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Cypress Mountain
Category: Active Life Active Life [Edit]
6000 Cypress Bowl RdWest Vancouver, BC V7V 3N9
(604) 926-5612
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
28 reviews for Cypress Mountain
28 reviews in English
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Review from Brian S.
5/20/2012
Today I rode my bicycle up Cypress Mountain Road that ends at the base of the the Ski Area. This is not a ride for the light hearted. There is more than 15K of uphill riding. Toady's ride was a mind altering experience. I would call the roads grade changeling and even steep in a few places.
With two great view points on the mountain. During off Ski Season other then restrooms there are no real services to speak of when your at top of the road. So pack snacks and water and a range of clothes. Mountains make there own weather.(Sleet on today's ride and its May 20)
Riding down the Mountain is a thrill but use care and caution as some of the turns are fairly sharp and road is rough in places. A properly maintained bicycle is a must on this ride. -
Review from B L.
Richmond, BC
Probably the top ski snowboarding locations in terms of local vancouver mountains. The snow here is always nicer than most of the other mountains around here. With 2 main chairs and a sky chair that brings u to the peak (amazing view of the city). All those with decent skiing and boarding abilities should def ride the sky chair if its open.
Downside: they also know they are the premium mountain. So get rdy to pay some premium prices for lift tickets. -
Review from Mike G.
4/5/2012 4 photos
Mount Seymour Provincial Park is a beautiful place to escape just outside of the city!
In the summer there are a bunch of small lakes to check out some at the Ski resort level and a bunch on Black Mountain even some on the Hollyburn side! There are also peaks to hike up like Black Mountain, Hollyburn Mountain and Mount Strachan. There is also a long trail that leads from the resort area of the park and continues beyond past the Lions and multiple lakes and lets you out just down the road from Porteau Cove Provincial Park.
In the winter you can Enjoy the Ski Resort that takes up three of the peaks in the park or you can do some cross country skiing or snowshoeing! Care has to be taken to reduce avalanche risks in the backcountry when you are enjoying true nature.Listed in: BC Provincial Parks
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Review from Michael C.
Vancouver, BC
3/21/2012 3 Check-ins Here
4 Stars based on the mountain, if I was going to rate the food... 2 stars.
This is my favorite of the 3 local mountains we have in the the beautiful city of Vancouver. The larger, nicer, and more expensive of the 3. Can you believe it, they won North Shores best mountain 3-4 times in a row. It's like watching Canada vs Kazakhstan in hockey, I mean unless Seymour is going to grow a new side of the mountain to compete with Cypress, I think Cypress is always going to take gold every year.
I only come here for the winter and the best time to come here, in my opinion is Feb-April. I know it sounds late, but go take a lot as the previous year's snow report and those are the best times on the mountain. Why go in December when it's all icy and people are all on break. Go during the "off" times when everyone is at work and in school.
As for the food, mediocre overpriced food. I very rarely eat here cause it rarely worth it.Listed in: Typically Tourist
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Review from Chauncey B.
Vancouver, BC
3/4/2012
The mountain was nice, but regarding the food I would have appreciated more options, and larger portions. I love seeds and inner bark of the cedar tree as much as anyone, and with the snowshoeing I had worked up quite an appetite, so only managing a handful of pine cones (and those under like four feet of snow!) after having foraged for at least an hour was a bit of a letdown. The water was good, but a little cold.
I'm going to come back in the summer and see if they've worked out their supply issues. -
Review from Tiffany K.
12/27/2011
It's no wonder that Canadians outlive their southern continent counterparts. http://en.wikipedia.or... The amount of winter activities you can do here just 30 - 40 minutes drive from the downtown area is amazing!
The trails are free for snowshoeing/sledding which is what I came up for. If you want to do cross country, I believe it is about $15 or so for the trails. I didn't see how much the ski rentals are.
Restrooms are small, but plentiful. And flushing!
