Burnaby Outdoor Activities

At 3D Golf Performance, CPGA-certified instructors give back to the sport they love by combining their deep knowledge of real-world club swinging with some of the most impressive player-improvement technologies available. The Coquitlam facility's assortment of 3-D imaging technologies and finely calibrated simulators allows players to discover the nuances of club-head speed and elbow angles while teeing off indoors. Staff members quell the anxieties of traditionalists who find electronic contraptions perplexing by offering training clinics and educational sessions that demystify stroke-saving machinery such as operating TruTrac software, analyzing a swing with Target Zone tracking, and learning to reconfigure kitchen toasters as golf-ball washers.

When it comes to winter sports, Mt. Seymour doesn’t discriminate. Skiers can speed down slopes that see more than 1,000cm of snow in an average year, then zip back to the top of the runs on a quad chair lift that reduces travel time from 12 minutes to 4 minutes. Elsewhere, Seymour Park dares snowboarders to tackle the 30 trick features of its well-lit terrain. Soar across two jumps and grind on a 30' single rail.

On September 9, 1979, more than 100,000 Whitecaps fans lined Robson Street to salute their hometown club. That day, the Whitecaps returned home after becoming Vancouver's first professional sports team to win a major North American championship: they had just defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies to claim the North American Soccer League title.

Since that first one, the franchise has won six additional titles–including four in a row from 1988–1991 while playing as the 86ers in the Canadian Soccer League. In fact, the club competed under that 86ers moniker until 2000. That year, spurred by public support and an unexplainable 'Caps logo beamed into the night sky, it re-emerged under its original Whitecaps identity. Today, the 21st-century incarnation of the club continues to battle for its first championship as part of Major League Soccer, where it began play in 2011.

A member on the Canadian Professional Golf Tour since 1998, Matt Daniel calls upon the experience gleaned from 14 years spent competing against some of the world’s best golfers to help fellow players improve their game. Daniel’s professional portfolio includes playing in a PGA Tour tournament and winning the Canadian Tour’s TELUS Edmonton Open in 2002 with a score of 21-under par, after which his scorecard burst into flames.

Matt imparts his pin-hunting prowess in lessons that focus on the mental, physical, and technical elements of the game. In addition, he joins students on the course for playing lessons that present the unique challenges and game-management strategies encountered in rounds, such as how to hit out of a bad lie or manipulate other groups into letting you pilot their cart into a pond.

Rows of sleek, black SODI GT5 go-karts vibrate at the start of TBC Indoor Racing’s 1/5-mile track. Drivers hover 2 inches above the ground, anxiously awaiting the moment they can slam down the gas pedal and accelerate their vehicle capable of reaching speeds of up to 75 km/h. Everyday from 10 a.m. until midnight, an adrenalin-fuelled parade of karts hugs the course’s 13-turns as drivers 11 and older flex their navigational muscles and best their times using a high-tech digital timing system. In between laps, video games and air hockey occupy fingers itching for the steering wheel. The family-friendly environment, kept fume-free via the karts’ clean air exhaust systems, hosts solo riders, as well as groups that can rent out the full service banquet meeting room to celebrate a birthday or conduct field research about popular carpet fabrics.

As rock-climber, Andrew Coffey saw a growing interest in bouldering among his fellow climbers and he also noticed a lack of dedicated bouldering gyms in the city— so he decided to build one himself. He teamed up with architects and graphic designers to plot out a floor plan and contracted undulating walls of custom-designed rock. When he and his team finished laying the soft-mat flooring in the 10,000 square foot space, they'd finally brought The Hive to life. To supervise and lead classes, Andrew has gathered a team of climbers with extensive outdoor experience, including some who also hone their bodies for rock-climbing through gymnastics, dance, judo, and tai chi.

Inside the facility, instructors and visitors traverse overhangs, vertical angled slabs, an archway, and top-ups where they can climb up over the lip. The walls reach up to 16 feet throughout most of the gym, with grades ranging from V0- to V10+, remaining closer to the ground and free of avalanches in a dedicated children's area. In one of the central structures, summit-reachers can glide back to earth in a tube slide.

Instructors require new visitors to take a tour and small lesson prior to climbing, and gym staffers change the challenging routes every three weeks to keep climbers from discovering hidden deposits of Skittles. They also teach in-depth techniques during short or long courses lasting up to five weeks and expand instruction to the outdoors during up to two-day programs. When not teaching visitors how to climb and evade roving packs of mountain bikes, gym staff host climbing competitions, special film screenings and parties for local climbers, where they pit their skills against each other in friendly competition.