
Cypress Mountain
243 hectares, 53 runs in West Vancouver. 2010 Olympic freestyle venue, closest resort to Vancouver, Ikon Pass.
Cypress Mountain's summit reaches 1,440 metres, dropping 610 vertical metres to a base at 830 metres across 53 runs spread over roughly 243 hectares in West Vancouver, British Columbia. Terrain splits 43 per cent intermediate, 38 per cent advanced, 13 per cent beginner and 6 per cent expert, with average annual snowfall of roughly 11.2 metres. The resort carries Ikon Pass affiliation. Seven lifts, including five quad chairs and one double chair, serve the mountain alongside one surface lift.
Cypress Mountain holds a genuinely significant place in Olympic history as the official venue for freestyle skiing and snowboard events at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, awarded by the International Olympic Committee in July 2003. Its considerable proximity to downtown Vancouver, combined with substantial annual snowfall, has built Cypress's reputation as the city's most accessible major ski destination.
The ski operation, previously known as Cypress Bowl, was sold to Boyne Resorts in 2001 and renamed Cypress Mountain. Ownership changed hands again in 2007, when Boyne sold the operation to CNL Income Properties, a US tax shelter entity, before the resort passed to Och-Ziff Capital Management following CNL's wind-down.
Cypress hosted its Olympic freestyle skiing and snowboard events from 13 to 27 February 2010, supported by 16.7 million Canadian dollars in infrastructure investment from the Vancouver Organizing Committee. Boyne Canada bought back the resort in March 2018 and continues to operate it today. Adult daily tickets run from 89 to 105 Canadian dollars.
Cypress Mountain spreads 53 runs across 600 acres skiable of terrain. It leans intermediate at 43%, with 7 beginner runs to find your feet and 23 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.
The 2025-26 season at Cypress Mountain ran from 21 November 2025 to 12 April 2026, a roughly twenty-one-week season supported by average annual snowfall of around 11.2 metres, among the highest totals of any resort in the Vancouver area. Season dates can shift depending on early and late-season weather on the North Shore mountains.
Midwinter, from December through February, typically brings the most consistent, substantial snowfall to Cypress's intermediate-and-advanced-weighted terrain. As an Ikon Pass resort, Cypress draws considerable visitation from Vancouver residents and pass holders alike, given its position as the city's most convenient major resort.
Cypress's night-skiing programme continues to draw strong weekday evening visitation from Vancouver throughout the season. School holiday periods bring substantial family visitation given the resort's considerable proximity to the city and varied terrain.
Specific event programming beyond standard operations and night skiing is not confirmed in available resort information. Since hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics freestyle skiing and snowboard events, Cypress has continued building on its Olympic legacy under Boyne Canada's ownership since 2018. The resort's Olympic heritage and proximity to Vancouver remain central to its enduring popularity.
Cypress Mountain sits in West Vancouver, British Columbia, on the North Shore mountains, with a base elevation of 830 metres and a summit at 1,440 metres across a 610-metre vertical drop over roughly 243 hectares. This setting places Cypress within Vancouver's metropolitan area, considerably closer to the city than most major Canadian resorts.
West Vancouver and the broader Metro Vancouver region offer extensive lodging, dining and services within a short drive of the resort, given Cypress's position essentially within the city's boundaries.
Cypress Bowl Road provides direct access to the resort from West Vancouver, connecting to the region's highway network. Winter driving conditions on this route can include snow and ice at higher elevations, and chains or appropriate tyres are often required.
Vancouver International Airport, roughly a 45-minute drive away, is the primary gateway for visitors flying into the region, with Cypress's considerable proximity to Vancouver making it a genuinely convenient option for both residents and international visitors on limited time.
Hotels and lodges near Cypress Mountain, powered by Stay22.

Aspen Snowmass turns 80 this December, and it's marking the milestone with $3.75 lift tickets on the anniversary itself - the original 1946 price. A discounted long weekend, $19.46 dining specials, lodging deals up to 46 percent off, and a season of anniversary programming round out the celebration across all four mountains.

Doppelmayr closed its 2025/26 business year with revenue up 9.1 percent to 1.3 billion euros, driven by projects including the Big Sky Explorer Gondola, Deer Valley's Mayflower East Village Gondola, and the first TRI-Line installation at Hoch-Ybrig. Headcount grew too, with the ropeway manufacturer now employing almost 4,000 people worldwide.

Hintertux Glacier is retiring its 40-year-old gondola to the Tuxer Fernerhaus. The replacement carries 10 people per cabin instead of four, with seat heating and nearly 40 percent more hourly capacity. Doppelmayr's new line opens at the end of October 2026, right as the glacier's high-altitude terrain becomes accessible again for the new season.

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation is looking at a major shake-up to its title events calendar. From 2032, World Championships could run not just in odd-numbered years but in every non-Olympic winter too, effectively putting a global title event on the calendar almost every season. The FIS Council has approved the concept following a feasibility study, though an accelerated rollout as early as 2028 is also under consideration.

Mount Buller closes out its 2026 season this Sunday, joining Falls Creek, Hotham and Charlotte Pass in a cluster of closures landing almost simultaneously and roughly a month ahead of schedule. The culprit is stark: Spencers Creek's benchmark snow depth hit 31.2cm on 3 September, just 18% of the 73-year average and an all-time low for this point in the season. Six of Victoria and NSW's best-known resorts will have shut their lifts early within a span of about two and a half weeks.

Tremblant has confirmed a major expansion of its Quebec ski area, with a new Timber Summit sector adding 62 acres of terrain, eight trails and a high-speed quad chairlift for winter 2027/28. It's part of a CAD 42.5 million investment that also includes a new beginner learning zone at Versant Soleil opening this coming season. The project has grown considerably since it was first announced back in 2020, when it carried a far smaller budget and an opening date that never eventuated.

We knew when the Bird Bath Pond Skim showed up on Hotham's Instagram that the season was on its way out. It's been a rough one - I only managed two days on snow all year, at Falls Creek - and now Baw Baw, Selwyn and Hotham have all called it, possibly the worst Australian season I've seen in a decade. Hotham's last day of lift operations is Sunday, 6 September, with a Retro Day, Father's Day après and closing sales before the lifts stop turning for good.

Thredbo Alpine Resort has confirmed plans to replace its 37-year-old Gunbarrel quad chairlift with a new six-seat Doppelmayr D-Line, targeting winter 2028. The AUD 35 million project will keep travel time roughly the same but lift capacity from 2,800 to 3,000 skiers per hour. It's part of a broader investment push that also includes doubled snowmaking capacity at Friday Flat for 2027, with the ageing Kosciuszko Express now flagged as the resort's next major lift replacement after Gunbarrel.
Cypress Mountain runs seven lifts: one double chair and five quad chairs, serving 53 runs across roughly 243 hectares, alongside one surface lift. This network was substantially upgraded ahead of the resort's role as the freestyle skiing and snowboard venue for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The 16.7 million Canadian dollars in Olympic infrastructure investment from the Vancouver Organizing Committee supported considerable improvements to the resort's lift and terrain infrastructure ahead of the February 2010 Games.
The five quad chairs now distribute skiers efficiently across Cypress's intermediate-and-advanced-weighted terrain, supporting the resort's role as a genuinely convenient destination for Vancouver-area skiers on limited time.
Since Boyne Canada's March 2018 buy-back, continued investment has supported this seven-lift network as part of the Ikon Pass system. Specific recent individual lift replacement projects are not confirmed in available resort information. Cypress's Olympic-legacy lift network remains a defining feature of Vancouver's closest major ski destination.
More Cypress Mountain intelligence: trail map, snow report, webcams, resort overview.