where to access from where I will live...since I don't have a driving license at the moment! At least that helps me for the resort names, already had a look around internet but wanted to have advices from people over there ;)

my advice?

first, get a park board and a pass at seymour.

second, get a backcountry board for those backcountry days.

i believe grouse (not bad during the week) has better access by public transit.


[Edited by legallyillegal on 3/10/2009 at 2:13 PM]

Was wondring if there was any glacier or anything for summer weekends riding apart from the camp in whislter?

whistler has glacier riding thats open to the public.

Great, wasn't sure, but I will not have to spend too much time off the board, that's good!

Another question:

Can you do some off piste in Western Canada in general or you risk to get your pass taken from you?

cypress - maybe

ok thanks for the details! I will def go to seymour then as though i enjoy the park i prefer freeride!

What about whistler and blackcomb and the other resorts north of vancouver?

you can go off piste in whistler blackcomb to no problem. but last season the snowpack was shitty, it was a late season with not much base, which meant the avi risk was high. there where a lot of slides in and out of bounds, so a lot of the hills where banning people from accessing backcountry or riding off piste. wb is probably the most backcountry friendly resort in the lower mainland, i have never had any issues going bc there untill last year.

good to know! Heard that it wasn't much of a good season indeed, and if it is closed because of avalanche, I am pretty happy to be on slope instead! Just don't fancy getting my yearly pass getting taken off if I get one.