There aren't many gyms that ply you with chocolate and cheese fondue halfway through your workout - which, when you consider it, is a pity.
But on a Snowshoe Fondue Tour on Cypress Mountain, an evening walk through serene snow-covered forests gets richly rewarded with a three-course meal served in the rustic Hollyburn Lodge - or with chocolate fondue by a crackling fire in the candlelit Upper Warming Hut, depending on which tour you choose.
En route, guides lead headlamp-toting snowshoers off the beaten track and into the trees, and teach them about the area's history, flora and fauna.
Unlike most snow sports, there's very little gear required - just clothes that will keep you warm and dry on the hike (roughly one hour each way), and comfortable walking boots. You also don't need to be particularly athletic; as the guides say, if you can walk, you can snowshoe.
"It's great because it's such a unique and different experience, but so many people can do it," says Cypress Mountain snowshoe co-ordinator Julia Toren. "And there's a certain silence in the forest when it's snowing. It's just heavenly."
Cypress Mountain Snowshoe tours run daily and nightly through the winter season; several different tour packages are available. For more info, go to cypressmountain.com/snowshoe-tours.