Skiing and Snowboarding

[Klazu]

Anyone been hitting the slopes and pushing the powder already? In Vancouver the local mountains got their first snow this week (only some 20cm so far), but Whistler opends next week. Pretty much in line with what is usual, but boy has it been raining a lot this fall. Too bad not more of it has fell as snow.

[240glt]

A few hills in AB are now open I think.

Looking forward to Silver Star over the holidays though

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Anyone been hitting the slopes and pushing the powder already? In Vancouver the local mountains got their first snow this week (only some 20cm so far), but Whistler opends next week. Pretty much in line with what is usual, but boy has it been raining a lot this fall. Too bad not more of it has fell as snow.

Since I've now relocated to Vancouver I haven't been out - but friends of mine have been to Sunshine a few times already and the early season is supposed to be spectactular. That said, too bad about Louise and the world cup - first time ever! I used to volunteer at it and am really surprised that the base couldn't have been made ready enough - big wow on that. That said, it is opening weekend there so it will be interesting to hear the feedback from friends.

Looking forward to skiing Whistler and few others this year. Your previous pictures certainly has wet my appetite for a few of the hills that I haven't been too.

[Calgarian]

I'm going to try and get out this weekend, hopefully there will be some snow left!

[Klazu]

Whistler announced today that they will open (one day) early on next Wednesday! I am thinking of going up there next week.

And in case you haven't seen this video, here's how Vancouverites embraced snowboarding when it arrived in Canada.

• Video Link

[ibz]

Originally Posted by shreddog

Since I've now relocated to Vancouver I haven't been out - but friends of mine have been to Sunshine a few times already and the early season is supposed to be spectactular. That said, too bad about Louise and the world cup - first time ever! I used to volunteer at it and am really surprised that the base couldn't have been made ready enough - big wow on that. That said, it is opening weekend there so it will be interesting to hear the feedback from friends.

Looking forward to skiing Whistler and few others this year. Your previous pictures certainly has wet my appetite for a few of the hills that I haven't been too.

Sunshine has been great! (for mid november anyways) some rocks and brown spots last weekend but also some great runs of snow. Worth the trip out for sure.

212 cm at Kicking Horse YTD though....what an opening that is shaping up to be

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by Klazu

I am currently contemplating between a 10-day ski trip to Colorado or the Rockies around Family Day. I have never been to either, so what would be the 3-4 ski resorts I would have to visit in Canada east of Okanagan? Take into account that we would have to be driving from Vancouver and back.

Oh man, we need to get our plans straight as February is coming in fast! After some research we ended up scratching any plans for Colorado or Utah this year due to the low CAD. It would just be way too expensive, so pushing that to another winter.

It seems that there are two options that would both offer 6 days of skiing. Which one of the two would you recommend?

1 day Revelstoke
2 days Kicking Horse
1 day Kimberly
2 days Fernie

or

1 day Revelstoke
2 days Kicking Horse
1 day Sunshine Village
2 days Lake Louise

I think 1 day will be enough for Revenstoke along the way, but is Kicking Horse worth 2 days? We mostly enjoy blue/black groomed runs and some glades skiing.

I really like the trail map for Fernie and doing that plan should be very inexpensive with the RCR card that they offer for those three resorts. Is Fernie worth two days? It's also nice that it would be possible to stay somewhere in Kimberley/Fernie to cover both mountains.

How about on Banff side, which one do you guys think is more worth 2 days: Sunshine Village or Lake Louise? Both seem interesting based on the trail maps, so I am not sure which one to prefer. I also think that Banff will be much more expensive and crowded during Family Day week.

Looking forward to opinions from you guys. We will be heading to Whistler tomorrow to start the season and enjoy their epic 104cm of new pow in last 48 hours!!

[ibz]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Oh man, we need to get our plans straight as February is coming in fast! After some research we ended up scratching any plans for Colorado or Utah this year due to the low CAD. It would just be way too expensive, so pushing that to another winter.

It seems that there are two options that would both offer 6 days of skiing. Which one of the two would you recommend?

1 day Revelstoke
2 days Kicking Horse
1 day Kimberly
2 days Fernie

or

1 day Revelstoke
2 days Kicking Horse
1 day Sunshine Village
2 days Lake Louise

I think 1 day will be enough for Revenstoke along the way, but is Kicking Horse worth 2 days? We mostly enjoy blue/black groomed runs and some glades skiing.

I really like the trail map for Fernie and doing that plan should be very inexpensive with the RCR card that they offer for those three resorts. Is Fernie worth two days? It's also nice that it would be possible to stay somewhere in Kimberley/Fernie to cover both mountains.

How about on Banff side, which one do you guys think is more worth 2 days: Sunshine Village or Lake Louise? Both seem interesting based on the trail maps, so I am not sure which one to prefer. I also think that Banff will be much more expensive and crowded during Family Day week.