The hot chocolate here isn't bad, at least it doesn't taste like a chalky made-from-powder type of beverage. One tip: if the cafe area is crowded, check out the trailer connected to the outdoor tent set up. It isn't marked and it is usually for folks waiting to go for lessons. However it is much less crowded and you still have a small view of the slopes. -
Review from Shawn K.
Surrey, BC
3/4/2012
Quick day trip for a lil snow time. Back to the city for dinner.
Hard to beat I'd say. -
Review from pauline c.
8/31/2011 26 photos
Cypress mountain boasts beautiful views and excellent scenery. It is a skip and hop away from Vancouver, about a quick 30-40 minute drive.
On our particular hike, we decided to tackle St Marks summit as it's an intermediate hike (read: not for n00bs), about 11km and a gain of about 460 meters. It'll take around 5-6 hours for the roundtrip depending on how slow or fast you go. The trail itself in the beginning is quite easy, as the roads are covered with gravel or dirt. As you ascend up the mountain, you will have to look out for the reflectors/markers to make sure you are staying on path as the trail is not always easy to distinguish. Uphill gets pretty tough after the 2 bridges you have to cross, as the trail has ample amount of rocks, tree roots, bugs, and snow patches (even late august) here and there.
Be sure to bring ample water, bug spray is a must, have decent hiking shoes and your camera for the stunning views at the top. Breathtaking and definitely worth the sweat.
For a comprehensive list of trails and difficulty and directions, I used http://www.vancouvertr... -
Review from Angelica D.
3/5/2012 2 Check-ins Here
Outside of Whistler, Cypress is my absolute FAVOURITE mountain in Vancouver. Great staff, awesome runs, and delicious food! I love love love this place and always make it a point to go whenever I'm home.
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Review from Brian P.
Vancouver, BC
11/18/2011 1 Check-in Here
When friends from Toronto asked me whether I would ever consider moving back East, the answer is a resounding, unsurprising 'NO.' Cypress Mountain plays a big role in this; as having such quality, year round outdoor activities just 30 minutes from downtown is something extremely rare and special.
In the winter, the ski hill offers the most terrain of any of the North Shore mountains, with a diverse array of cruisers, steep, challenging mogul runs, glades, and introductory runs. I'm not a park guy, but I understand their offerings here are solid as well. It is the night skiing on the hill that really stands out for me however; it is an absolute gift to live in a city where one can leave work at 5, ski from 6 until 10, and still be back on the job the next morning. If you can get up on a clear night, under a full moon, you hardly even need the sodium lights.
The winter also offers excellent snowshoeing opportunities, both on the ticket trails of the resort, as well as free trails throughout the larger provincial park.
In the spring and summer (whenever the snow melts), hiking and backpacking trails begin to emerge throughout the park. In addition to day hikes of all difficulty levels, the area also boasts some of the best back-country camping on the North Shore (though be sure to bring your bug spray along!) -
Review from Reena M.
2/11/2012 1 Check-in Here
This review is for the snow tubing and sledding area only. We came here on my sister's last weekend in Vancouver to have some fun with our little cousins and play in the snow. I've been snowtubing at Mt. Seymour (see: http://www.yelp.com/bi...) and it was much more thrilling and the view was a lot nicer. Cypress's snowtube slope wasn't very steep or long. On top of that, they only had 4 lanes going, when I swear Seymour had more. And the pulley wasn't working for part of the time. The younger kids couldn't go snowtubing so they were in the sledding area. It is a smaller hill, but we went down it a few times and it was much more fun and exciting than the snowtubing hills because you go down faster. Unfortunately, Seymour doesn't have a sledding area for younger kids, which is why we ended up at Cypress. Next time, we'll know.
Listed in: Tourism Vancouver, Staying Active
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Review from Allison F.
1/4/2011
Went snowshoeing at Cypress for my first time today. We were amazed how close it is to downtown and the drive up provides lots of little areas to stop and get beautiful views of all of Vancouver.
