Grouse Mountain

School was given 50 free passes to go to Grouse Mountain to see the Torchlight Parade to celebrate 365 days to go until the 2010 Winter Olympics open in Vancouver. I could have taken some because there were a few left over after school but decided not to because we already had a yearly pass and we didn't have the gear to be able to ski on the night.

I arrived home at about 3:30 pm to find that they had all slept through the morning. Bridget and Daniel had been for a walk around the block, and they had started to unpack their bags. I suggested that they might like to head up the mountain to have a look at the parade. I had purchased a yearly family pass for the mountain. It is $34.95 for an adult and $19.95 for a youth ticket to go up in the Skyride. It would cost $110, but a yearly family pass was only $190. We can use it as many times as we like for 12 months from the date of issue.

After gathering some warm clothes and coats we headed off. We got there at about 5:00 pm and there was heaps of space in the carpark. I had expected it to be a bit more crowded. I already had my pass, but they needed to get their photos taken and tickets issued.

We got into the cable car with approximately 100 other people and took the 4 minute ride to the top of the mountain. The torchlight procession was due to start at 6:00 so we walked to a spot where we had a good view of the trail down the mountain. Just before it started they turned the lights off and closed all the ski runs. We could then see the flares at the top of the mountain as the skiers began to snake their way down. There were about fifty skiers holding a flare on the end of each ski pole. They met up with another group and all continued towards the base of the runs.

We then took a sleigh ride pulled by a SnowCat. The driver turned out to be an Australian from Geelong. He said that there are Aussies everywhere. They are working on all the skiing mountains.

After the sleigh ride we went to the Theatre in the Sky. They show two movies continuously. One about the two orphaned grizzly bears which now live on Grouse Mountain, called Animal Tracks, and the other was Born to Fly - an eagle's eye view of British Columbia.