Just spent the day up Grouse after buying one of the Y2Play passes, what a deal! It's good for the rest of this season, and all of next winter, only $650, unreal!!
Not too busy and tons of snow, friendly staff on the hill and you don't need to drive to the top of a mountain, take a bus to the base and ride the tram up, it rocks!
Best terrain parks on the North Shore by far, even gives Whistler a run for their money.
Go Grouse Go
Unfortunately I was in Grouse mountain during off-season in Oct.2010. I felt, it is more or less similar to Tochal G-7 in north of Tehran. I mean both are very close to the city and will reach the peak by a gondola from north of the town.
Of course, G-7 is the 5th highest ski slope in the world regarding altitude.
Its elevation is more than 3750 meter from sea level. From there you can see the Damavand peak 5671 m. (the roof of Iran) toward the east, and the Hoz-soltan salt lake 80 km in south view during sunny and windy days.
By the way, disappointedly I returned back down to north Vancouver, hoping to repeat the schedule some days in future, during ski seasons to compensate!
I take offense to the review posted, January 03 2011, with the name "Chinks croud the mountain"... This is racist and unacceptable!
[note from the editor: this text has been removed]
Recently rediscovered Grouse (Grouse Mountain) after a 25 year hiatus of not skiing. Grouse is the hill I learned on and the first one I wanted to visit again. I was impressed how much it's changed over the years. New runs and lifts and a good system for handling the crowds. The Flying Eagle chair at the bottom of The Cut does get really busy, given it is the dominant green run. However, it really slows down at night. Views are amazing at night as well. Gondola runs every four minutes and holds around 100 people so lines move quickly. If you're planning on skiing during the weekend...get there when the mountain first opens and you'll find parking and get on the gondola no problem.
Crappy conditions at Grouse Mountain + non transferable ticket = one customer lost. Sorry Grouse Mountain, your competitors would have honoured my ticket for another day and I would have come back, thank you for making me feel unwelcome, don't think I'll be seeing you again.
WOW! I totally agree with another reviewer regarding what is said about the tourism. A skating rink, a wind turbine, snow shoeing, etc, etc, etc, completely ruins the enjoyment of snowboarding or skiing up there. The majority of people on the mountain are either there for tourism and most of skiers and boarders can't ski. Some pack the lines for the lifts and crowd the runs, fill up the restaurants and apres and cut you off and annoy you the whole time you are skiing. The mountain itself is so-so, not much terrain, ok terrain parks and very little snow (there are unmarked obstacles all over etc, etc).
I've skied Grouse for the last 3 seasons on extremely economical seasons passes because my kids are in the Tyee Ski Club. To the critic who objects to the tourist attraction of the place -- wow, dude. The ski hill is 20 minutes from downtown and has a fantastic view of the city. It's unique. Yes, it can get busy. One of the lifts you complain about is a bunny hill lift that replaced a rope tow. The other one is a shortcut to the top. Most people skiing the peak will use the Olympic chair.
As for the "a bit of a joke, really, among skiers" comment. Not really. While the runs are not Whistler-length, the mountain has an excellent variety of terrain. Its variable conditions have been an excellent learning ground for my kids, who can ski everything from slush to oatmeal to powder and ice. It's a great mountain to hone technique.
Finally, having skied there in great seasons (2008-09) and poor seasons (2009-10), I have to say that the people who manage and run Grouse Mountain deserve a lot of credit. They do an outstanding job. The skiing experience is excellent.