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It's hard to find a city more beautiful than Vancouver. Canada's preeminent West Coast metropolis is blessed with a natural landscape that heavily informs the scale, form, and architecture of new developments in the city. Condominiums are oriented to provide residents with stunning water and mountain views, and local legislation exists to ensure highrises don't compromise the ability to see these invaluable assets from the street. While it may look like an intimidating and untamed wilderness from busy downtown corridors, there are manicured and heavily visited sections in the North Shore Mountains that attract droves of skiers, hikers, and nature lovers every year.
Located in North Vancouver and only a 20-minute drive from the city proper is the quintessential British Columbian experience. North America’s largest aerial tram system greets guests and takes them on a 1,600-metre journey to Alpine Station on Grouse Mountain. October 1894 marked the first recorded instance of hikers reaching the summit of the mountain, a trek that would have taken three or four days back then. In their push towards the top, the hikers hunted the plentiful Blue Grouse, deciding later to honour the game bird by naming the peak Grouse Mountain.
Once there, a multitude of activities await the discerning adventurer. As expected, the attractions showcase the abundant natural offerings of the landscape, also serving to educate visitors about the flora and fauna of the region. Mountain ziplines and paragliding get your heart racing, a high-definition cinema displays a constant rotation of wildlife themed films, and several unique dining options provide patrons with a full sensory experience. There's even a wilderness sanctuary devoted to research, education, and conservation, which includes a habitat for two orphaned grizzly bears.
At 1,250 metres, the summit of the all-season resort offers spectacular panoramas of the Vancouver cityscape and its densifying suburbs. Those trying to spot the skyscraper-lined streets of the city centre don't have to look far. The view directly south presents the scene in all its urban glory, showcasing the juxtaposition between the trees — nature's skyscrapers — and the predominantly glass towers that have come to symbolize Vancouver's contemporary skyline. Extending out into the harbour with its sail-like roof is Canada Place, the home of the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Pan Pacific Hotel, and the city's World Trade Centre. A huge cruise ship docked at the side reveals the building's other purpose as a thriving terminal, where travellers depart to Alaska. Complementing the white roof of Canada Place is BC Place, which holds the record for the largest cable-supported retractable roof. The 54,500-capacity venue is the home of the BC Lions football team and the Vancouver Whitecaps soccer team, and it also staged the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Large tankers navigate English Bay and Vancouver Harbour, which both border the sprawling Stanley Park. The sun-parched expanse of grass beyond the skyline signifies Vancouver International Airport, the second busiest airport in Canada behind Toronto's Pearson International. The University Endowment Lands, where the University of British Columbia is located, are also identifiable as the elongated land mass in the photo above, which is framed at the top by the hilly landscape of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia.
Panning to the southeast yields views of Vancouver's suburban areas and other outlying cities. Making the transition from rural to suburban to urban, the City of Burnaby is the third largest in British Columbia, with a population of roughly 220,000 people. Like Vancouver, many residents of Burnaby dwell within highrise apartment and condominium towers. Two main building clusters — both of which erupt adjacent to major retail hubs — can be spotted in the photo above. One arises just west of Brentwood Town Centre, while the other more dominating grouping stands next to Metropolis at Metrotown, the largest shopping mall in the province. Metrotown's high concentration of residences and offices are well served by the SkyTrain rapid transit system, a 68.7-kilometre network providing efficient transportation throughout Greater Vancouver.
Thanks to the elevation of Grouse Mountain, visitors can even recognize Mount Baker, the third highest mountain in Washington state. The 3,286-metre stratovolcano is the second most thermally active crater in the Cascade Range, behind only Mount Saint Helens. Those looking for an even higher viewpoint should seek out the Eye of the Wind. Opened in 2010, the 65-metre attraction takes the form of an operational 1.5-megawatt wind turbine with a glass pod observation deck located just three metres away from the rotating blades of the tower. The turbine was built partially as a tourist facility, but also to supply approximately 25 percent of the resort's electricity.
With a plethora of all-season activities designed to keep Vancouverites and tourists alike engaged year round, Grouse Mountain remains one of the most versatile attractions in the city. Like a "choose your own adventure" book, there's more than enough unique options to craft a memorable experience. If raw wilderness or cutting through snow-filled slopes doesn't interest the urban-minded, the sweeping views of the city skyline surely will.
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