Places to See: Sea to Sky Gondola {Review}

Our license plates say it, we truly do live in “Beautiful British Columbia”. We were reminded why this weekend when we went on a little staycation and drove up to Squamish. We have driven through Squamish many times on our way to Whistler, it was nice to make this our destination. One of the best ways to see Squamish is by going up Mount Habrich on the new tourist attraction; The Sea to Sky Gondola.

My husband has done the hike up The Chief, I have attempted the hike but this is much more my style. The gondola provides a great opportunity for people of all ages to go up Mt. Habrich which is beside The Chief, and take in the sights. Tickets range from $13.95 to $34.95 depending on age. I suggest buying your tickets online if you do plan to visit because there is a bit of a discount offered. There are also season passes available, prices again range according to age. We are seriously considering getting the family pass because we would like to come back and do some of the hikes in nicer weather. 

The ride up was great. It was nice and smooth, but if you do not like heights I suggest you close your eyes. Even Evie was proclaiming “It’s a big mountain… don’t fall down!” as we went up, up, and up. With going during the winter season it was not overly crowded so we got a gondola all to ourselves. This allowed Evie to be able to take in all of the sights. We loved being able to point out the mountains, and the water to her. We even got to explain that we had traveled through a cloud.

At the top there is lots to do, and see. We took off to the viewing platform just outside the cafe. While we were visiting there was a Santa Clause Breakfast happening, so there were many enjoying a pancake breakfast with Santa. If that is something you want to do, it was strongly recommended to reserve your spot well in advance. We however just wanted to adventure, and look around. Even Evie headed over to be able to look out across the horizon. I loved hearing her say “Oh wow!” several times. I can only imagine what all she was thinking. Soon it was off across the suspension bridge.

My husband knows my fear of heights, and tried to encourage me that this bridge was incredibly well supported since it even had cables coming out the sides and down to the ground beneath us. Thanks for trying honey, but I was still a bit freaked out. Still, that did not prevent me from going across. Evie was definitely the braver one as she wanted to stop and look. We had the suspension bridge all to ourselves as we crossed so I did not have to worry about any pranksters trying to rock the bridge. Be sure to follow the rules for going across, keep a firm grasp on your child, and if you are carrying your little one across the bridge keep the well beneath the railing. Safety first right? The middle does sway a bit, but that’s typical for a suspension bridge.

On the other side there is a little trail that takes you round to the back side of the lodge that is at the top. I really loved that there were Christmas lights, and candy canes hung along the trail. I can only imagine how beautiful the lights are at night. Once we got to the other side of our little hiking trail, we found a sign that pointed out many other trails you can take. One leads to another viewing deck place. We are hoping to get a baby sitter some day in the spring, so that we can go and check out the trails without Evie, we just are not sure if she can do them at her age since she is not yet 2. She did love the little loop walk around, finding snow definitely was a highlight for her at the end of that little trail. We would love to do the Sea to Summit Trail.

Did you know that there is a tube park up there? It is scheduled to open mid-December weather permitting.

We headed back inside the lodge to warm up. Inside there is a cafe, and a little shop with different things for sale. We were able to sit down at one of the many gorgeous wooden tables with benches and have some snacks. Downstairs in the lodge are the washrooms, there is a change table, and a large changing room area if needed in the women’s washroom. Thank you Sea to Sky for putting Kleenex boxes in the washroom, this was so helpful for this mama to battle her daughter’s ever leaking nose. Inside, thanks to the Santa Clause Breakfast, there were several activities for kids to do. Evie got to write a letter to Santa and put it in the mail box, which obviously translated to – doodle all over the postcard. She also got to scoop some reindeer snacks into a cute bag to take home. The lucky girl also got a candy cane to enjoy.

I loved the different Christmas touches around the lodge, it made visiting during the holiday season extra special. We are definitely looking forward to visiting again, and taking in more of the sights, as well as going for a nice long hike. It is gorgeous up at the top, if you cannot do the actual hike, I really recommend going up the gondola.

Disclosure: We were provided with site entrance tickets in order to facilitate this review. The opinions shared here are completely my own.

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