Ski hills, provincial parks see influx of holiday getaway visitors

VANCOUVER —
The time in between Xmas and New Year’s is historically a single of the busiest for two neighborhood mountains featuring equally provincial parks and ski hills – but this year, with most indoor things to do cancelled, the pandemic has established even more need.

“It’s something new. We’ve owned these snowshoes for about two a long time but it is really the initially time we’re using them,” claimed Ivan Driedger as he organized for a trek via Mount Seymour Provincial Park.

The journey virtually hit a snag in advance of it commenced when Driedger and his group ended up turned all around on the road up the mountain because the parking great deal was complete.

“They instructed us to try all over again at noon and it’s a whole lot superior now,” reported Driedger, relieved he and his group were being still in a position to check out the great outside.

At Mount Seymour, the vacation resort controls the road and the parking heaps for the ski hill and the provincial park, making it possible for it to control the volume of targeted traffic in the area.

At Cypress, it’s a various method, and at occasions more than this getaway season, autos carrying skiers, snowboarders and backcountry park consumers have formed long strains down the mountain, causing some annoyance.

Cypress Mountain Vacation resort has urged the province to apply a day pass reservation procedure, related to one particular that was thriving all through the summer months, to restrict the amount of people accessing the Cypress Provincial Park at any a single time.

But the province chose not to do for the duration of the peak of the winter season period.

“We are asking anyone to stay area and discover their own communities, which might mean picking out one more exercise if your favourite place for winter season recreation is much too crowded,” The Ministry of Atmosphere and Local weather Modify Strategy explained in a statement.

That signifies for now, persons wishing to use the provincial parks at Cypress and Seymour have no selection but to arrive as early as doable and hope for the finest if they want to be positive they can accessibility the trails.