2022/23 BC Southern Interior

[DanoT]

Cross post from the Rockies thread, but figured I’d try here too.

Looking to head north to ski Friday through Monday (3/17-3/20). Can anybody help steer me towards decent snow? Currently looking at KH, Revy and Fernie. Would consider Red and WH20too. Anybody have boots on the ground conditions update to share for any or all of the above locations?

It is Spring Break in most B.C. school districts right now. Some Vancouver districts are off this week and next. Kamloops is off next week and the week after, not sure about elsewhere in B.C. It will be a bit busier at most B.C. resorts until late March, then its a ghost town in ski country until early April when all the B.C. Interior resorts close for lack of people, not lack of snow.

[nickinbc]

"A B.C. village neighbouring Jasper National Park has decided to build its own ski hill as a provincially approved project remains stalled.

The village of Valemount hopes that its ski hill will attract Edmonton tourists to the tiny community of 1,000 residents as the Valemount Glacier Destination (VGD) project, which was approved by the B.C government in 2017, faces challenges related to inflation, construction costs and pandemic supply chain disruptions.

The proposed resort would be located in the Premier Range of the Cariboo Mountains, west of the village.

Lack of investment into the VGD project is proving to be a significant issue, according to village Mayor Owen Torgerson. "

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...ayed-1.6779763

What a surprise.

[kootenayskier]

Cross post from the Rockies thread, but figured I’d try here too.

Looking to head north to ski Friday through Monday (3/17-3/20). Can anybody help steer me towards decent snow? Currently looking at KH, Revy and Fernie. Would consider Red and WH20too. Anybody have boots on the ground conditions update to share for any or all of the above locations?

Coverage is as good as it gets at Red right now. Good snow quality on the upper 2/3rds of the mountain, firm groomers on the lower 1/3rd, no crowds, just endless great skiing with mixed sun and cloud forecast through the weekend.

[bourbonisgood]

Coverage is as good as it gets at Red right now. Good snow quality on the upper 2/3rds of the mountain, firm groomers on the lower 1/3rd, no crowds, just endless great skiing with mixed sun and cloud forecast through the weekend.

Great to hear! Planning to ski red tomorrow on our way through to revy/KH. Come make some laps with us tomorrow if you’re around!

[kootenayskier]

Sunshine and long Spring days.

[Skiwurrel]

There's gonna be a lil freeride bbq/beer pit just out of bounds at trash chutes, Whitewater saturday april 1st. Just bootpacking lines and sending/partying with a good group. PM me if you'd like to check it out or just show up and find us!

[nickinbc]

RMR had a public information session today. Showed plans for a new lift which they said they hope to start building summer 2024. Would run from where the Last Spike meets Devil's Club below the Stoke and up to the Subpeak. Inbounds would be extended into south bowl and catchers mitt. (This is a change from previous plans to put a lift up North Bowl). There is a photo of the display board in the Revelstoke Revew's report https://www.revelstokereview.com/new...ation-session/

If it is built it will be interesting to see if they can get it open on powder mornings (when the area at the top of the new lift is usually avalanche closed). Of course patrollers would't need to bootpack to the subpeak any more and maybe increased skier compaction on the south slopes will reduce the hazard.

[DanoT]

RMR had a public information session today. Showed plans for a new lift which they said they hope to start building summer 2024. Would run from where the Last Spike meets Devil's Club below the Stoke and up to the Subpeak. Inbounds would be extended into south bowl and catchers mitt. (This is a change from previous plans to put a lift up North Bowl). There is a photo of the display board in the Revelstoke Revew's report https://www.revelstokereview.com/new...ation-session/

If it is built it will be interesting to see if they can get it open on powder mornings (when the area at the top of the new lift is usually avalanche closed). Of course patrollers would't need to bootpack to the subpeak any more and maybe increased skier compaction on the south slopes will reduce the hazard.

Reliable winter conditions in B.C. from mid Dec to mid March starts at around 4,000ft. asl. The base of the Stoke Chair is at 5,300ft. asl, so the base of the new chair needs to be 1000 to 1,500ft. below the Stoke Chair base. This is important to get right this time as the original RMR developers did not account for the mountain's extremely low base elevation when installing the lift system.

[teamdirt]

Reliable winter conditions in B.C. from mid Dec to mid March starts at around 4,000ft. asl. The base of the Stoke Chair is at 5,300ft. asl, so the base of the new chair needs to be 1000 to 1,500ft. below the Stoke Chair base. This is important to get right this time as the original RMR developers did not account for the mountain's extremely low base elevation when installing the lift system.

I think we r at 3 different owners at this point….

[nickinbc]

Reliable winter conditions in B.C. from mid Dec to mid March starts at around 4,000ft. asl. The base of the Stoke Chair is at 5,300ft. asl, so the base of the new chair needs to be 1000 to 1,500ft. below the Stoke Chair base. This is important to get right this time as the original RMR developers did not account for the mountain's extremely low base elevation when installing the lift system.

From a selfish perspective this lift (or the previous alternative of one up north bowl) don't do anything for me - except ensure that terrain I ski will get skied out quicker. I suppose it will be appreciated by the skiers a generation or more younger than me who struggle with the bootpack up to the subpeak (or even the lemming line)

What RMR really needs is some nice long intermediate runs, preferably not low and west facing - unfortunately for them they chose to develop a mountain that lacks terrain that offers that. It already has plenty of skiers who like steeps and trees but could really benefit from something to attract the sort of skier who will show up when there isn't a fresh dump and spend money eating on the hill and staying in the hotels. The 1000' of Pitch Black, Snow Rodeo and Devil's Club below the level of the Stoke don't fit that bill (nor does Catcher's Mitt though I suppose they could wind an intermediate run down South Bowl).

