Cypress_Provincial_Park

Cypress Provincial Park

Cypress Provincial Park is a Provincial Park on the North Shore of Greater Vancouver, British Columbia. The park has two sections: a 21 km² southern section which is accessible by road, and a 9 km² northern section which is only accessible by hiking trails. Most of the park is in West Vancouver.

The southern section of Cypress Provincial Park contains a ski area (Cypress Mountain) that is operated under a Park Use Permit by a private company called Cypress Bowl Recreations Ltd, a subsidiary of Boyne USA. Boyne USA recently sold the ski operation to CNL Income Properties of Florida, USA, but Boyne will continue to run the ski operation for several years under a lease-back agreement.

Winter Season

During the winter, this is a ski area for both cross-country and alpine skiers. The mountain has three quad and two double chairlifts, as well as a tube tow and a magic carpet for their ski school participants. Featuring 38 downhill runs (beginner 23%, intermediate 37%, advanced 40%) and over 19 km of cross-country trails, Cypress Mountain is the largest ski area on Vancouver's North Shore. It is also the highest of the three local mountains with a vertical rise of 1710 ft.

Summer use

In summer and fall, the park is free of snow and popular with hikers. Its trail system includes sections of the Baden-Powell Trail.

Beginning in the summer of 2005, Cypress Mountain Resort has created a lift-assisted mountain bike park, as set out in the 1997 Cypress Provincial Park Master Plan. Currently this is shut down as 2010 construction gets under way.

2010 Olympics

A significant part of Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympics will be hosted by Cypress in February 2010, including the Snowboard (Halfpipe, Snowboardcross and Parallel Giant Slalom) and Freestyle Skiing (Moguls and Aerials) events, as well as the recently added Skiercross, which will use the Snowboardcross [Boardercross] run, with some modifications. A viewer audience of 1.3 billion worldwide is expected for the Cypress Venue events. The Freestyle Venue was completed in the Fall of 2006.