Parking can be tricky for the nordic area and if the lot is full, you'll have to resort to parking along the main road. You can purchase tickets both at the ticket booth and at the rental shops if you are renting. It's best to purchase at the rental office so you can ensure they have the sizes you need. There was a line out the door for snowshoes today but it moved quite quickly. Staff definitely were not pleasant when renting or returning equipment. They were rude to each customer in line and we were ordered out of the rental shop to wait for a staff member to address us outside when we were trying to do returns. Definitely need to work on that.
You have the option of snowshoeing through Cypress regional park trails or through the mountain's patrolled paths. We went for the patrolled paths and found them easy to navigate. Green and blue runs are around the base and middle of the mountain, with black near the top. Black runs mainly just mean steeper hills to climb or descend down. We were able to cover the majority of the mountain in about an hour and a half. Maps are available at the base and are posted wherever a new run starts.
Cross-country skiing and tubing are also available if you don't feel like making it an alpine day. We did see quite a few children on the green runs, though I wouldn't recommend taking them on blue runs unless they've got some extra energy to burn. -
Review from reyz a.
2/28/2011
The bumps and aerials were here in last year's Winter Olympics. Doesn't matter, this local mountain has got to be my favourite local Vancouver mountain. Yes for $58CDN day ticket, you will get an awful lot of people because it is minutes from the city. But do what I've always done in the last 30+ years, go up at 4pm and get an evening pass--$46CDN, and ski at night. If you forget your equipment in California, then just rent them. It is great at night....believe me. Depending on the year, the weather condition can range from dripping wet, Sierra cement, to downright frigid. Typically this year, you'll get 200cm of base, and around Feb it will be below freezing, say -3C. Hey, San Jose at night is that cold nowadays---global warming? How come I'm freezing.
Love it here; especially at night, when shadows play tricks on every turn and the runs are scraped up from so many people all day. At the summit, when there's still day light, you can see the twin peaks of the Lions of Vancouver; when sun totally disappears, you can see a bit of the lights from Grouse Mountain, the next mountain over; and when it's a deeply cold night (ie no clouds), you have a spectacular sight of Vancouver's city lights as you ski down.
Molson Canadian tastes mighty good apre skiing. -
Review from Sam W.
9/10/2011
"It's a wild mountain. I've never been here before. I'm excited. It's a pretty cool spot." - Shaun White.
This quote takes a place of honour at Cypress (hahaha, wtf?) but honestly, Cypress IS a "pretty cool spot." Winter boarding/ skiing is pretty fab for a local mountain... three chair lifts going to a decent variety of runs, close enough to go to the mountain post-class/ pre dinner... and a chilled out atmosphere (share a pitcher w your buddy & enjoy the snow -- I say snow vs. pow cause Whistler seems to have a monopoly on pow.) Moguls are almost non-existant here for some reason, their park is a bit hurt, and it's really full of people who don't know how to snowboard/ ski (no big, I was one of you people too! -- just be wary that you may have to watch out for people hitting you vs. when I'm at Whis and ppl have to watch out for me! haha) but it's a fun day. Especially, like last year, if you drive a VW like me, cause they do promotions w local business dealers (1/2 off the lift pass is Always a win).
What else can I say.
The summertime is pretty fantastic too. I would not recommend St. Mark's Summit hike, because while I enjoyed the 5 hours of solitude (compared to the chief/ the grind, very few ppl do this hike) and easy/ intermediate hike (very earthy.. lots of roots, rocks, and switchbacks) there are a TON of bugs. Think "I must talk less lest a fly flys in my mouth and I unintentionally take in some extra protein". Oh yeah, and the view's not as awe inspiring as the Chief.
Do it if you're a local but don't bother if you're visiting from out of town. -
Review from Kat S.
