Cypress Mountain Ski Area

Cypress Mountain is a ski area in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located in the southern section of Cypress Provincial Park, operated under a BC Parks Park Use Permit.

Cypress Mountain Ski Area
Skiers at Cypress Mountain
Skiers at Cypress Mountain
LocationCypress Provincial Park,
British Columbia
Canada
Nearest major cityWest Vancouver
Coordinates49°23′44″N 123°12′12″W
StatusOperating
OwnerBoyne Resorts
Vertical610 m / 2,010 ft
Top elevation1,440 m / 4,724 ft
Base elevation910 m / 2,985 ft
Skiable area240 hectares (600 acres)
Runs53
Beginner 13%
Intermediate 35%
Advanced 37%
Expert 8%
Freestyle Terrain 8%
Longest run4.1 km (combination)
(2.5 mi.)
Lift system6 chairlifts
1 magic carpet
2 surface lifts
Snowfall622 cm/year (245 inches)
Websitecypressmountain.com

The ski resort is a 30-minute drive north of downtown Vancouver,[1] and has 53 named alpine ski runs (many accessible for night skiing) and 19 km of cross country trails. Snowshoeing tours are also popular. Snow schools and rentals, Cypress Creek Grill, Gold Medal Cafe and Crazy Raven Bar and Grill and a Big Bear Sports retail shop are also located on the premises in the Cypress Creek Lodge.

Cypress Mountain hosted the Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding events of the 2010 Winter Olympics, including SkiCross as a demonstration sport, and the first running of Snowboardcross as a Medal sport.

The ski area's downhill runs are built on two mountains (Mount Strachan /strɔːn/ strawn[2][3] – 1,440 metres (4,720 ft) and Black Mountain – 1,200 metres (3,900 ft), on a vertical rise of 610 metres (2,000 ft).

The resort is legally known as Cypress Bowl Recreational Limited Partnership, previously owned by Boyne Resorts, then sold to CNL Income Properties, then Och-Ziff Capital Management, but Boyne Canada has continued to run the ski operation for several years under a lease-back agreement. Boyne repurchased the resort in March 2018.

The ski resort name Cypress Mountain is derived from the name of the bowl between the three mountains, Mount Strachan, Black Mountain, and Hollyburn Mountain – "Cypress Bowl", which was the original and still-used common name of the resort (the facilities by Cypress Bowl Recreations Ltd.). The term cypress comes from the yellow cedar tree Cupressus nootkatensis which is common in the park at altitudes over 800 metres, and is also known as yellow cypress, as well as from the name of the park in which the ski operation is located.

Despite the resort name, there is in fact no mountain named Cypress Mountain in the park.[4]

History

The ski area was initially opened by BC Parks in the 1970s, after two Murray-Latta double-chairs were constructed on Mt. Strachan and Black Mountain. Night skiing was initially added in 1985 on those two chairs. In 1987, the Sky Chair was installed at the peak of Mt. Strachan, opening up new terrain and reaching the highest point on either mountain. The chair was a Mueller double relocated from Apex Mountain Resort.[5]

Cypress was the first ski resort in BC to allow snowboarding, doing so on March 15, 1987.

Another double-chair, the Midway Chair, was installed in 1990 on the lower slopes of Mt. Strachan. In 1997, the original double chair on Mt. Strachan was replaced with a Poma fixed-grip quad following the same lift line. After Cypress was purchased by Boyne Resorts in 2001, the original chairlift on Black Mountain was replaced by the Eagle Express, a detachable quad chair built by Doppelmayr. Additionally, the rope tow in the beginners area was replaced with a fixed-grip quad chair.

In 2007, the Sunrise quad chair was replaced with the Lions Express Quad Chair. This reduced the ride time up Mt. Strachan by nearly half. The previous Sunrise chair was moved across to Black Mountain and was installed on new terrain, which opened 9 new ski trails. This chair is now called the Raven Ridge Quad Chair.[6]

In 2022 Cypress closed Sky Chair and is building a new "SkyQuad", A fixed-grip quad lift.[7] The lift opened December 18, 2022 according to social media posts.[8] after delays due to a construction helicopter needing to conduct an emergency drop of a construction load due to unexpected sudden weather. No persons were injured during the mishap. [9]

Climate

Cypress Mountain has a subarctic climate (Köppen: Dfc) using the 0˚C isotherm or an subpolar oceanic climate (Köppen Cfc) using the -3 ˚C isotherm. Summer days are mild with cool nights, while winters are long, moderately cold, and contain extreme amounts of precipitation.

