1. ADVENTURE: Up town
Located 15 minutes by car from downtown Vancouver, Grouse Mountain offers high-altitude urban adventure. And because it's not an Olympic venue, you can strap on your skis, snowboard or skates this February instead of simply watching from the sidelines. Take a guided snowshoe hike with one of the mountain's experts and discover a forest full of surprises, ranging from totem-pole-like carvings to hidden lakes. Hop on North America's largest aerial tramway for the 1.6-kilometre journey to the peak or glide along on the continent's longest zipline for a speedy ride over snow-covered boughs. As an added bonus, the mountain will be open 24 hours a day during the Olympics, so you can take in a full day of competition and still have time to hit the slopes and try out some sporty maneuvers yourself. General admission is $37.95 for adults, $22.95 for teens and $13.95 for kids, not including lift tickets and rental fees.
www.grousemountain.com

2. FAMILY: Bright spot
One of the trendiest parts of Vancouver, Yaletown (above) is a former industrial zone now home to cafés, clubs and boutiques. The neighbourhood - bordered by Drake, Pacific and Richards streets and False Creek - last year launched a festival of lights called Illuminate Yaletown that lit up the night sky with innovative light installations ranging from inflated globes that change colour with every touch to a lot full of Mini Coopers that honk their horns and flash their lights with the press of a few keys on a magical piano keyboard. This year, lights and action permeate the pedestrian-friendly hood as Yaletown is transformed into a “celebration zone” for the duration of the Olympics. As dusk sets in at around 5:30 p.m., look for fire dancers, Japanese drummers, jazz bands and one of the world's biggest snowball fights. Free.
www.yaletowninfo.com

3. BUSINESS: Fly first-class
Check our Vancouver's Olympic venues far from the crowds — 750 metres away — aboard a six-seater floatplane (above). Harbour Air, which bills itself as North America's first and largest carbon-neutral airline, offers scheduled flights to selected locations in southern British Columbia and a range of “flightseeing” tours to take you places even Vancouver's new-and-improved transit system just can't go. The company's most popular tour departs from Coal Harbour for a half-hour aerial tour over skyscraping condo towers, the verdant carpet of Stanley Park, mansion-lined North Shore mountains and winding queues of Olympic fans looking for tickets. An extended version of the tour circles the city, then heads toward Whistler. Beats taking the highway. Vancouver Panorama is $99 per person, the Extended Panorama is $139 per person.
www.harbour-air.com.

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