Pacific NW/AK/BC How much time can I spend at Cypress?

[bananyan]

I'm thinking about going out to Vancouver for a month or two since I'm working from home anyway. I'll have time to ski after lunch local time. As an intermediate skier in Toronto, Cypress will be quite big for me. I've skied at bigger resorts like Niseko, Chamonix, and Bridger Bowl where I'm comfortable with all blue runs and some black runs, and medium (?) size resorts like Tremblant where I'm comfortable with most black runs.

Will I get bored of Cypress within a month or two? I wish I could base myself at Whistler, but I won't have free accommodation and the season pass is 1k more expensive. I mainly want to explore powder and glades more regularly, rather than the biggest, most challenging runs.

 

[Bill Miles]

I wouldn't expect good quality powder in the coastal mountains (grew up skiing in the Washington Cascades just a bit further south).

 

[James]

You can always take up... teley.

Never been, but looks gorgeous.

 

[Posaune]

I've never been to Cypress, but I've always been a coastal skier. Don't listen to the stuff about how heavy the snow is and that it rains all the time. You might think that if you had scheduled a week long visit more than a week ahead of time and hit if wrong. But if you're a local, like you seem to be headed for, you can tune into all sorts of information about conditions online and make your decision to go the day before. I've skied like this (not always with internet!) for over 50 years. Cypress will give you plenty, and there's Grouse and Semour just down the road.

Come on up to Baker (2 hours away) some day and I'll show you around. After covid time, which means next season, probably.

 

[David Chaus]

From Vancouver you have Grouse and Seymour as well as Cypress, in case you need some variety. Sasquatch (formerly Hemlock) is further to the East near Agassiz (near Harrison Hot Springs), about 2 hours from Vancouver. All are going to be less expensive than Whistler for day tickets.

That said, Whistler is also under 2 hours from Vancouver, and rather than a season pass I would get an Edge Card (2 days, 5 days or 10 days), which is only available to Canadian and Washington state residents.

And yes, if the border is open you also have Baker, so lots of day trip possibilities.

 

[Slasher]

I've been skiing Cypress & Grouse 2-3 afternoons/evenings per week, every winter for the last 20 years. It's generally hard to say if someone will be bored with a "small" (by BC standards) resort , but I'm gonna guess that you *might* be. If you're not a park rat or an obsessive learner, either of whom are usually content to do lap after lap after lap of the same runs, and you need lots of terrain to keep you stimulated, then yeah Cypress could get boring. Effectively we have 600m of vertical, about a dozen good groomers, a dozen more bumps/steeps, and a couple dozen more various runs that aren't always available. That's still many times the size of Blue Mountain . We get lots of snow but we're in the freeze/thaw zone, so properly deep powder days like in the Kootenays, the Rockies or Hokkaido are rare.

Backing up a bit, I'm not sure if your question is whether or not to get the Cypress ski pass (yes, if you're in Vancouver), or whether or not to base yourself out of Vancouver (yes if you have free accommodation here, as seems to be implied). As others mentioned, there's actually 3 local resorts (Cypress, Grouse & Seymour) within 30min of downtown Vancouver, and all of them have very well priced off-peak passes. In your situation, I'd get both the Cypress Silver Pass (CAD 489) and the Grouse Weekday Pass (CAD 399), as well as a Whistler 5 or 10 day Edge Card. Pre-Covid, Baker was always a fun (but long) day trip.

Here's the view north from my place (5min east of downtown Vancouver) a couple of weeks ago during our first cold snap:



That's Grouse on the right, and The Lions (the two distant peaks, great hiking but not skiable) on the left. Cypress is just out of the frame, to the west.

 

[markojp]

Will you get bored? Only if you're boring. The lovely part about the local Vangroovy hills are simply this; there is no better skiing closer to metropolitan area other than maybe SLC in north America. When I lived there, it was also some of the .most 'social ' skiing I've done. It was pretty rare not to meet or ride up with friends and just have a great time. At night, the views from Cypress and Grouse are stunning. We used to night ski week days at the local hills and Whistler or Baker on weekends. And Edge card is a great idea for you. The drive from Van to W and back is no big deal. The Sea to Sky highway is much better than pre-Olympics. This season might be amazing for W/BC as there will be few if any non-Canadian tourists. There just won't be any crowds. That said, local Van hills might be crowded, and I have no idea how Grouse is going to get everyone up and down the tram and the consequent effects for Cypress and Seymour. Cypress also has xc skiing which is cool if you need some variation or a great cardio workout.

 

[freeskier1961]

I have skied there many times, decent mountain compared to a lot back east.
usually very crowded on weekends
might be better served going to W/B for a day or two
If intermediate plenty of terrain fun if new snow. less crowds midweek
have fun

 

[freeskier1961]

ps love Bridger !! especially Schlusamans

 

[François Pugh]

Do it.
1) Coastal snow may not be powder, but it's heavenly compared to what you have to ski around Toronto.
2) If and when you get bored with the available trails, you can begin to really focus on your skiing, and once you get into that, it's not boring.
Just say'n.

 

[Slasher]

At night, the views from Cypress and Grouse are stunning.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention the view:



I live just at the left edge of the photo, and for my day job my downtown office is in the cluster of lights peeking through the trees on the right.

 

[Posaune]

That's me, way off in the distance waving. I can see the lights from my living room window.

 

[noncrazycanuck]

Being based in Vancouver and skiing part days mid week while working full time works at either Cypress or Grouse. I spent a lot of days doing exactly that.
True conditions are not always ideal but great skiing does happen. That being said on a full day off I went to either Whistler or Baker

I assume you already have lodging dealt with in Vancouver.
If not and you can work on line anywhere, BC does have less expensive places close to ski hills.

 

[bananyan]

Well, I'm sold. I will be staying with friends while in Vancouver. I think my plan will be getting a season pass and do afternoon and night skiing during the week and go to Whistler during the weekend. I'll probably drop by in Revelstoke or big white for a week on the way back to Toronto in late Feb. Thanks everyone!

 

[DanoT]

Well, I'm sold. I will be staying with friends while in Vancouver. I think my plan will be getting a season pass and do afternoon and night skiing during the week and go to Whistler during the weekend. I'll probably drop by in Revelstoke or big white for a week on the way back to Toronto in late Feb. Thanks everyone!

Since you stated in the op that you are an "Intermediate" skier, I would suggest that Sun Peaks is a much better choice than Revelstoke, a mostly a black diamond mountain with only a few runs for the intermediate skier while Sun Peaks has something like 80-90 blue runs as well as some easy black runs that are regularly groomed, spread over 3 mountains with tons of ski in/out accommodation including a hostel that is across the street from the Burfield Chairlift.

If you are driving back to Toronto via the Trans Canada Hwy, then Sun Peaks is less of a detour to get to than Big White (aka Big Whiteout).

Be aware that due to Covid, Sun Peaks has sold out their season passes (about 5,000) and day tickets can only be purchased online, in advance. Check with other resorts for their ticket sales policy.

Right now, this past Saturday there were around 550 new Covid cases in B.C. with over 500 in the Vancouver and Fraser Valley Health Regions and only 22 new Covid cases in the B.C. Interior Health Region (even less in the far North or Island Health Regions) where all of the B.C. ski resorts not called Whistler or the North Shore Mountains are located. As of last Sunday, Vancouver and the Fraser Valley are under 2 weeks of more restricted regs and gatherings vs the rest of B.C.