Climate data for Hollyburn Ridge (Cypress Mountain) (Elevation: 930.00 m) 1971−2000
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 17.8
(64.0)		 16.7
(62.1)		 17.5
(63.5)		 22.5
(72.5)		 30.5
(86.9)		 31.7
(89.1)		 33.3
(91.9)		 32.0
(89.6)		 30.5
(86.9)		 26.7
(80.1)		 22.2
(72.0)		 12.8
(55.0)		 33.3
(91.9)
Average high °C (°F) 1.1
(34.0)		 2.5
(36.5)		 3.9
(39.0)		 6.6
(43.9)		 10.5
(50.9)		 13.3
(55.9)		 17.5
(63.5)		 17.7
(63.9)		 15.3
(59.5)		 9.2
(48.6)		 2.6
(36.7)		 0.6
(33.1)		 8.4
(47.1)
Daily mean °C (°F) −1.4
(29.5)		 −0.4
(31.3)		 0.8
(33.4)		 3.0
(37.4)		 6.3
(43.3)		 9.0
(48.2)		 12.6
(54.7)		 13.0
(55.4)		 10.6
(51.1)		 5.8
(42.4)		 0.3
(32.5)		 −1.8
(28.8)		 4.8
(40.6)
Average low °C (°F) −4.0
(24.8)		 −3.2
(26.2)		 −2.4
(27.7)		 −0.6
(30.9)		 2.0
(35.6)		 4.7
(40.5)		 7.6
(45.7)		 8.2
(46.8)		 5.9
(42.6)		 2.3
(36.1)		 −2.0
(28.4)		 −4.1
(24.6)		 1.2
(34.2)
Record low °C (°F) −21.7
(−7.1)		 −20.0
(−4.0)		 −15.0
(5.0)		 −8.3
(17.1)		 −4.4
(24.1)		 −2.2
(28.0)		 0.0
(32.0)		 0.6
(33.1)		 −3.9
(25.0)		 −14.0
(6.8)		 −20.0
(−4.0)		 −26.7
(−16.1)		 −26.7
(−16.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 310.0
(12.20)		 301.4
(11.87)		 249.7
(9.83)		 177.6
(6.99)		 177.6
(6.99)		 155.7
(6.13)		 120.2
(4.73)		 120.7
(4.75)		 149.0
(5.87)		 299.9
(11.81)		 389.7
(15.34)		 354.0
(13.94)		 2,805.4
(110.45)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 173.1
(6.81)		 164.6
(6.48)		 139.7
(5.50)		 107.1
(4.22)		 167.9
(6.61)		 155.4
(6.12)		 120.2
(4.73)		 120.7
(4.75)		 148.4
(5.84)		 285.6
(11.24)		 284.1
(11.19)		 213.2
(8.39)		 2,080.4
(81.91)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 136.9
(53.9)		 136.9
(53.9)		 110.0
(43.3)		 70.5
(27.8)		 9.6
(3.8)		 0.2
(0.1)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.1
(0.0)		 14.3
(5.6)		 105.7
(41.6)		 141.9
(55.9)		 726.1
(285.9)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) 17.6 16.5 16.4 15.2 12.6 12.9 8.5 9.0 10.0 15.1 19.3 18.9 172.0
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) 8.8 8.2 8 9.7 11.8 12.8 8.5 9 9.9 14.1 12.7 9.0 122.5
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) 12.2 11.3 11.2 8.3 2.2 0.09 0.0 0.0 0.09 2.4 10.9 13.6 72.28
Source: Environment Canada (normals, 1981−2010)[10]

Amenities (Alpine skiing)

Cypress Mountain Resort has six chair lifts which include two high-speed detachable quad chairlifts (Eagle Express and the Lions Express), two fixed-grip quad chairs (Raven Ridge and Easy Rider) and two double chairlifts (Sky Chair and Midway.) There is also a magic carpet and magic go round in the kids camp area and a tube park tow.[11]

