Grouse Mountain in December

Gotta love the snow. This is a view of Crown and Goat mountain from Dam mountain on Grouse. Crowns on the left Goat’s on the right. Then when you turn to the right this is Thunderbird ridge.

That’s the thing with hiking in Vancouver. As soon as you reach one of these peaks you can see more peaks as far as the eye can see. They call it back country. No roads because it’s too hilly to build or live on.

I was trying to find the trail to Goat mountain and Goat Ridge. I love the view from there. It was snowed over but I saw a dip where it looked like people had been before and sure enough as soon as I started walking on it I could tell it was the right trail. I wasn’t sinking up to my knees. Then the trail was marked with deer tacks for quite a ways. There were deer tracks all over the place.



Technically anything past Dam mountain and Thunderbird ridge is closed due to the snow but I think they just say that to discourage tourists or unseasoned hikers to prevent injuries. On Cypress you can get a backcountry pass and go whereever you want.

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I guess this is where they break out the crampons and ice axe. This is at the very beginning of the trail on the very flat part. You don’t even need snowshoes to get here.

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There’s lots of stuff happening for the Christmas season. The reindeer are out. They have a tiny skating rink with Christmas carols playing and a nice outdoor fire to warm up beside. It’s worth being crammed in like sardines for the four minute gondola ride up.

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They still have the sleigh rides but Silverstar has the best sleigh rides by far. You go further on them. Silverstar even has snowmobile safari’s. They won’t rent snowmobiles on the coast. They say it’s too dangerous. I guess they are worried about someone going back country and getting lost till spring. It is wise to avoid the backcountry part when avalanche season hits. That is too dangerous but the view from Dam mountain and Thunderbird ridge is fine. Cheers.