• Monday, February 06, 2012
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Vancouver Tops > Attractions > Grouse Mountain

Grouse Mountain

   

Grouse Mountain is one of the North Shore Mountains overlooking Vancouver. It is the site of a small but well-known ski area and tourist attraction located in the District of North Vancouver.

Intrepid Scandinavians who were not daunted by winter and snow hand built the first lodge at Grouse in the 1920s. They hauled planks up what would become the Grouse Grind for the venture. Another company wanted to build a funicular railway to a private resort on the mountain, though that venture never materialized. By the 1930s, the success of the lodge meant that access was needed and a toll road was cut up to the top via the slope of the Cut.

The area at the bottom of what is now called the "Cut" ­ one of Vancouver's most well-known ski runs ­ is the original base of the mountain. It was here that the area's first lodge and rope tow were built. This original base of the mountain became known as the 'Village' to local skiers, since numerous cabins were built in the trees surrounding the lodge and the base of the old Cut Chair Lift. Some of these cabins still exist and they were/are located below and to the west of the old Cut Chair Lift. The gravel road that was built to access this base, the Old Grouse Mountain Highway, still exists and is currently only used for maintaining the ski area. Sadly, the beloved lodge burnt in a large fire in the winter of 1964.

Public access to the mountain is by a Swiss Garaventa aerial tramway, the Grouse Grind hiking trail, or the Old Grouse Mountain Highway (foot and bicycle access only).