Lift Name Length Vertical Type Ride Time Hourly
Capacity		 Mountain Make Year
Lions Express Quad Chair 1050 m 360 m High Speed Quad 4 min Mt. Strachan Doppelmayr 2007
Eagle Express Quad Chair 850 m 285 m High Speed Quad 4 min Black Mountain Doppelmayr 2001
Raven Ridge Quad 900 m 356 m Quad Chairlift 8 min Black Mountain Poma 2007
Easy Rider Quad 310 m Quad Chairlift 3 min Mt. Strachan Doppelmayr 2001
Sky Chair 555 m Double Chairlift 4 min Mt. Strachan Mueller 1987
Midway Chair 460 m Double Chairlift 4 min Mt. Strachan Mueller 1990

Runs

There are 53 runs including 5 green runs, 23 blue runs, 21 black runs, and 12 double black runs which 8 of them being glades. The longest run is a combination of runs, the T-33-Collins combination, which measures 4.1 km and the shortest run is the run Rideout, which measures about 10 meters. Below is a list of runs.

Top 16 Longest Runs
Runs Length(ft) Descent(ft) Diffculty
Collins 52801161Easiest
Panorama 5255 888 Easiest
Horizon 4562 1143 Intermediate
Benny's 4087 896 Intermediate
3 Bears 3753 576 Intermediate
Fork 3480 888 Intermediate
Top Gun 2976 1024 Expert only
T-33 2571 594 Intermediate
Humpty Dumpty 2344 636 Intermediate
Jasey Jay 2158 643 Intermediate
First Sun 2099 892 Advanced
Rainbow 1955 635 Advanced
Slash 1921 732 Advanced
Crazy Raven 1888 733 Intermediate
Windjammer 1814 385 Easiest
Ripcord 1655 564 Advanced

Amenities (Nordic skiing)

Cypress Mountain Resort is home to the only Nordic (cross country) ski trails in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, and is located on 30 minutes from the downtown core via car. The Nordic trails at Hollyburn Ridge provide a mix of terrain over 19 kilometers of groomed and track set trails with 7.5 kilometers of trails being lit for night skiing. [12][13] Hollyburn Lodge[14] (constructed in 1926, renovated in 2016) has a long and rich history supporting early backcountry ski enthusiasts, Nordic skiers, and snowshoers. Nordic operations elevation: 886 metres.

2010 Winter Olympics

During the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Cypress hosted all of the freestyle skiing and snowboarding competitions (moguls, aerials, ski cross, half-pipe, snowboard cross and parallel giant slalom).[15] The half-pipe and the venues for the moguls and aerials were completed in the summer of 2007. Just before the games and due to unseasonably mild conditions, the ski resort was almost free of snow, where the snow had to be airlifted by helicopters and transported by trucks from higher elevations.[16]

See also

References
  1. Archived February 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Strachan, Mount" in BCGNIS Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Fairley, Climbing & Hiking in Southwestern British Columbia, p. 23.
  4. The only mountain named Cypress Mountain in BC is 22km East in Coquitlam.
  5. Landsman, Peter. "Relocated Lifts: US & Canada". Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  6. "Historical Timeline of Cypress Mountain". Cypress Mountain. Archived from the original on 2016-01-09. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  7. "New chair lift to be built to the peak of Cypress Mountain Resort | Urbanized". dailyhive.com. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  8. "Cypress Mountain Tweet". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  9. "Cypress Mountain's new chairlift plummets to the ground following emergency helicopter drop". North Shore News. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  10. "HOLLYBURN RIDGE". Canadian Climate Normals 1971−2000. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  11. "Downhill Trail Maps" (PDF). Cypress Mountain. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  12. (PDF) https://cypressmountain.com/Documents/Cypress/Trail_Map_PDFs/201805_PRINT_Trail-Maps_Nordic_Rip-Map_Cross-Country.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. "Cross Country Skiing". cypressmountain.com. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  14. "The History of Hollyburn Lodge - Don Grant - Hollyburn Heritage Society". www.hollyburnheritage.ca. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  15. "Vancouver2010.com profile". Archived from the original on 2010-03-09. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
  16. Canada's mild climate leaves Winter Olympics short of snow | Sport. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2014-04-12.
  • Fairley, Bruce (1986). A Guide to Climbing and Hiking in Southwestern British Columbia. Vancouver, BC: Gordon Soules Book Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0-919574-99-8.
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