Living just a short drive from the mountains which are often blanketed in snow, it’s pretty criminal for me to not explore at least one of them before Christmas. So, my old man and I buckled up our snowshoes for an icy ride up to the peak of Mount Seymour on the North Shore. Mount Seymour is in North Vancouver, and rises nearly 1,500 metres above Deep Cove.
Getting up to Mount Seymour
Luckily for us, there’s a snow bus shuttle that takes budding skiers and snowboarders up to the top for all of those lacking cars without snow tyres.
Reaching the top was pretty incredible. In fact, this was the first time in my life that I’d ever been on top of a snowy mountain. (That small patch of snow on Grouse in June doesn’t quite count!) All Vancouverites know that rain in the city means snow on the mountains, so there was plenty of that.
We hopped inside the chalet for a coffee to warm up whilst watching mounds of snow plummet past the windows from the roof.
Snowshoeing on Mount Seymour
Now, if you’ve never heard of snowshoeing, I’ll tell you all about it. When I first heard of snowshoeing, I thought it sounded pretty dumb. Wearing huge shoes just to march through the snow didn’t sound like my cup of tea. But it’s pretty popular in these parts of the world, so I thought I’d give it a go.
You essentially buckle on these huge shoes which have spikes on the bottom. They allow you to move freely through the snow without fear of slipping or getting stuck. The idea is you then follow a trail to see some pretty, wintery scenery.
Setting out on one of the Discovery trails, it was quite the real life winter wonderland!
How adorable is this cabin? I’d love to stay there over Christmas!
Following the snowshoe trail
We set out on the trail to see what we could spot along the way. At times, it was a little difficult to see exactly where to follow due to the heavy snowfall!
Believe it or not, that is a lake! It’s completely frozen over and covered with snow, rather like my visit to skate on beautiful Lake Louise.
We trekked on. It’s actually surprisingly hard work bearing in mind the weight of the shoes and the resistance against the snow. A decent workout in the snow!
A pretty cool experience – next month I’ll be here to learn how to ski!
Have you ever been snowshoeing on Mount Seymour before? Which winter activities would you recommend I try?
