Featured Image: Courtesy of Whitewater Ski Resort
Whitewater Ski Resort has long been known as a haven for skiers looking for an excellent resort experience that is off the beaten path. While they pride themselves on promoting an incredibly welcoming and friendly atmosphere, the terrain is truly what will put a smile on any pow-hunting skier’s face. Even though it seemed like those terrain options couldn’t get any better, they just did. The resort recently announced a terrain expansion that will add 60 acres of freeride inbounds terrain to the current offerings.
The new area, called Goat’s Slide terrain, has long been a backcountry area of interest for locals, as well as for visitors with a keen eye. Goat’s Slide will be accessible via the new Raven Chairlift, which was added to the resort last winter. The expansions in this area have opened up a whole new side of Whitewater, as the Raven Chairlift added 123 skiable acres and 14 new trails. While most of the terrain nearby remains skiable to a variety of abilities, this new Goat’s Slide terrain is going to be an excellent zone for advanced riders to find a unique selection of lines that blend steep and deep with bouncy and playful.
Whitewater sits on Canada’s Powder Highway, a route that runs through the Kootenay Rockies in British Columbia and passes by eight ski areas. The highway’s name tells no lies, as Whitewater alone sees over 480 inches of snowfall in an average year. That’s over 40 feet, or 12.2 meters if we’re speaking Canadian. The bountiful offerings brought down by Ullr transform this resort into one of the best powder destinations in the world.
Over the decades, a passionate following of skiers has amassed in the nearby town of Nelson, BC. These rippers who call Whitewater home have been groomed by its incredible terrain over the years, and it has produced some true freeride stallions, one of which is none other than Sam Kuch. Dubbed “Whitewater’s Renaissance Man” by a FREESKIER Athlete Profile back in 2019, Kuch’s mind-blowing riding can likely be attributed in large part to his days spent skiing outside of Nelson.
As author and ski film director, Scott Gaffney put it in the aforementioned article, “The word ‘resort’ seems a bit of a misnomer, for Whitewater harkens back to simpler times when ski areas were all about the skiing—not overpriced burgers and spa packages… Three buildings comprise the entire base area and the same number of chairlifts service the entirety of Whitewater’s 1,184 acres. And what terrain it is: tight trees, pillows, open fields with dongers and poppers everywhere, a thousand and one tranny snipes and short hikes or tours that access a bevy of steeps, cliff zones, remote bowls and high alpine faces.”
If that doesn’t sound like fun, I just don’t know what does. And with plenty of poppers, tree lines and mini-golf-type cliffs and features abound, the new Goat’s Slide terrain will add even more high-caliber proving grounds to Whitewater’s inbounds offerings.
There are bound to be backcountry enthusiasts who find this news unsettling. It’s true; this expansion does take a beloved touring zone and turn it into resort-operated territory. However, when viewed from a big-picture lens, the expansion makes sense. As Whitewater explained, the new Raven Chairlift led to increased traffic in this zone, which had already been growing in popularity over the last five years. This amount of skiing led to often dangerous circumstances. With resort-monitored avalanche mitigation work, skiers can get more laps in without the same fear of backcountry avalanche conditions.
“This ambitious addition will enhance guests’ winter experience by providing new opportunities for adventure on the slopes,” said the resort in a recent press release. “Offering thrilling new terrain that complements the resort’s existing runs, this addition not only adds a new dimension to the mountain but also cements Whitewater’s place as a premiere destination for winter sports enthusiasts.”
As we begin to close in on winter 2024/25, this new expansion has us nothing short of fired up. Change and growth is inevitable for any successful ski area. The question becomes can you manage that change well? Whitewater has shown that they are able to do just that, and will continue to grow with respect to the community and visitors that call this freeski haven their home.
Photo: Dylan Robinson | Skier: Ben Woodward
