The ski season is definitely upon us, and as an avid lover of snow, I try my best to venture out to Vancouver’s wonderful North Shore mountains as much as I can this time of year.

I first went to Cypress over 5 years ago, hopping a ride with family from Surrey all the way. We would usually do the Night skis because they were cheaper.

Now, many moons later, I’m faced with a much worse opinion of Vancouver’s mountains. After doing some recent research, I was just amazed at the ridiculous price it costs to go skiing! It’s most certainly due to a combination of me no longer relying on an automobile for transportation, and the IOC’s decision to host the Olympics in Vancouver.

For me to go skiing at Cypress, even with my own equipment, clothing, and cheaper pricing as a youth, it would still cost nearly $100 just to go for a day. Imagine having to factor in ski rentals!

Having never gone to Grouse or Seymour, I figured I would check out the competition. So, I put together a number of tables of comparison here. Hopefully it turns out to be something of a one stop shop for deciding what mountain you’ll be visiting this winter season.

This first table compares lifts tickets on all three mountains. There’s generally four categories of ages - Adult, Youth, Child, and Senior. The first half of the data with the white background is for a full day lift ticket (usually 9am to 10pm), while the second half with the grey background is the pricing for a night ski lift ticket (usually 4pm to 10pm). Expensive isn’t it?

This second table is the same comparison, just graphically viewed differently. Under each data entry, the day ticket is listed first, with the night ski ticket after the slash.

The third table I find the most interesting. I’ve collected the number of runs each mountain has. Surprisingly, each mountain has almost the same number of intermediate blue runs (around 15), while Cypress has significantly more black runs than Grouse or Seymour. This information is very important to people depending on their level of ability.

The fourth table shows the prices for rentals. The “Ski/Snowboard” is the full package (including ski/snowboard and boots), while “Clothing” is for both jacket and pants. Generally the same price across the board, but still quite expensive (unless you’re a richer tourist). Way cheaper for any local resident to just buy used or new equipment.

The fifth table shows the number of lifts each mountain has, and what speed they run at. I’ve categorized them into “Slow” (tow pulls), “Regular” (regular chairlifts), and “High Speed” (high speed chairlifts). The speed of a lift can significantly make of break your overall experience. For example, I remember the old Sunrise chairlift at Cypress used to take (what seemed like) a good 10-15 minutes, which can be deadly cold at night, not mention crazy boring. This chair has been replaced with a new high speed one which whisks you up in 4 minutes.

The last table incorporates something important to those of us without a car (or those who can’t drive in snow!) - transportation to the mountain. Cypress has a private chartered bus service, Grouse requires you to take the Gondola up the mountain, while Seymour provides a very cheap shuttle service. When transportation is so expensive, it can definitely make the difference between choosing Seymour over Grouse.

Finally, here are some images of the three mountains. First off is Cypress, followed by Grouse, and then Seymour.

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