A free shuttle leaves every 15 minutes from Canada Place to Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver. Rising to 1,250 meters and only 20 minutes from Downtown Vancouver, Grouse Mountain is Vancouver’s playground. It offers the nearest skiing to the city and in the summer you can hike, zipline, tackle ropes etc. Take the Skyride to the top from the ticket booths.
Grouse Mountain is part of the North Shore Mountains and easily seen from Vancouver Harbour. There are 2 cable cars known as Skyride that whisk you high above the Douglas Firs that blanket the mountain side. It takes 8 minutes to reach the first area and the many activities offered there. In summer (although I didn’t see this) you can ride outdoors above the roof of the cable car exposed to the elements.
The day I went the cloud cover was very low and visibility higher up was poor. At the top are theatres, demonstrations, shows, bear refuses and plenty of places to eat. I took the chair lift to the top over the scars that are the ski runs in the snow. There weren’t many people around and the chair silently climbed above the forest below to the very top.
There are zipline runs here and a kids rope challenge. A wind turbine sits on the first level that has a viewing platform. If you want to get close to the bears there are two resident Grizzlies called Grinder and Coola who were both found orphaned in 2001 who reside in the bear refuge there.
For more information and prices about Grouse Mountain click here.
What I didn’t really understand was why the cost in the summer to ascend was the same as it is in winter and yet in winter it must attract far more people than the summer. It is easy to locate the returning coach to Canada Place or you could take the number 232 then the 230 to Lonsdale Quay Station for the Seabus over to Vancouver where your metro ticket is valid for the ride across the harbour.
A visit could be between 1.5 and 4 hours depending on your choices.
USA Road Trips by Max 
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