I truly prefer to keep things upbeat and positive, but every now and then something happens that ticks me off so much I feel compelled to tell the world about it.
First, the positive part about my Grouse grouse. Grouse Mountain is a big chunk of rock that towers over the skyline of Vancouver, British Columbia. There's a privately-owned resort at the top of the mountain. It's a great place to hike, snowshoe, ski, snowboard and sometimes run. It's a place to take the occasional friend from out of town to the logger show. The Altitudes bar with its view that goes forever, offers the best patio in the lower mainland for a pint on a sunny day. I'm such a big fan of the place that 2008 will mark the 7th year in a row I've taken out a family membership and parking pass.
This past weekend, Grouse really screwed over its most loyal customers, though.
I could go on about how it could be considered a criminal act to close a ski resort when there are over 5 meters of snow left on the mountain in mid-April, but the other 2 local mountains (Cypress and Seymour) also closed down their ski and snowboard operations this past weekend. It seems most people prefer to go to the beach rather than make turns in the mushy bumps. I can live with that.
What really sux though, was that they scheduled maintenance for the tramway to the top during the final week of the winter season. This resulted in lineups to get to the top of over 2 hours and lineups to get down of about the same.
What a gong show! Run up the Grouse Grind in 40 minutes... pay $5 to wait in line for 2 hours to get down. Hope to get a few hours of skiing, boarding or snowshoeing in on a sunny final weekend of the winter season and end up grousing with fellow pass-holders in the lineup as the lifties shrug their shoulders.
A bit of student of marketing and public relations, the next gaffe ranks right up there with some of the dumbest ways to treat one's customers I've ever seen. With a lineup around the block of customers who had paid to snowboard or ski, Grouse Mountain Resort started a separate priority lineup for guests on bus tours! Yup, Mom and the kids wait a couple of hours to ski while the folks from out of town in for a quick burger on the deck en route to the Suspension Bridge go to the front of the line.
That's my Grouse grouse for this past weekend. But while I'm grousing about Grouse:
How is it that Grouse Mountain can morally abdicate responsibility for people getting lost or injured on the Grouse Grind (a popular local hiking trail) yet sell those same people a beer and charge them for a trip down the hill?
How is it that Grouse Mountain can morally claim legal rights to the name "Grouse Grind" when the term has been in the public domain for many years?
Anyone know where all of the sewage from the resort goes? Seems to me I saw a lot of toilet paper and other nasties on the Skyline Trail a while back. Does any of the effluent go into the creeks that flow down from the mountain and through the neighbourhoods below?
Why is it that Grouse Mountain leaves the lights on its ski hills all year long? Seems to me a big waste of resources even if they do pay for it. Also makes one wonder if the bears and wolves they have penned-up for the tourists are bothered by having the lights on all night?
There you have it...all of my Grouse grouses are now off my chest!
Comments
Grouse Cares!
I just received a call from the Manager of Operations at Grouse Mountain. It seems that management is concerned about how the business is perceived in the community and he wanted to personally respond to my grouses. Good on Grouse for going to the trouble!
I suggested that he also respond on this blog post, but in case he doesn't, here are the highlights of our chat:
Access Debacle
We spoke about the facts. Yup... the red tram was out of service. Yup.. lineups were at times over 2 hours. Yup... tour buses get lift line priority. We also agreed that a good journalist (something I am not) should cover both sides of a story and put the facts into perspective. I learned that that the big, red tram was taken out of service for maintenance during the last week of the ski season because that is the only time Grouse could get the lift service people from Italy to do the work. I was also informed that Grouse sent an email out to their opt-in list and a note on the website informing of longer hours and the possibility of lineups.
"Grouse Grind"
It was confirmed that Grouse Mountain Resorts did trademark the term "Grouse Grind" though neither of us knew when the trail was christened the "Grind" or by whom. (My gut feel is that it was McPherson, the person who cut the trail 30 years ago. Anyone know?)
Santa's Runway at the Peak of Vancouver
It was confirmed that the lights are kept on until midnight, and only those on the front side of the mountain. This apparently to help the mountain maintenance people and the occasional straggler who might be lost.
Sewerage
It was confirmed that there was a nasty sewage mess a few years back, but that Grouse made sure the mess was cleaned up. I was told that Grouse connects to the municipal sewers and that no sewage from the resort is released into any of the creeks. Reassuring to know, as my understanding is that neighboring Seymour Mountain still sends partial-treated sewage into one or more of the creeks below.
Private Cabins
I had always wondered about the existence of private cottages within the Grouse resort property. (Look up the mountain on a clear night and you will see lights from cabins on the side of the mountain!) It was confirmed that this was true some time ago, but was no longer the case. While the cabins do exist, they are used by Grouse to house employees. Several have been demolished in recent years and Grouse is making an effort to clean up the former cabin sites.
Well Said!