Ski News from Vancouver, BC – Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Ski Resorts Gear Up for 2010

Since the 1920s, Cypress Mountain, Grouse Mountain and Mount Seymour have been the cradle of snow sports near Vancouver. With the advent of this season’s 2010 Winter Games, the trio prepares to write a new chapter in the North Shore history book.

Although Cypress Mountain, venue for Olympic freestyle skiing and snowboarding events, is off limits for five weeks from February 1 – March 8, pre- and post-Games snow-sliding action runs full tilt there from when snowflakes fly until spring thaw. To help take up the slack, Grouse Mountain rocks non-stop, ‘round the clock during the 17 days of the 2010 Winter Games.

Early risers can catch NBC’s Today show broadcast live each morning during the Games from the lodge’s 1,130-metre (3,700-foot) vantage point above the city’s inner harbour. No matter what manner of snow sport you favour – downhill, tubing, or snowshoeing – one of the best rides on offer on the North Shore is the scenic 12-kilometre (7.4-mile) ascent up Mount Seymour Road to the “old school” oasis where it’s business as usual all winter long at Vancouver’s gateway to recreation. One of the highlights this season sees Mount Seymour hosting the World Snowshoe Invitational in February when winter sports enthusiasts from two dozen countries compete in North America’s biggest snowshoe race.

www.cypressmountain.com; www.grousemountain.com; www.mountseymour.com
Dance down a Mountain with Olympic Debutante Ski Cross

Ski Cross, a fixture at the Winter X Games since 1998, is poised to take its place as the new kid on the block at the 2010 Winter Games. Starting in January, see for yourself as the elite of the ‘cross world begin pre-Olympic training, powering around berms, rollers, banked corners and a gallery of features on snow-sculpted ‘cross courses, at Vancouver Island’s Mount Washington Alpine Resort.

Try ski cross for yourself at Big White Ski Resort in the central Okanagan Valley and Blackcomb Mountain’s Nintendo Terrain Park in Whistler. Just as snowboard cross debuted at Turin in 2006, the 2010 Winter Games offers its younger sibling, ski cross, a chance to shine in prime time. The two events rival NASCAR racing for volatility and uncertain results. Both spectator-friendly sports are easy to understand: groups of four competitors line up like racehorses in gates at the top of a course.

The first two across the finish line move on to the next heat until the field is narrowed down to the final four riders of which one triumphs. While racing shoulder-to-shoulder at speeds as high as 70-kilometres (40-miles) per hour may not be everyone’s cup of hot chocolate, once you’ve pulled a g-force or two on your own, the excitement of watching the pros in action is sure to stir the competitive spirit.

www.mountwashington.ca; www.bigwhite.com; www.whistlerblackcomb.com

November 13, 2009   Posted in: Canada