Backcountry skiers say new rules on Cypress Mountain are out of bounds

NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Backcountry skiers and snowshoers are questioning the motive behind new restrictions to access on Cypress Mountain. The resort says it’s about safety, but backcountry lovers think it’s actually about parking.

They used to have access 24-7, but now backcountry skiers can only use the corridor through the resort area between 9:00am and 10:00pm during winter.

Outdoor blogger and photographer Steve Jones calls the change unfair and dangerous. He’s written an open letter expressing his concerns.

Jones feels cutting back the daylight hours means backcountry users won’t be able to get as much use of the park as they’re used to. “If you’re not able to start hiking until 9:00am, there are a number of objectives that you can no longer achieve along those trails because it will take too long over the period of a day. You won’t be able to start hiking in time before work for example and you won’t be able to see the sunrise from the tops of the mountains.”

Jones has been told Cypress applied to BC Parks to make the change over the danger posed by run grooming and avalanche control. He doesn’t buy that.

“The population of the Lower Mainland is growing and the population of both downhill skiers and backcountry activities, snowshoeing, hiking and skiing, are increasing. Those are all good things, but it means that the parking lots are often full on peak days. That presents a potential bottleneck to ski resort operators that are trying to make a profit.”

Jones says the change may actually make things less safe as backcountry users are forced to find their way back in the darkness.

He adds this goes against agreements reached in the 90’s meant to keep the provincial park accessible to those not there to downhill ski at the resort.

“The deal when the ski resort operators were sold the permit to allow them to operate a for-profit operation within the park, is that they needed to find a way to coexist with backcountry users. I can’t know for a fact, but I suspect that the operators are taking these actions to try and discourage people from coming up and enjoying the use of the park for hiking, snowshoeing and skiing so that there’s more parking spots available for downhill skiing users.”

We’ve reached out to Cypress for comment but have not heard back.

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