Skiing at Grouse Mountain

Activity date: 2 January 2011
Cost: $210 (lift passes and equipment rental for three people)
Energy level: 8/10

Grouse Mountain is an amazing little ski field within the city limits. You park below the snow line, then take a gondola up to the snow.

The boys have had two 2 hour ski lessons. While they were having their second lesson, I decided to re-learn snowboarding. In the time before kids, I was a moderately proficient snowboarder, but it's been almost ten years since I have been on the snow. I did a two hour lesson, with an excellent instructor.

On Sunday we got up early and headed to the mountain for a full day of skiing. We spent 1.5 hours on the bunny slopes, mostly so I could practice some skills, but also so we could figure out how to ski together. The boys tend to zoom straight down the mountain, which makes it difficult to keep an eye on them.

We had lunch at the lodge, then headed off to The Cut, a nice wide green slope. It was a gorgeous sunny day, with spectacular views of the city. The boys needed some reminding to practice turning and to keep together, we had a blast. They were most impressed by my snowboarding "moves".

As the afternoon wore on, the crowds got bigger and bigger. For our last few runs, late in the afternoon, the wait for the chair lift was almost 30 minutes. I asked some locals if that was typical. They said it wasn't surprising for a sunny Sunday, but that it was worse than they remembered seeing it.

By the time we had returned our rental equipment, it was 4:30pm. The boys played in the snow in an area where people have worn grooves in a slope for sliding down on your back. Then it was time to join the line for the gondola back down the mountain. A staff member was walking up and down the line with a vat of hot chocolate strapped to his back. He handed out free cups as we waited. The sun was setting, and it was already quite dark. They were lighting a fire in a fire pit next to an improvised ice-skating rink. It was very magical.


The next day, I have a bruised butt and kneecap, and sore arms (from breaking my fall) but I am otherwise unscathed. Thing One has sore quads. Thing Two seems completely ache-free. They both woke up at 6 am and started playing video games.