Getting Ready for Winter: Run Re-Establishment

What does run re-establishment involve? Most of the activity has been focused on brush cutting – think extreme weed-whacking! Many of these runs have not been touched since they were initially cut 20 to 25 years ago. That’s a lot of time for things to get overgrown. 

When things like bushes, shrubs and grasses grow taller on designated runs, it means that we need a certain depth of snow in order to cover it all before the run can be opened. Our crews have been going in and trimming down this growth and laying branches flat so that it will require less snow to cover them. That means we will be able to open these runs with less overall snowfall. 

As we’re also conscious of the many creatures that call Grouse Mountain home, the mountain operations team consulted with our resident veterinarian Dr. Ken Macquisten to survey the target areas and assess potential impact on resident wildlife before any work was done. 

This is just one of the projects we’ve been working on this summer and fall to help us get ready for winter. We can’t wait for the snow to fall so we can welcome skiers and riders back to the Peak of Vancouver to share in our #winterlove! 

To see our crew in action, check out a video on our summer brush cutting project.