Grouse vs Seymour vs Cypress: 2026-27 Prices, Which to Pick

Three ski hills above the city: the short answer

Grouse, Cypress and Seymour are Vancouver's three local ski areas, all on the North Shore mountains and all 25–40 minutes by car from downtown. They are small next to Whistler, but you can ski after work, and on a clear night the lights of the city sit right below you. The short version: Grouse if you have no car, Cypress for the most terrain, Seymour for beginners, families and the cheapest pass. Prices below are the ones the resorts publish for 2026-27; where a figure is from 2025-26, it says so.

At a glance

Lift tickets and passes for 2026-27

All three charge less online than at the window, and day prices move with demand, so treat these as the figures to beat. Passes are cheapest in autumn: Cypress raises prices after 13 October, and in early October Seymour listed its season passes as 95% sold out.

A few things the price table hides. Seymour's season pass is free for skiers 75 and over, and its child pass is $299. Cypress passes include free parking and 50% off lift tickets at eight sister resorts. At Grouse, bring the bus or SeaBus fare you came on: transit riders get $10 off a lift ticket. Grouse's early-bird prices rise on 14 October (the regular adult season pass is $1,049), and its Weekday pass is not valid from 19 December to 3 January.

Getting there from downtown

Night skiing: where the North Shore beats Whistler

Night skiing is the local hills' biggest selling point. Whistler's lifts close in the afternoon. Here you can be on a lit run at 6pm on a weekday. Cypress runs night sessions daily from 5 to 10pm, Grouse lights 14 runs, and Seymour lights 12 trails plus its terrain parks. On a clear evening, Grouse has the best city view; Cypress has the most lit terrain to ski.

Terrain and snow

Cypress is the biggest: two peaks, Black Mountain (1,200 m) and Mount Strachan (1,440 m), 610 m of vertical and about 622 cm of snow in an average year. It hosted the freestyle and snowboard events of the 2010 Winter Olympics. It also has the region's best cross-country area, with 19 km of groomed trails, 7 km of them lit, and 11 km of snowshoe trails.

Grouse is about the experience more than the vertical: 33 runs served by four chairlifts (Screaming Eagle, Olympic Express, Greenway and Peak), a skating pond, restaurants, and the city laid out below. Grouse is celebrating its centennial in 2026.

Seymour is the smallest and the most relaxed, with gentle runs, lessons for all ages and several terrain parks. The Dog Mountain route next to the ski area is one of the most popular snowshoe walks near Vancouver.

The ski areas start at roughly 900 to 1,100 m, a few kilometres from the ocean, so the snow is often heavy and wet, and a mild storm can bring rain to the lower runs. On a mild, wet week, check the snow report before you go up.

Which mountain should you pick?

Before you go

• Check the snow report and webcams the same morning; coastal snow changes fast.
• Driving to Cypress or Seymour? From 1 October to 31 March, the mountain roads require M+S or mountain-snowflake tyres.
• Buy online: every resort sells lift tickets for less than the window price.
• Holiday crowds and pass blackouts: 24 December to 3 January, and Family Day weekend (Monday 15 February 2027).
• Night skiing at Seymour? The mountain road closes at 10pm.
• Not a skier? Snowshoeing near Vancouver and Vancouver in the snow have easier ways to get into the snow.

Sources: cypressmountain.com (mountain stats, night skiing, 2026/27 lift tickets and passes, 2025/26 parking, shuttle), mtseymour.ca (2026/27 season passes, 3Ski, shuttle, operating dates, road hours), grousemountain.com (location and hours, transit discount, 2025/26 tickets, 2026/27 early-bird and Y2Play passes, Blue Grouse Gondola), Vail Resorts (Whistler Blackcomb opening date), BC Parks (Mount Seymour day-use passes), DriveBC (winter tyre routes), OnTheSnow (projected openings, terrain). Checked 3 October 2026; prices in Canadian dollars.