There will soon be even more attractions atop the Peak of Vancouver as part of Grouse Mountain’s $9 million investment into expanding its offerings.
The resort announced today it will be opening a gravity-fed mountain coaster attraction as an annual seasonal attraction, with the ride set to open in Spring 2025. Construction on the coaster actually first began in 2023.
Such an attraction is, of course, similar to Cypress Mountain’s gravity-fed Eagle Coaster, which saw its inaugural operating season in Summer 2021. However, unlike Cypress Mountain’s temporary version, which is installed and dismantled at the start and end of each summer season to reopen the ski runs for wintertime operations, the Grouse Mountain coaster is a permanent structure.
Grouse Mountain’s permanent coaster will span a track length of 1,434 metres (4,700 ft) on a vertical descent of 919 metres (3,015 ft). Its ascent of 515 metres (1,700 ft) returns the riders to the mountaintop without having to exit the ride vehicle. Riders will be able to reach speeds up to 45 km/hr. Construction as of today has progressed to the installation of the permanent track.
In contrast, Cypress Mountain’s Eagle Coaster has a track length of about 1,700 metres, a vertical descent of 279 metres (900 ft), and a maximum speed of up to 40 km/hr. It starts at the top of the Eagle Express Quad Chair on Black Mountain and descends toward the base without returning to the mountaintop. Grouse Mountain’s new ride will likely provide Cypress Mountain with some competition.
New gravity-fed coaster ride. (Grouse Mountain)
New gravity-fed coaster ride. (Grouse Mountain)
“For guests who don’t ski or snowboard at Grouse Mountain, it is a side of the Resort, and Vancouver that they’ve likely never seen before,” said Michael Cameron, president of Grouse Mountain Resort, in a statement.
“Located to the skiers’ left of The Cut, the design of the Coaster has allowed us to maintain the integrity of the Mountain by incorporating the old growth trees along the journey of the track.”
In addition to the new coaster, Grouse Mountain is building a new bike park, which will be the only lift-accessed bike park among the North Shore’s three mountain resorts. It will be accessible by the Screaming Eagle Chairlift.
New bike park. (Grouse Mountain)
Gravity Logic, the same company behind the design and build of Whistler Bike Park, is working on the Grouse Mountain bike park project, with construction continuing through the summer and fall seasons to complete as much work as possible before this year’s first snowfall. It is scheduled to open in Spring 2025.
The new bike park will feature a series of trails, including beginner green and blue flow trails and advanced intermedia and expert trails. All trails will lead back to the Screaming Eagle Chairlift, which will return riders to the mountaintop.
The spring openings of both the coaster and bike park are also timed just after the upcoming winter opening of Grouse Mountain’s $35 million new access gondola between the base parking lot and the plateau level next to the Peak Chalet. Construction on the new gondola, which should not be confused with the aerial tram mode of the Blue Skyride and Red Skyride, first began in 2022.
The new access gondola replaces the 1960s-built Blue Skyride, which recently permanently closed and is in the process of being decommissioned.
June 2024 construction progress on the mountaintop terminal of Grouse Mountain’s new gondola. (Grouse Mountain)
May 2024 construction progress on the base terminal of Grouse Mountain’s new gondola. (Grouse Mountain)
When complete, the new access gondola will operate in conjunction with the existing Red Skyride, providing Grouse Mountain with an expanded ingress and egress access capacity of 1,900 passengers per hour, which will reduce the length of queues and wait times, and improve overall reliability and the resort’s operational resiliency.
The new gondola — featuring 27 eight-passenger cabins and a travel time of 5.5 minutes — alone will have a system capacity of 1,000 passengers per hour, which is more than double the original capacity of the Blue Skyride.
“The addition of the gondola has allowed us to explore a whole mountain of opportunities not previously available with our current Skyride. It’s an exciting time for Grouse and we’re so happy to be sharing these new amenities with our community,” continued Cameron.
Grouse Mountain’s expansion follows a growing trend among BC mountain resorts that have traditionally focused on wintertime skiing operations but are now expanding their summertime activities to diversify their revenue opportunities, reducing their reliance on snow-driven revenue. In addition to the Eagle Coaster, Cypress Mountain has also been opening up more chairlifts for summertime sightseeing opportunities.
The new coaster, bike park, and access gondola are also being timed for Grouse Mountain’s 100th anniversary in 2026.
Eagle Coaster. (Cypress Mountain)