We established long-term alpine monitoring in southwestern British Columbia (BC) by following the protocol outlined in the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine environments (GLORIA). Monitoring sites were located on the Mount Arrowsmith Massif on Vancouver Island (Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve) and in close proximity to Whistler Mountain (Garibaldi Provincial Park) in the summer of 2006. The aim of the GLORIA project is to develop a long-term, world-wide database of standardized observations of alpine biodiversity, vegetation patterns and mountain-top temperature. In both the Arrowsmith and Whistler target regions, the most dominant species in terms of cover were woody plants and included mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), white mountain-heather (Cassiope mertensiana) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) in order of cover percentage. Thirty-nine vascular plant species were common to both target regions, 36 species were inventoried only in the Arrowsmith region and 28 species were only recorded in the Whistler region. No conclusive trends in species numbers were evident from baseline data. With plans to monitor and resurvey at five-year intervals, the sites established in this project document current plant species composition, and allow for a long-term assessment of changes in biodiversity attributable primarily to change in climate.