Looking forward to opinions from you guys. We will be heading to Whistler tomorrow to start the season and enjoy their epic 104cm of new pow in last 48 hours!!

Fernie is great but the combination of Lake Louise and Sunshine would be better than Fernie Kimberley IMO. You could spend 2 days at either LL or Sunshine but if possible best left to see how the snow is in Feb and go from there. Kicking Horse is one of the best; most known for epic (and steep) bowl skiing. Revy would also be worth 2 days IMO. I would actually ski 2 days at Revy, 2 at Kicking Horse and one less in Banff.

[Klazu]

Oh boy, was Whistler amazing today!!

86cm of new snow in last 48 hours, incredible 192cm in the last 7 days (!!) and a sweet base of 208cm. The cumulative snowfall so far is at 302cm - in November!

As one can guess, it was super busy with many traveling to Whistler to start their season on an amazing Pow Day. We left Burnaby right after 6am which is normally enough to easily make it to the first upload, but not today. Traffic was heavy all the way from Vancouver and after Alice Lake the heavy rain changed to heavy snowfall. I have never driven to Whistler in a heavy snowfall and the traffic became crawling. People with summer tires (and there were many) were in big trouble and we saw many Beamers and Audis stuck in snow.

They even said on Mountain FM that RCMP was conducting winter tire / chain inspections, as those were pretty much required, but we didn't see any police. It was very slippery even with winter tires, but we had no problems outside of the traffic that got completely standstill some 5 kilometers before Creekside, taking us 45 minutes to get in the parkade.

The crew had worked all night to open many new runs, but the heavy snowfall had covered everything and the snow was very deep even on the groomed runs. Lots of fun but also so much work to ski those runs and we only managed to do 6 runs during the whole day, as lift queues were very long. It was definitely the busiest first weekend I have ever seen in Whistler.

This was the deepest Powder Day I have ever seen in Whistler and I am sure that people who enjoy such were thrilled. The forecast calls for even more snow in the coming day, so pretty sure we will drive up again next weekend!

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by ibz

Fernie is great but the combination of Lake Louise and Sunshine would be better than Fernie Kimberley IMO. You could spend 2 days at either LL or Sunshine but if possible best left to see how the snow is in Feb and go from there. Kicking Horse is one of the best; most known for epic (and steep) bowl skiing. Revy would also be worth 2 days IMO. I would actually ski 2 days at Revy, 2 at Kicking Horse and one less in Banff.

Thanks for you opinion, ibz! Sounds like you enjoy steep runs and off-piste skiing which are not totally my cup of tea. Still interesting to hear that so many in here like Kicking Horse and I think it will be best to spend two days there. Revelstoke seems quite small with only a couple lifts, but if it turns out amazing, one can always make another stop there some other time.

I think I am currently leaning towards Fernie and Kimberley as the finale to our trip, as the RCR Card would make them very affordable. It would also be nice to drive back to Vancouver along the border which I have never done east of Osoyoos.

Snow conditions could be a good deciding factor, but as we need to book accommodation very soon, it's difficult to say how the weather will be in February. I am sure there will be lots of snow no matter where we go and I hope there would also be some sun. Normally February has most sunshine of the winter months, so that's encouraging.

It would still be interesting to hear even more options from people that have been to all of those resorts.

[Calgarian]

First day of the season at Sunshine saturday, great conditions, no major dumps, but a week of 4-6cm a day made for some nice soft snow. There are some good stashes of pow in the trees off wawa, the rest of the hill was soft packed.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Thanks for you opinion, ibz! Sounds like you enjoy steep runs and off-piste skiing which are not totally my cup of tea. Still interesting to hear that so many in here like Kicking Horse and I think it will be best to spend two days there. Revelstoke seems quite small with only a couple lifts, but if it turns out amazing, one can always make another stop there some other time.

I think I am currently leaning towards Fernie and Kimberley as the finale to our trip, as the RCR Card would make them very affordable. It would also be nice to drive back to Vancouver along the border which I have never done east of Osoyoos.

Snow conditions could be a good deciding factor, but as we need to book accommodation very soon, it's difficult to say how the weather will be in February. I am sure there will be lots of snow no matter where we go and I hope there would also be some sun. Normally February has most sunshine of the winter months, so that's encouraging.

It would still be interesting to hear even more options from people that have been to all of those resorts.

Never been to Kimberly, but Fernie is pretty awesome, so much terrain. I'm an off-piste type boarder, so tree runs, glades and nice steep chutes are my cup of tea. Kicking Horse offers lots of this, Terminator Bowl is pretty fun, and the runs off Stairway are sup[er fun. Kicking Horse also has some awesome tree runs, and if you're bold you can go on some of the mountain bike features a bit too.

Revy only has 3 lifts, but it's a massive mountain, and if you're willing to hike, then you can make fresh tracks for days. They have a great mixture of terrain, but i find the area off the Stoke chair can get sun crusted, so I usually stay to the ripper area. I'd take 2 days at Revy over Kicking Horse personally, but both hills are getting dumped on big time right now, so they could have close conditions...

