Canadian Ski Resort To Charge Skiers for Parking

Cypress Mountain Resort, a popular ski destination near Vancouver, British Columbia, will implement a paid parking program on opening day 2024.

Those with a 2024-2025 season pass or a three-, four-, or five-day Sky Card can still park for free. One or two-day Sky Card holders who purchased their Sky Cards before the paid parking announcement are also in the clear. These groups need to register their license plates before October 9th, 2024, to secure their free parking.

Paid parking will cost $10 a day.

Parking remains free in parking lot 3B and on the Nordic Area access road from Cypress Bowl Road to the BC Parks Nordic Area Kiosk. All other lots require payment.

In an FAQ published on its website, Cypress Mountain wrote that it’s implementing paid parking to create a better guest experience.

“Demand for parking exceeds the available spaces. People wait and circle lots causing long traffic line ups on Cypress Bowl Road during peak times. Our goal is to improve the guest experience, by providing an incentive to use other options, a car-pool app or coach transportation,” the FAQ reads.

Paid parking and reservation systems have bedeviled skiers and created controversy on more than one occasion. But in some cases, the masses seem to be shifting towards cautious optimism about reimagining the ski resort parking lot, particularly in areas where winter traffic stacks up.

In May, Solitude Mountain Resort, Utah, touted the success of its parking system , which uses a mix of reservations and payments, on Instagram. There were a significant number of positive responses mixed with a bit of negative backlash. When parking programs actually reduce traffic, it seems many skiers are on board.

When asked about the Instagram post earlier this year, Jeff Carroll, Solitude's VP of Marketing & Guest Experiences, told me it was the "first time, I think, since 2019 that we've posted anything about parking on our social media feeds [where] the comments have been largely positive. "

After Cypress Mountain’s announcement, a post shared on the Vancouver subreddit gauged public opinion about the paid parking program.

“Nobody likes paying for parking but the crowds/lineups at Cypress have been untenable,” read one comment. “We'll see if it has any effect compared to Mt Seymour's reservation system.”

“Honestly—needed. The parking lot is a cluster [expletive],” read another. “Hopefully this will incentivize some more shuttle services.”

Related: “We Didn’t Have This on Our Bingo Card.” Montana Ski Areas See Summer Snow

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