1/3/2011 3 photos
I love this park. It's such a beautiful place, and so close to home. Of the three local mountains, this one is my favourite. It's a bit higher than the rest, so if conditions in the winter are bordering on melty-rain, Cypress is your best bet.
There are lots of options for hikes here in the summer, including Hollyburn Ridge, Mt Strachan, and Black Mountain. The road up the mountain is also a favourite for road cycling enthusiasts training for their next event. And for a spectacular view of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, not much beats the lookout half way up. See my pics for proof!
In the winter your options are also varied. The Nordic Park is where I spend my time, either snowshoeing their multitude of trails ($10 trail pass) or going up the busy but free Hollyburn Trail. Cross country skiing is also a good bet here. The trails are many, and half of them stay lit for evening skiing. Go after 3 pm for cheaper rates ($34 for trail pass, classic ski rentals and waiver fee). Also, don't forget the sliding centre!
The staff have always been very friendly, helpful, and totally enthusiastic about the sport they represent. They have offered up great advice in the past.
Cypress is a fun place in the winter, and the warming huts and Hollyburn lodge are great places to warm up, get food, and meet other people. New Years Eve at Hollyburn Lodge is cool, as there is a bonfire there every year. I have been the last 2 years, and it's a great atmosphere.Listed in: Outdoor Recreation Time!
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Review from Jason P.
12/29/2010
Located only about 45 minutes from Vancouver, this place is pretty convenient (if you live in Vancouver). The snow was awesome when we came, with lots of powder and fresh tracks to lay. They have a good variety of runs and nice variation of terrain for all levels. Unfortunately, it was extremely windy and some of the lifts were closed. Best of all, it wasn't busy on the day before Christmas eve.
Watchout for the icy evil chair lifts. Sadly, I wiped out and injured myself. -
Review from Judy B.
Edmonton, AB
1/13/2011
Cypress has become the top mountain on the North Shore. The improvements to all the buildings is spectacular, the service I experienced surprised me it was so friendly, from a quick walk-by question to a staff member on the hill to consulting with staff from the rentals shop and all the eats & hot chocolates in-between I was met with smiles, courtesy, and a willingness to help.
I would give it 5 stars, but it is quite expensive to enjoy the Ski/Snowboard aspects of the hill. Not the best prices for a family, but if you and a friend have equipment and don't mind shelling out a total of $140 for both your lift tickets, it's an excellent experience. Some of the good stuff:
Quad Chairs
Two Hills
Higher Elevation (less slush)
Huge Bar & Grille
Tons of parking, overflow parking has frequent shuttle service -
Review from Holly L.
Vancouver, BC
12/30/2010
We used to come all the time before the Olympics and this mountain was crazy -- particularly their rental department. It was like stepping into another world, one where common sense and rules changed.
Now though everything seems very organized and understandable. The staff are friendly, the snow is great and the views are spectacular. This is truly the reason you live in Vancouver.
My only complaint is that the learner hill is right beside some of the more advanced runs and the really fast and aggressive skiers/snowboarders cut down for a shorter ride. But hey, once you are off the bunny hill go wild and have fun. -
Review from Roanna Z.
9/21/2009 4 photos
See also Cypress Provincial Park or Hollyburn Ridge for snowshoeing and skiing. http://www.yelp.ca/biz...
Fan-furken-tastic. This may be a nice place to ski but it's even better to hike. There are different names for all the trails but each one is a challenge in it's own way. The terrain is so varied. Lot's of elevation gain, trees, rocks and mountain streams, some muddy areas and meadows, board walks and wooden bridges in various stages of repair, and incredible, indescribable views of the whole of Vancouver, all the way out to Burnaby, south to the Delta and I swear - all the way down to the U.S.
From another viewpoint we could see the Sunshine coast! No kidding.
We watched ferry's cross Howe Sound, while we had our picnic above the clouds and a fearless Chipmunk begged for almonds from the toe of my boot.
You can't get a bigger view unless you're flying in a air plane.
What a day, what a hike. If I can do it, you can too.
