Winter hiking

Good morning! 

We cover a lot of issues here at Vancity Lookout. But one of the most frustrating ones that comes across my screen is around the city’s crumbling infrastructure.

One of the biggest benefits of living in a city should be community centres, pools and public amenities. Each community centre I’ve visited, whether to work out or swim, is a critical part of the neighbourhood. That’s why it’s so discouraging to read the latest news about Kerrisdale Pool closing indefinitely, after what the city describes as an unforeseen maintenance issue. 

This isn’t the only example of this happening. As Nate wrote about, the city has some tough decisions in the future as it grapples with aging and underfunded facilities. 

I promise our team will keep pursuing these stories, because we all deserve to have access to high-quality, functioning public facilities.

Unlike the infrastructure challenges, one issue we haven’t written much about is hiking, a personal favourite of mine. Luckily, Julie's story today explores how some are venturing out to get in some hikes during the winter months

Let’s dive in.

— Geoff Sharpe, Lookout founder and managing editor

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign-up for free. 

WEATHER

Monday: 9 🌡️ 4 | ☀️

Tuesday: 8 🌡️ 1 | 🌤️

Wednesday: 8 🌡️ 1 | 🌤️

VANCOUVER BRIEF

Here are the stories you need to know to start off your week:

1. Municipal election heats up: In a surprise announcement this weekend, the upstart Vancouver Liberal party announced that former ABC Party park board commissioner Scott Jensen will run for them in the next election. It’s turning into quite a crowded field, as many different parties jockey to run against Ken Sim. Read more ($). [Vancouver Sun]

2. Future housing supply under pressure: One realtor is estimating that the pre-sale condo market, which is the main way new condos are built through financing, is down around 50 per cent or more in the region compared to a few years ago. It means that the pipeline of housing is drying up, as units are being cancelled and are not getting built. This could create shortages in the future as fewer housing units are set to come on the market, or potentially some good news, as developers shift away from the glut of one-bedroom and studio apartments that made up much of the new building supply. Read more. [CityNews]

3. $10 a day daycare under pressure: A lifeline for many parents, B.C.’s $10 a day daycare program is facing more stress, according to providers, after the province brought in a new model that would cut salaries for workers by as much as $6 an hour. The program is already struggling, with only 10 per cent of potential child care spaces falling under the program. In Vancouver, we also have the added challenge of making it difficult to get any childcare spaces built, which council is set to address. Read more ($). [Vancouver Sun]  

OUTDOORS

Vancouver winter is no reason to stop hiking

By Julie Chadwick. Read the story online here.

When the weather (finally) starts to dip below zero on the West Coast, it signals that it’s time for many Vancouverites to stay inside. However, for some residents, going out in nature with other people is just what they need to get through the winter.

For Abdul Haseeb, who moved to the area three years ago from Pakistan, organizing community group hikes is a way of giving back.

“When I came to Canada, in winters people usually get depressed, anxious, they are always at home,” he says, adding that many people want to go on outdoor adventures, but don't always have the resources to make it happen.

Three weeks ago, he got the idea to start taking people out on weekend hikes for free, carpooling in his own car or in a convoy of vehicles.

“I thought, now I have a car, so let's help other people to enjoy it. People don't have money, so I said, I'm doing it for free so it doesn't cost anything,” he says. “If people are at home and the weather outside is rainy, grey weather, they feel depressed and I just don't want people to be like that. I want to take them out more so they can be happy.”

Originally, Haseeb started posting about hikes on a website called Meetup, but when that went nowhere, he started finding people on a Facebook group called Sunday Hike. Now he has his own website called VanHikers, where participants can coordinate over WhatsApp messaging.

On his first trip he took eight people out to Dog Mountain Trail, an easy five-kilometre hike from the top of Mount Seymour, about a 50-minute drive from Vancouver. The second hike was to Mount Seymour with 12 people, and by the third hike — last weekend — his group had expanded to 21 hikers for a trip out to Bowen Lookout at Cypress Mountain.

“I didn't expect that in the winter people would be interested in going out. But my idea worked out,” says Haseeb with a laugh.

As good as it is for mental health, winter hiking does come with risks, says Andrew Ihnativ, an experienced hiker and mountaineer who moved to Vancouver from Calgary almost ten years ago.

“Everything in winter is about snowshoes. You have to have microspikes for guarding against falls,” he says. “There are lots of opportunities, lots of routes that we use. However, there is one caveat, and it's avalanches.”

Proper gear like woollen clothing, ample food and water, and a functioning GPS system are important to the winter hiking experience, but it’s also crucial to check and know how to read up-to-date avalanche information on sites like Avalanche Canada.

In addition to the camaraderie and conversation of hiking in groups, Ihnativ says it also provides safety, especially in colder weather.

