When people think of winter on the west coast, they think skiing at Whistler, and possibly at the three local mountains. But what about snowshoeing on Vancouver’s north shore? This sport is gaining popularity, as it is a perfect family sport, costs relatively little, requires little or no training, and is a great workout. Mt. Seymour and Cypress both rent snowshoes. Both mountains also offer some great snowshoe tours: Cypress | Seymour.

If you have your own, you can snowshoe for free in the provincial parks around Cypress and Seymour. If you get up early, the sunrises on Seymour are stunning. You’ll be alone, looking down on a city of 2 million people, wondering why no-one takes the time to come up.

If you want to take snowshoeing a step further, why not sign up for a  snowshoe race? Running on snowshoes is not as hard as it seems, and it’s a great workout!