Snowshoeing at Mount Seymour

We had wanted to try out snowshoeing since we got to Canada. We hoped we would get a chance at Christmas but there just wasn’t enough snow. There was an offer on Groupon for 60% off Full-Day Snowshoe Rental and Snowshoe Trail Pass at Mount Seymour and as that mountain, well like a lot of the mountains in Vancouver, was accessible by public transport – we jumped at the chance.

Sunday was the day. 

The shuttle bus up the mountain runs from Parkgate Community Centre but it’s not really regular so we headed off early.  As we boarded the bus, we both commented that there probably wasn’t too much snow as we were already quite high and there was no snow around. Wrong! As the bus climbed the mountain road the amount of snow by the side grew and grew. I had never been anywhere before with so much snow.

When we arrived, it was all pretty easy and we exchanged our Groupon vouchers for our snowshoes with ease.  We were handed a map of the trails, attached our trail passes and headed off.



The atmosphere was great even with a DJ spinning 80’s tunes! There are several different trials to choose from.

When you reach the trail you instantly hit quite a steep hill, which at first is pretty daunting. But you just have to trust the shoes and go with it. When you do it’s pretty awesome. It’s also actually easier to run downhill that it is to walk – or slide.

The weather was pretty cloudy and as we were in the clouds the visibility wasn’t great, but the trials are in the trees so we didn’t miss much scenery. It was just great to see so much snow.

I even built a snow man!

The Discovery Trails we walked are maintained really well - there are even bridges constructed out of snow.



It started snowing quite heavily also which was pretty ace. All in all we walked about 5k, which doesn’t sound that far, but hills in snowshoes take their toll on your calves… great work out for your butt. We were pretty shattered by the time we finished and with my waterproof walking shoes turning out to be not so waterproof I was also pretty cold.




But who cares, it was so much fun, I had a constant smile on my face, even if I did look like Gene Simmons by the end of it with my mascara all down my face, I loved it and so did Dave.

Next stop, ski slopes.

You can see the full set of images on Flickr.


Created with flickr slideshow.