*warning* these trails are not for newbie hikers. Wear appropriate foot gear and bring lots of water.Listed in: "Wanna get outta Dodge"?, Mountain hikes and easy…
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Review from Zakk D.
12/21/2008 1 photo
I seriously cannot believe that I, Zakk D., a humble man from San Jose, CA get to write the FIRST review for Cypress Mountain. Wow. What are all the Yelpers in Vancouver doing? Hopefully not wasting their day at Steamworks Brew Company.
First, having a wonderful mountain of this caliber (American spelling) within 35 minutes of downtown is amazing. It would be like having Sugarbowl or Sierra at Tahoe 40 minutes from San Francisco, or Mt. Hood 30 minutes from Portland.
The staff here are awesome and super friendly. Good park, good conditions, great terrain for a cruising guy like me. Lift lines when super fast, even on a powder day. Parking was a breeze, the whole damn thing was so good I'm bummed I was there for one day. Luckily for me, I'll be back in 2010 for the Olympics!
Easily into the top-5 places I've snowboarded.Listed in: Shred the GNAR!!
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Review from Peter S.
3/14/2010 2 Check-ins Here
With decent snow, Cypress is by far the best of the best for local skiing and boarding.
Even with every parking lot full, the lineups aren't more than 10-15 minutes. There are plenty of runs for all levels. Some excellent tree runs for those of us who like to get into the thick of it.
As bad as it was for the Olympics, I think they did an amazing job of making it work. Now that the snow is falling, it looks like the dead of winter up there. Tons of powder and fresh tracks galore. I am definitely a fan, and I will be going every weekend and a few week nights for the rest of this season. See you on the slopes!
Quick Tips (since I don't have an Iphone):
1. The upper parking lot has finally reopened from the Olympic closure. Yay for closer parking! (March 27th).
2. The $2 lockers are great to stash your stuff while out on the hill. Skiers may want to wear their shoes to hike from the parking lots along the road, and then switch footwear at the lodge. -
Review from T P.
Vancouver, BC
11/23/2010
Cypress is my favourite local skiing and boarding in the past 6 years.
We always have a great time up there...
I wish I could go up there more often in the day time. Most of the time we went there for night ski. Sometime it could be very icy! But, it is good thing we didn't need to wait for the long line up expect powder days. With decent snow, good location and friendly stuffs, I think Cypress is the best for local mountain.
I could give Cypress Mt. for 5 stars if there was no unfriendly staff at the tubing area yesterday!!
Yesterday morning I took my 2 years old son to see some snow and we were hoping to see a snowcat. We went to Nordic area first and we were lucky. There was a snowcat on the tubing area. I parked my car at the bottom of the hill. We were inside the car for a few minutes because it was cold. Then I decided to go to open the door for my son, so he could have better views to watch the snowcat. (200 ft away for us!!)
Here is the point, there were two stuffs were working on the tubing area. One stuff was on the snowcat and a lady was on the hill with her snow shovel (she was using her snow shovel sliding down the hill for fun.) After I opened the door for my son and I hear someone called me.. She was quite far away from us.
Lady: Excuse me!
me: Yes! how are you?
Lady: We are trying to open the tubing area on this Friday.
me: yes that's great! I just want my son to see a snowcat for a few minutes.
Lady: "I don't think the cat wants to see you guys!!" If you want to take your son for walk go to back of the parking lot. ( she was very serious.)
Then she started to shake her head..
me: what?! you're being so rude!
May be she was thinking that we were there to play tubing or something.. At least she should talked us better than that or may be she should have listen to what is others people try to say! WTH?? Oh well I should at lease get her name...
I didn't want to bored, so we just left.... My son and I went up there to have a great time not for a drama.. I was very piss actually... I think every parents are smart enough to not take their kids to play around snowcat when they're working!
The end of the day, we had a great time at picnic area and we will love to go back there again for some fun on the alpine side!