“I prefer very, very strongly to go with groups of people for safety reasons. I can — I never did — but I can easily twist a leg or break a leg,” he says. “If I break a leg and don't have means of communication, I'm dead at night. Night is not only painful, painful is okay, but it's going to be hypothermia eventually, depending on who will find me.”

Inexperience is an issue but even seasoned hikers and mountaineers sometimes push themselves and feel compelled to do “more and more and more,” says Ihnativ, who knows four people who have died hiking and climbing in the last three years, including 23-year-old Nikita Marwah who died in 2023 while ascending Canadian Border Peak.

On Jan. 13, four hikers were rescued from the alpine of Golden Ears Provincial Park after being stranded for four days during dangerous avalanche conditions, according to Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue, who extracted the group with help from Coquitlam Search and Rescue and Talon Helicopters.

North Shore Rescue also spent ten hours searching for, and finding, a missing hiker on St. Mark’s Summit on Christmas morning. It was one of three calls the search and rescue team had fielded within a period of 33 hours.

In October, a seasonal campaign launched by B.C.’s Search and Rescue Association and a coalition of partners including Avalanche Canada and Vancouver Coastal Health, seeks to encourage a stronger outdoor safety culture among locals and visitors. In their statement, the organization pointed to local search and rescue trends over the last two years which showed that approximately 74 per cent of winter callouts for assistance involved winter hiking.

None of this should discourage potential hikers however, as experience, careful planning and courses taught by professional guides can reduce a lot of the risks, says avid hiker Stephen Hui, who has explored the Vancouver area and beyond in all weather for more than 30 years.

In May, Greystone Books released an updated version of Hui’s bestselling book, 105 Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia that includes 36 new hikes.

Hui’s fascination with hiking and scrambling — which involves going through steep terrain using three points of contact, like hands, for support — started as a child enrolled in Scouts and was further encouraged by school camping trips, including a week-long “history hike” in high school.

Growing up, he felt compelled to jot down things about his hikes like the length of time it took, or notable landmarks, though at the time he wasn’t sure why. These notes soon expanded into the book, and the newest version includes chapters on safety and the environment and a new foreword by Stó:lō historian Si:yémiya Albert (Sonny) McHalsie.

“When we go hiking we often go to beautiful places, and a lot of these beautiful places are sacred places to First Nations, so there's a responsibility to learn about them,” he says. “There's also a lot of land forms that have Indigenous names that say a lot about their stories and the people who are connected to them.”

Hui’s list of recommended hikes goes from north of Pemberton to Manning Park, and some of the new hikes are updated for length, accessibility and route changes.

The two biggest draws for Hui are the benefits of exercise that “doesn’t feel like exercise” and the mental health benefits of getting outdoors in all weather.

“Hiking is my favourite thing to do. It just kind of scratches all the itches, so I'm looking forward to getting out a lot this winter and getting some snowshoeing in too,” he says. “People think of hiking as a spring and summer thing, but really, you can hike all year round in our temperate climate.”

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THE VANCOUVER NUMBER

3,000

That’s around the number of homes approved by city council between July and December of 2025, of which 2,470 were secured purpose-built rentals. But that’s a slowdown compared to the 3,700 homes approved in only the second quarter of 2025. Read more. [Urbanized]

THE AGENDA

👍 Vancouver General Hospital will look a little different in the coming years, after council approved two new towers across the street that will house long-term care beds and an outpatient diagnostic clinic. The buildings are expected to be completed by 2031. Read more ($). [Vancouver Sun]

🏗️ A development application has been submitted for the former Army and Navy building in Gastown. It would include two towers, adding 738 rental homes with hundreds below-market, as well as a mixed-use hotel tower. Read more. [Global]

🚽 I think most people can agree that the city doesn’t have enough public washrooms. Now, city staff have released a framework to address the shortage, which is expected to be approved by council. In the short term, it would include ways to improve reliability and maintenance. Read more. [Urbanized]

🗑️ Is a garburator ban a waste of time? City staff seem to think so, after reporting back on a unanimously approved motion by council in 2025 to ask staff to draft policy changes to ban them in new developments. Staff claim there would be limited benefits to the ban. Read more. [Urbanized]

🏒 It pains me to write this. Can you guess what it’s about? If you guessed the Canucks, then you’d be right. The team lost 0-6 (bad) against the Oilers (extra bad) on Saturday. It’s the seventh straight loss for the team. The Goldeneyes also lost, but it was much closer, 1-2, against the Toronto Sceptres.

COMMENT OF THE DAY

“The city of Vancouver needs to lower the rents if they want people to move into the city. The majority of young people who want to live and work there are being priced out. As well, seniors who owned condos or homes and sold can no longer afford to live there. A discount on first month’s rent is not an incentive anymore. People would rather rent in more affordable towns and cities.”

