In case you haven’t noticed, its frickin’ freezing outside, which means the local mountains will (hopefully) soon be covered in snow. I’m going to do 3 posts over the coming days to let you know what is going on this season at Cypress, Seymour & Grouse, and elsewhere in Metro Vancouver.

Today’s part 1 will focus on Skiing & Snowboarding lessons and camps.

1) Mount Seymour has a host of programs for ages 4+ and all ability levels. There are single day lessons such as private lessons and intro classes), as well as multi day camps (ranging from children intro lessons to instructor training). Check out the website for all the programs and prices.

2) Grouse Mountain also has a great Snow School with programs divided by age. Starting from Ski Wee to adult programs, as well as a very cool looking freeride program for teens.

3) Cypress Mountain doesn’t seem to offer quite as many programs but they have the usual suspects. There a drop-in lessons for kids, adults, and freeriders, as well as multi day camps. They also offer nordic lessons if you were interested in getting into some cross-country lessons.

I have personally never taken lessons with our local mountains (besides when I was 8 and can hardly remember), so I don’t have much advise in terms of which programs give the best bang for your buck. If anyone has any experience with any of these programs feel free to comment below.

Related Posts:
• Gearing Up For Winter Fun Pt. II
• Cypress Also Due To Open Tomorrow, Seymour At Anytime
• Gearing Up For Winter Fun Pt. III

Tags: Cypress,Grouse,lessons,Seymour,Skiing,Snowboarding & Skiing,winter fun
Categories: Snowboarding & Skiing
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Rocky Point Kayak does rentals and lessons out of Port Moody. On Father’s Day, my girlfriend took me out kayaking in the Burrard Inlet with a guided tour they had on for a deal. Since then we’ve also taken a Level II, Rescues & Recoveries course with them. Both experiences were great. On the Father’s Day tour, we cruised around the inlet checking out the sulfur shipping terminal, harbor seals, and some bald eagles.

Rocky Point Kayak has been operating in the Tri Cities since 2000, providing kayak lessons, rentals and tours.  We are focused on providing a fun and safe environment where people of all ages and walks of life can develop their kayaking skills and take them as far they want.

For the lessons they require a minimum group of 3 (which we had) and the instruction was great. The instructor was glad to teach us as much as we could absorb and practice over the 3 hours, above and beyond the outlined scope of the course. This was especially impressive since he had just come back from the Pemberton Music Festival and was a little worse for wear.

If you have little ones, they also offer kids camps in the summer, which I think are fairly popular. If you’re looking to get out for some lessons, or just paddle around the inlet at Port Moody, make sure you check them out. You can even start a more adventurous trip into the Indian Arm from there as well.

Related Posts:
• Gearing Up For Winter Fun (Pt.1)
• Company Profile: BC Dive & Kayak Adventures
• Outdoor Retailers Around Vancouver

Tags: lessons,Rentals,Rocky Point Kayak
Categories: Company Profiles, Kayaking
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I recently got SCUBA certified with a friend of mine, and thought it would be fitting to do the first company profile on the shop where I took the course. The shop was BC Dive & Kayak located on W. 4th, near Granville, in Vancouver. BC Dive offers SSI certification, which is one of the two main internationally recognized certifications, with PADI being the other. The course was $550 plus tax, which I felt was great value for the experience. The whole course lasted about a month, and included all gear rentals, roughly 6 hours of class time, 9 hours of pool time, and three ocean sessions (of two dives each session).

The staff was great; very knowledgeable and kind, and the shop has all the top brands for diving or kayaking. As a rookie diver, I can’t say how the store prices compare to other shops in the area, but I would highly recommend getting certification there if you are looking SSI.

Overall I’ve had a great experience with BC Dive & Kayak, and recommend checking out the shop next time you’re in the area.

Below is a short video of a feather star we saw on one of the dives.

Related Posts:
• Outdoor Retailers Around Vancouver
• Featured Dive Site: Whytecliff Park
• Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup

Tags: BC Dive & Kayak,lessons,Scuba
Categories: Company Profiles, Scuba Diving
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