Cypress Mountain?

HomerPimpinGoing to Vancouver for a short trip after Christmas, Cypress Mountain and Whistler are my two options. I already went to Whistler in March, so I'm definitely more inclined to check out Cypress Mountain, especially since tickets are less than half the price of Whistler's. Place looks gorgeous, I'm just a little concerned it's gonna be very crowded if I'm going during peak season with how limited the terrain is.

Guess I'm asking if Cypress Mountain is worth taking a trip to over Whistler, for those that have been or are familiar with the resort?

Straight up don’t. If ur not there an hour before opening you won’t get parked, place is overrun w jerrys, park is usually shit/nonexistent, terrain is ok but I definitely would not do a trip there for it. I used to ski cypress a lot back in the day and it was literally empty even on weekends u could pull up at 9 at park at the lodge. Then covid happened and everyone and their grandma realized there was skiing 30 mins away from downtown van lol.

For North Shore mountains Grouse and Seymour are way better options. Grouse has the best park, small hill for sure but also some super fun terrain if you know where to look. Seymour also has a decent park and the side hits are legendary. Both are more fun than cypress and slightly less crowded.

Tbh tho all north shore mountains and whis get crazy busy around xmas. My pick if i were in ur position would be baker, sick terrain, sick vibe, gets nuked on constantly and is basically never busy. Nothing is gonna compare to whis terrain wise but baker has plenty of gnarly shit to get ur fill. Also since its not as busy u can ski pow basically all day, not just the first two laps. It’s 2 hours from van which seems far but the drive is beautiful and well worth it imo when ur getting way more laps in.

^^^ all of that but also this

Whistler and cypress don’t compare at all. Cypress is a small hill with big mountain levels of people.

The skiing at cypress isn’t great. There isn’t much in terms of alpine. It doesn’t have the elevation to have a constant supply of pow. You can find good pockets of snow in trees but it can get pretty tight.

the views at cypress are awesome, but it’s highly unlikely to get a clear day up there.

in terms of parking/transport, you can always take the shuttle from Lonsdale quay/sea bus terminal. Otherwise get up there as early as possible. Legally you need three peak snowflake or m+s tires to drive up, but I’ve never been stopped to check.

of the north shore ski hills, Seymour is my favourite.

I think hemlock/Sasquatch mountain in Harrison gets slept on. It has small mountain vibes and prices but some decent tree line skiing. Hotels are relatively well priced and you can hit up the springs after skiing. The drive out might seem daunting, but it’s a pretty chill ride.

ajbski^^^ all of that but also this

Whistler and cypress don’t compare at all. Cypress is a small hill with big mountain levels of people.

The skiing at cypress isn’t great. There isn’t much in terms of alpine. It doesn’t have the elevation to have a constant supply of pow. You can find good pockets of snow in trees but it can get pretty tight.

the views at cypress are awesome, but it’s highly unlikely to get a clear day up there.

in terms of parking/transport, you can always take the shuttle from Lonsdale quay/sea bus terminal. Otherwise get up there as early as possible. Legally you need three peak snowflake or m+s tires to drive up, but I’ve never been stopped to check.

of the north shore ski hills, Seymour is my favourite.

I think hemlock/Sasquatch mountain in Harrison gets slept on. It has small mountain vibes and prices but some decent tree line skiing. Hotels are relatively well priced and you can hit up the springs after skiing. The drive out might seem daunting, but it’s a pretty chill ride.

Always been curious about Hemlock but never made the trip out there. What's the terrain like? It's about the same distance from me as Baker, does it compare at all?

saucemastrscottyAlways been curious about Hemlock but never made the trip out there. What's the terrain like? It's about the same distance from me as Baker, does it compare at all?

i think if you factor in the border pain and traffic on smaller roads, it actually takes longer to get to the mt baker ski area than Sasquatch.

No they don’t really compare. There’s more alpine and steeps at baker.

I would pick Sasquatch on a storm day, if you wanna ski some chill tree line stuff.

Going to echo what people said above and recommend grouse / Seymour.

I went to college in van and didn’t have the time or money to ski whistler so I ended up a grouse local. It’s probably the third best park in western Canada behind Whistler and Sunshine and the terrain is pretty decent outside of the park as well. Night skiing during the week is basically empty and they keep a decent amount of runs open for it. Highly recommended. Seymour has a good park as well but it’s more snowboarding oriented.

I didn’t know a single freestyle skier that skied Cypress.

Grouse is great and it’s even better with the handle tow in the park

Grew up on the north shore and I too echo that Grouse and Seymour are the way.
Grouse has an awesome park setup ran by a great crew- especially at full buildout, and has lots of fun steep freeride terrain. Seymour's parks are dope too including their new one which is basically a run full of shaped sidehits/ hips. The terrain and vibe at seymour is super fun too, tonnes of cool natural features and sidehits everywhere. Both will get slammed over the break though, especially during daylight. Night skiing is quieter (with less jerrys too) but grouse can get some pretty big download lines as theres no ski out to the parking lot. Just plan ahead.

Sasquatch/ hemlock is neat, but I also recommend Manning Park. Super oldschool and chill with some real flowy terrain both lift accessed and hike to. Went there a few years back and rented one of their lodge rooms w the homies and had a great time, not too pricey either. With any of these mountains though, pray for snow. Have fun

I don't know how Cypress is at Xmas week because my pass is blacked out. I would not recommend right now/this month because there is no ducking snow whatsoever. There are like two runs open mostly on blown snow. Whistler is a better bet with the alpine terrain right now.

Overall I think Cypress is a great medium sized hill, decent mix of terrain, good night skiing, I rarely have issues with parking there and it's 40 minutes from my house. Not a destination ski spot by any means though.

Grouse has a great park but the place is just so so small, parking is $20, have to load up and down on the tram which can get really backed up if it's busy. Fun in the spring though.

I've never ridden Seymour.

OP are you already on Ikon?

any of those mountains are gonna be crazy busy between xmas and new years. The snow situation at grouse is terrible rn so it must be similar at cypress