World Celebrations
Peak of X'mas experience a true winter wonderland
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-12-24 13:28
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VANCOUVER - Canada on Wednesday reaffirmed Santa Claus as a Canadian citizen at a special citizenship ceremony in Calgary, Alberta, where 100 new citizens from 32 countries were sworn in.
"We wish Mr. Claus all the best in his Christmas Eve duties again this year," Jason Kenney, minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, said of the North Pole's most famous resident.
Later in the day Santa Claus headed west where he held court at Grouse Mountain, a ski resort that sits high above Vancouver, for the Peak of Christmas holiday celebrations.
While rain pelted British Columbia's largest city at sea level, it was truly a winter wonderland 1,127 meters up. Grouse Mountain's annual month-long holiday celebration, now in its 11th year, features outdoor skating, sleigh rides, live reindeer and grizzly bears, a zip line, musical entertainment and a lengthy line-up of excited children and their families waiting to get into Santa's workshop.
Other attractions include breakfast with Santa, a daily "SOS Children's Village Parade of Trees" and the Karen Magnussen Foundation Ice Show. The Vancouver native is a former world champion figure skater who won the silver medal at the 1972 Winter Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan.
With the Christmas Day forecast calling for rain and a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius, Vancouverites can only dream of a White Christmas. In a city where it can rain throughout the winter, snow can be a rarity. In the past decade, 2008 was the only year when the city was blanketed by snow on December 25.
Yet at Grouse Mountain, snow is a given, usually starting in late November and lasting through to April. William Mbaho, the mountain's Public Relations and Communication Manager, said Grouse annually attracted about 1.2 million visitors -- 500,000 in winter and 700,000 in the warmer months.
He added more than 100,000 people were expected for the Peak of Christmas celebration.
"We're lucky at Grouse because as the rain comes over the ocean and hits the mountains, it immediately turns to snow, ensuring that we always have an ample supply for skiers, snowboarders and winter sport," he said.
"Right now we have a base of nearly two meters (of snow) and we expect to have more throughout the season."
While the world-famous ski resort of Whistler is often associated with Vancouver by international visitors, for many local people Grouse is the mountain of choice. It is only a 15-minute drive from downtown and the local bus service goes right to the foot of the mountain.
"Grouse Mountain is very close," said Mbaho. "It is very easy to get here and yes, Whistler being two hours away is a longer journey. However, if you want to experience winter, this is a great place to do it and we are open year-round."
"We have some of the best snow conditions here anywhere in British Columbia. We want to showcase the best that B.C. has to offer ... there' s so much snow and so much activity that there's more to do than just skiing and snowboarding."
While young Japanese and South Korean students have long been a fixture on the mountain, Mbaho said increasing Chinese were showing interest in snowboarding and skiing.
"We are very pleased to see more and more Chinese visitors coming to Grouse Mountain. We are seeing more people take interest in our ski school which is one of the oldest in Vancouver. It's our 84th winter season here.
"Skiing and snowboarding are both very easy and take no time to learn. You could actually take a lesson in an hour or two hours and be able to ski or snowboard by yourself. And that's not the only thing we are noticing in which visitors from Asia are interested. We have over 10 kilometers of snowshoe trails, so people can venture off and walk around if they're not interested in something faster. Snowshoeing is the fastest growing winter sport."
