Where it falls short

1. Weekend cabin queues

On a sunny Saturday the base queue can eat the best hour of the morning — the clear hour. Timed tickets help and do not solve it. If you only have a weekend, take the earliest window or accept the line as part of the price.

2. Fogged-in days, tickets still sold

The summit sits at an elevation where inflow cloud parks itself. On those days you will ride up into a white room, see twenty metres, and ride down. The operator sells the ticket anyway and the base staff will not warn you with any enthusiasm. Check the summit webcam and the Chief before you pay — I explain how in the journal.

3. Café prices at the summit

You are a captive market at 885 metres and the menu knows it. The coffee is fine. The prices are altitude prices. Eat in Squamish, bring water, and treat the deck as a viewpoint with a coffee option rather than a lunch plan.

What still earns the fare

An outflow morning from that deck is one of the great cheap seats in British Columbia. The bridge is well built, the trails at the top are real, and the ride itself is a clean piece of engineering. Go on the right day and it is worth every dollar. Go on the wrong day and you have paid full price for fog.