Sunshine and Louise have some great terrain (sunshine is flatter, so better for skiiers than boarders), but being far east in the mountains, and right on the continental divide means they get less snow than BC hills, and they are colder too. Louise can be totally Epic on a powder day, but the lift lines at the base are a pain in the ass! so best to stick to the back side. Sunshine is mostly above the tree line, so flat light is a problem on Lookout mountain if its snowing or windy, but Goats Eye is usually a bit more shielded (they capture less snow with the fences because of this, so it's icier). On a bluebird, Sunshine has one of the most spectacular views, you can look across the sunshine meadows to Mt Assinniboine (just under 12 000') and see the tops of some of the tallest peaks in the rockies.

Hope that helps...

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Thanks for you opinion, ibz! Sounds like you enjoy steep runs and off-piste skiing which are not totally my cup of tea. Still interesting to hear that so many in here like Kicking Horse and I think it will be best to spend two days there. Revelstoke seems quite small with only a couple lifts, but if it turns out amazing, one can always make another stop there some other time.

I think I am currently leaning towards Fernie and Kimberley as the finale to our trip, as the RCR Card would make them very affordable. It would also be nice to drive back to Vancouver along the border which I have never done east of Osoyoos.

Snow conditions could be a good deciding factor, but as we need to book accommodation very soon, it's difficult to say how the weather will be in February. I am sure there will be lots of snow no matter where we go and I hope there would also be some sun. Normally February has most sunshine of the winter months, so that's encouraging.

It would still be interesting to hear even more options from people that have been to all of those resorts.

It's a great drive along the border east of Osoyoos which includes Castlegar of course haha.

[240glt]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Oh man, we need to get our plans straight as February is coming in fast! After some research we ended up scratching any plans for Colorado or Utah this year due to the low CAD. It would just be way too expensive, so pushing that to another winter.

It seems that there are two options that would both offer 6 days of skiing. Which one of the two would you recommend?

1 day Revelstoke
2 days Kicking Horse
1 day Kimberly
2 days Fernie

or

1 day Revelstoke
2 days Kicking Horse
1 day Sunshine Village
2 days Lake Louise

I think 1 day will be enough for Revenstoke along the way, but is Kicking Horse worth 2 days? We mostly enjoy blue/black groomed runs and some glades skiing.

I really like the trail map for Fernie and doing that plan should be very inexpensive with the RCR card that they offer for those three resorts. Is Fernie worth two days? It's also nice that it would be possible to stay somewhere in Kimberley/Fernie to cover both mountains.

How about on Banff side, which one do you guys think is more worth 2 days: Sunshine Village or Lake Louise? Both seem interesting based on the trail maps, so I am not sure which one to prefer. I also think that Banff will be much more expensive and crowded during Family Day week.

Looking forward to opinions from you guys. We will be heading to Whistler tomorrow to start the season and enjoy their epic 104cm of new pow in last 48 hours!!

I think you're missing out on two fantastic options in the Kootenays.. Red and Whitewater

Silver Star is still one of my favourites

[Calgarian]

Anyone going to opening weekend at Revy this weekend? looks like the conditions will be pretty epic!

[Klazu]

Another great day on the Blackcomb mountain in Whistler yesterday. Partly sunny weather with temperatures few degrees below zero. Great snow from all the snowfall a week ago and the only downside was the strong wind that caused most alpine lifts to open only around noon.

With more snow in the horizon in the coming week, Whistler is looking to an excellent season. Also Vancouver's local mountains have received a nice amount of snow in the past few weeks and today's sunny weather should have drawn a crowd on them as well.

[MalcolmTucker]

These early dumps are a pleasure. Made maybe 10th chair at Lake Louise today and had fresh tracks until lunch time. An epic day. Only thing better would have been blue sky starting at 10 am! Would have made the bowls much more accessible. Still put in a valiant effort, but the trees were the place to be.

[fusili]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

These early dumps are a pleasure. Made maybe 10th chair at Lake Louise today and had fresh tracks until lunch time. An epic day. Only thing better would have been blue sky starting at 10 am! Would have made the bowls much more accessible. Still put in a valiant effort, but the trees were the place to be.

I went yesterday. It was epic. Reported 12cm overnight, but felt like more. Boot top powder all day. Paradise bowl and larch (lift line) were just incredible. Haven't seen that deep of powder this early on in a long time.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by fusili

I went yesterday. It was epic. Reported 12cm overnight, but felt like more. Boot top powder all day. Paradise bowl and larch (lift line) were just incredible. Haven't seen that deep of powder this early on in a long time.

Really hoping I can get out again before Christmas, Kicking Horse and Revy both have ridiculous amounts of snow already. Fernie is lagging pretty far behind already, really hope they get a big dump or two soon!

[MalcolmTucker]

Revy should be busy as it isn't cold soaked frozen.