— Rosa H

EVENT GUIDE

Books and Ideas: Paul Myers on John Candy | Revue Stage | Jan. 21 | Event series Books and Ideas, this time exploring a new book about John Candy | Tickets $28

Street Food City | šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énk Square – West Georgia St. | Jan. 22-25 | Catch all the best food trucks in town | Free, food costs money

Little Weird Weekend | Little Mountain Gallery | Jan 23-25 | Annual comedy series focused on alternative indie comedy | Various prices

Lord of the Rings Extended Trilogy Marathon | Rio Theatre | Jan. 31. 11 a.m. | Yes, exactly as it sounds, it starts at 11 am and will be going late | Tickets $33

Legends of Georgia | Centennial Theatre | Jan. 30, 7 p.m. | Ancient stoories and timliness of Georgian music and dance | Tickets $30+

Fireside Chat with National Team Coach Jesse Marsch | SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts | Jan. 31, 2:15 p.m. | Exclusive discussion with Canadian men’s soccer head coach | Tickets $42

FOOD

The Vancity Lookout guide to Dine Out Vancouver

Dine Out Vancouver offers locals the chance to try food at more affordable fixed-menu prices. The event has its detractors, but it’s an opportunity for those who don’t eat out often or can’t afford it to try a wider variety of places that might be too costly otherwise.

I went through the 450+ participating restaurants, so you don’t have to. These places are ones I’ve visited, as well as spots I’ve heard from others are great. This is part one of my list, and I’ll share part two later. The list is in no particular order. Get the next set of recommendations by subscribing instantly to our free restaurant review newsletter.

Lila

I visited Lila in December, and I was impressed, especially after a lacklustre meal at Vij’s in the summer. It’s a vibrant menu, with dishes that push Indian dining in a modern direction (a review is coming sometime this year).

• The price for a set menu is $55 and includes an appetizer, main and dessert. 

The Mackenzie Room

It’s been over five years since I last visited the Mackenzie Room, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt. But it’s a memorable meal, a team executing at a high level in a lovely, intimate space. It’s perfect for a next date night.

• The price for a set menu is $70 per person for a two-person dinner and includes five items.

Maenam

Vancouver’s best Thai spot for a reason, Maenam is an institution and must be visited for anyone who loves Vancouver’s dining scene. 

• The price for a set menu is $65 per person for a two-person dinner and includes an appetizer, meal, and dessert, along with wine pairings or $38 per person. It’s an extensive list of meal options!

The Acron

I love the Acorn for both the vegetarian food and the fact that chefs from my favourite restaurant of 2025, Nero Tondo, came from there. It’s a Vancouver institution for a reason. 

• Their dinner menu is $70 and includes eight dishes. 

Chez Céline

I have not been, but those who’ve visited love it. Plus, we need more Québécois restaurants in Vancouver. 

• Their dinner menu is $65 per person (minimum two) and includes four dishes meant to be shared. You can add more people as well, and the restaurant will increase the portion sizes.

Delara

My last visit to Delara was over 1.5 years ago, but I love everything about this Persian restaurant. Frankly, we need more restaurants from that region of the world. 

• Dinner menu $56 per person, with appetizer, entrée and dessert. 

Fiorino

This was my go-to restaurant when I lived in Chinatown, a spot I’d always take friends. While the prices were a little high, I appreciate the regional focus on Venetian food rather than generic Italian. 

• Dinner menu $39 per person, with appetizer, entrée and dessert. 

Gary’s

Gary’s calls itself “a nice place”. I’d change that to an excellent place. It was my favourite new restaurant of 2024, though to be honest, I didn’t manage to visit as many places as I would’ve liked. 

The French-inspired restaurant should be on everyone’s list, and can be a lovely date night for you and your partner. 

• Dinner menu $70 per person, with snack, small dish, large dish and dessert. 

NEW VANCOUVER JOBS

Discover your new dream job in Vancouver:

• Executive director at Quest Outreach Society

• Marketing advisor at BC Hydro

• Project manager at City of North Vancouver

• Events and experiences manager at LayerZero Labs

• Global brand insights manager at Lululemon

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• For those looking for great Thai food in Kitsilano, this restaurant can’t be beat.

• The popular Netflix series Heated Rivalry is spurring the expansion of LGBTQ+ hockey in Vancouver. ($) [Vancouver Sun]

• I agree with this Reddit user, there’s something very calming about watching ducks swimming with the tide near the Seawall.

• Here are some cafes in Vancouver participating in the Hot Chocolate Festival. [Vancouver is Awesome] 

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VANCOUVER NEWS QUIZ

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The fog may have caused flight chaos (including for myself), but there were some incredible photos captured.