Hit the highway from Vancouver to Calgary this winter
There’s a corner of this planet where deep powder skiing is the norm, goliath rocky peaks far outnumber the people exploring them and vast wilderness reigns supreme. It’s a place that should be on the bucket list of any skier that’s ever strapped a pair of wooden planks to their feet and slid downhill on slippery, frozen flakes. We’re talking about the expansive area west of Calgary, Alberta—western Canada.
Though its status as the epicenter of North American powder skiing is a tale as old as time, what’s not common knowledge is how incredibly easy it is to link the snow-loaded ski destinations that dot western Canada’s landscape. Thankfully, FREESKIER’s editors and contributors have spent countless days and weeks exploring the region in order to report back our findings to you.
Relying on our own past visits and the knowledge of lifelong locals, we’ve constructed the western Canadian skiing road trip of your dreams. The journey will take you from Vancouver to Calgary, stopping at six resorts along the way.
Grab your gear, get your friends together and start planning, there’s no better time than now to book that one-way flight to YVR.
WORDS • MATT COTÉ
You’ve heard about it for years: A humble town in the British Columbia Interior with quaint Victorian architecture and an alternative vibe that gets more annual precipitation than soggy Vancouver, all in the form of snow. Resting gently in the fold of the province’s inland temperate rainforest, Revelstoke’s hypnotizing wilds and cultural eclecticism have exploded onto the scene in the last decade, thanks to a soaring resort that’s broadcast the area’s insane snows and mind-bending terrain to the world. It has all the posture of Whistler, with a fraction of the frenzy. This is a real town, with real skiing and real people.
Revelstoke Mountain Resort first spun its lifts 11 years ago, bursting onto the scene with the longest vertical drop in North America: 5,620 feet. Its minimal lift system serves up massive amounts of terrain with a “get ’er done” ethos, where tree-trunk legs are prerequisite for those planning on skiing it. There’s no better testament than Kill the Banker—a 3,000-foot fall line cut directly below the gondola, taunting your stamina on the ride up before you even hit the snow.
Before you get antsy and burn all that vert, grab the Stoke Chair and chase the openings up high via a 10-minute bootpack. Head skier’s right from the Sub Peak (7,677 feet) to Separate Reality to get a feel for the fall line, then cycle back up when patrol cracks the rope for North Bowl. Take the traverse to Sweet Spot and feed into the freeriders’ amphitheater looming under the imposing face of Mount Mackenzie—there are chutes, pillows and cliffs everywhere. Memorize your next line, and spot the upper traverse over to Gracias Ridge; that rope’ll drop next. Be one of the first to dive into its old-growth cedar and hemlock, and the over-your-head blower will have you laughing at all the “mooks” who flew to Japan this winter.
Hopefully you packed pocket snacks, but if you didn’t, there’s a mid-station lodge to keep you fueled, or you can make the long trek to the bottom on, arguably, some of the continent’s mellowest groomers. The Rockford Grill or Mackenzie Common Tavern will get calories back into you quickly, washed down with local suds from Mt. Begbie Brewing Co.—named for the iconic, glaciated double peak across the valley.
You’ll likely spot a whirly bird flying in that direction. Revelstoke is the heli- and cat-skiing capital of the world, with over a dozen operations within an hour’s drive. You can pick your poison and head toward the Monashee or Selkirk Mountains, each outfit offering a slightly different variety of powder decadence. Or, try Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s own Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing, offering single or multi-day heli-skiing across 500,000 acres of terrain.
If you’re one of those holistic, self-propelled types, you’ll find yourself in good company. Gore-Tex is Revelstoke Armani. Rogers Pass is only 45 minutes away, a mecca of verticality since Swiss guides birthed North American mountaineering there in the late 1800s. Connaught Creek and the Asulkan Valley will have you earning it, rising upwards of 5,000 feet through the jungly valley into the jagged and icy upper reaches of Glacier National Park. If massive slogs aren’t your thing, though, you can keep it simpler in the slackcountry off of RMR. Aim for Montana Bowl, Kokanee Peak or Brown Shorts Couloir for bragging rights (and racing stripes).
Back in town, trade barbs about whose day was better at the Village Idiot Bar and Grill while you admire the 12-foot snowbanks and bustling town square, where Muck Boots and puffy jackets are the local uniform. Keep the party going at the Last Drop for live music, and then shift over to the Traverse if you want to go disco. Because, well, long live disco. Just remember, “last call, first chair.”
Revelstoke by the Numbers
Average Annual Snowfall: 413 inches
Total Skiable Acreage: 3,121 acres
Number of lifts: 5
Vertical Drop: 5,620 feet