Cheers! -
Review from Ian F.
North Vancouver, BC
1/24/2011
Best North Shore mountain. Our boys 8 & 6 had drop in lessons yesterday. They both loved it and the instructors were all great. Thanks for the fantastic results.
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Review from Heath A.
Vancouver, BC
12/17/2011
This rating is for their BEGINNER CLASSES and the ski lift operators. I recently attended one of their beginner classes with a girlfriend and left feeling like it was a huge waste of money. We originally called up requesting a private lesson but the fellow on the phone convinced us to do a group class first as it would work out cheaper. So we showed up and plonked down our money for a beginners class and after a 2 hour circus, felt as though we hadn't really learned anything. And had zero confidence at all. This is my second time snowboarding and my second class, the first one I did was a few years ago in washington state and it was far better by comparison. Not only that but the 'newbie hill' they put us on had no conveyor belt or a pulley system or anything and we just all ended up tiring ourselves out and losing our enthusiasm for learning very quickly. The instructor wrapped up by saying that if we where interested in doing private lessons it was highly recommended and you could learn a lot quicker. Then left behind a group of people who couldn't snowboard at all and wished us the best.
It felt like a huge waste of time and like we'd just thrown our money away. We ended up trying to brave the ski left ourselves due to the fact that we where tired from having to un-bind and walk ourselves up a 3 meter slope every time. (once again, due to no conveyor belt/pulley system) We told the guy at the start of the lift we where new, and he helped us on and was quite good, but didn't tell us what we had to do coming off the lift. As we approached the end of the lift we started yelling 'hey we're new' but the lift guys had their back turned to us and where having a conversation. Although I made it off okay my partner smashed her face on the ground pretty bad and was almost in tears, and we went home shortly afterwards. To add insult to injury the lift guys gave us attitude saying 'hey, if you'd just told us we could have slowed it down for you' - Idiots. Why do you think we where calling out? Do your f*cking job properly.
Overall the day cost us about $300 which I feel was completely wasted. I think we would have enjoyed the experience a lot more had the instructor gone the extra mile to help us learn, and had more adequate facilities for learning like one of those conveyor belt things. -
Review from Alice A.
12/29/2010
I LOVE Cypress Mountain. It is THE reason I live in Vancouver. Snowboarding was phenomenal last week before the holidays proper, no lines and fresh snow! Today was quite busy but still there were good runs. Very suitable for beginners and intermediates, or shredders just itching to ride, after all Cypress is less than an hour's drive from downtown. At dusk, the sun casts a warm orange glow on the surrounding mountains and still ocean waters that truly make Vancouver a magical place to be.
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Review from Raza M.
4/19/2011
In my opinion this is the best mountain among the three closest to Vancouver. 2 peaks and a lot of runs to choose from, ranging from bunny hills to double blacks, 47 named runs in total. There is also the Nordic park, a 19 km cross country track, and the snowtubing if you want. Cypress mountain was one of the host for the 2010 Winter Olympics game with all of the freestyle skiing and snowboarding competitions including moguls, aerials, ski cross, half-pipe, snowboard cross and parallel giant slalom held here. What more can you ask for. I absolutely love it.
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Review from Lee N.
Vancouver, BC
10/1/2009
I was good for a day now and then over the years, now it's much better. I have friends ;) so I get a few passes every winter and have been impressed with the development of Cypress. I'm glad they got the big O and will have even better infrastructure for us after 2010. This mountain has very reasonable season passes and give credit to pass holders should the season be less than stellar. I am looking forward to the Board events during the Olympics. They also have the most comprehensive Nordic trail system in the lower mainland which I don't know anything about because no lift I'm not there.
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Review from Mitchell E.
North Vancouver, BC
1/21/2011
Terrain park very poor, lifts and runs good but if planning to do any park riding at all go to one of the other two. Frequent talk of big plans or recent changes with 0 follow through. Dont believe their hype.