[paulster2626]

From a selfish perspective this lift (or the previous alternative of one up north bowl) don't do anything for me - except ensure that terrain I ski will get skied out quicker. I suppose it will be appreciated by the skiers a generation or more younger than me who struggle with the bootpack up to the subpeak (or even the lemming line)

What RMR really needs is some nice long intermediate runs, preferably not low and west facing - unfortunately for them they chose to develop a mountain that lacks terrain that offers that. It already has plenty of skiers who like steeps and trees but could really benefit from something to attract the sort of skier who will show up when there isn't a fresh dump and spend money eating on the hill and staying in the hotels. The 1000' of Pitch Black, Snow Rodeo and Devil's Club below the level of the Stoke don't fit that bill (nor does Catcher's Mitt though I suppose they could wind an intermediate run down South Bowl).

I'm a lame-o touron who struggles with the subpeak bootpack and I agree 100% with this. If tracking-out the North Bowl is the plan, then just run a lift right in there and eliminate the constant traversing/cat tracks. They can still open the new terrain with this approach. Ah well, I'm sure it was talked about and they have their reasons.

[nickinbc]

I suspect the reason they are proposing this lift instead of one up the North Bowl is the latter would be closed on some of the busiest days of the season when nothing above Sweet Spot (and sometimes not even Three Bears) opens because of avalanche hazard. Though I suppose they could put the base station somewhere they could open a safe route to just to allow a return to southside if the top was over the ridge. That would let the people on the lift enjoy a good look at the terrain they weren't allowed to ski

[DanoT]

There is a reason that the deep pocketed Nippon Cable bought Tod Mtn out of receivership in 1992 and turned it into Sun Peaks when they could have been the ones developing Revy or Kicking Horse but chose not to: SP has a ton of intermediate terrain while RMR and KH have very little to offer intermediates. The vast majority of the skiing public are intermediates and it is families and grand parents with at least one family member an intermediates. Families buy ski country real estate while the 20 and 30 y.o. mostly guys who frequent RMR do not.

While RMR can address the mountain's low elevation with an improved lift system and transportation improvements can somewhat address RMR's remoteness, they are forever stuck with not enough suitable terrain for most skiers and will remain a niche resort who shares skier visits with the nearby (for western Canada) other black diamond niche resort, KH.

[paulster2626]

There is a reason that the deep pocketed Nippon Cable bought Tod Mtn out of receivership in 1992 and turned it into Sun Peaks when they could have been the ones developing Revy or Kicking Horse but chose not to: SP has a ton of intermediate terrain while RMR and KH have very little to offer intermediates. The vast majority of the skiing public are intermediates and it is families and grand parents with at least one family member an intermediates. Families buy ski country real estate while the 20 and 30 y.o. mostly guys who frequent RMR do not.

While RMR can address the mountain's low elevation with an improved lift system and transportation improvements can somewhat address RMR's remoteness, they are forever stuck with not enough suitable terrain for most skiers and will remain a niche resort who shares skier visits with the nearby (for western Canada) other black diamond niche resort, KH.

Plus, who doesn't want to put back a few and talk about skiing the day's blues with Nancy Greene! Us friends call her 'Nance.'

[skisurfmirth]

There is a reason that the deep pocketed Nippon Cable bought Tod Mtn out of receivership in 1992 and turned it into Sun Peaks when they could have been the ones developing Revy or Kicking Horse but chose not to: SP has a ton of intermediate terrain while RMR and KH have very little to offer intermediates. The vast majority of the skiing public are intermediates and it is families and grand parents with at least one family member an intermediates. Families buy ski country real estate while the 20 and 30 y.o. mostly guys who frequent RMR do not.

While RMR can address the mountain's low elevation with an improved lift system and transportation improvements can somewhat address RMR's remoteness, they are forever stuck with not enough suitable terrain for most skiers and will remain a niche resort who shares skier visits with the nearby (for western Canada) other black diamond niche resort, KH.

I’d argue that KH has plenty of good intermediate terrain that they inherited from White Tooth. Issue is the lack of funding for summer brushing, winter grooming, snow making and needing to replace the OG white tooth double chair that is the quickest access to that terrain.

[AlexC]

There is a reason that the deep pocketed Nippon Cable bought Tod Mtn out of receivership in 1992 and turned it into Sun Peaks when they could have been the ones developing Revy or Kicking Horse but chose not to: SP has a ton of intermediate terrain while RMR and KH have very little to offer intermediates. The vast majority of the skiing public are intermediates and it is families and grand parents with at least one family member an intermediates. Families buy ski country real estate while the 20 and 30 y.o. mostly guys who frequent RMR do not.

While RMR can address the mountain's low elevation with an improved lift system and transportation improvements can somewhat address RMR's remoteness, they are forever stuck with not enough suitable terrain for most skiers and will remain a niche resort who shares skier visits with the nearby (for western Canada) other black diamond niche resort, KH.

When was the last time you were in Revelstoke? Have you seen the amount of development here the last 5-10 years, and what's planned for the next decade? Have you taken a look at the price of real estate? You always post like RMR is doomed to fail, when the facts on the ground show that it's proving to be quite successful.

As for the new lift, it's nice to see, but doesn't really do anything for me either. I can see why they chose it over the north bowl lift, and that's because it allows them to expand the terrain further south and, as a die benefit, will make opening north bowl faster on powder days. It will also link into the future lifts from the base and above mid-mountain, providing a second access from the base and better access to the best intermediate terrain on the mountain.

[DanoT]

The last time I was at RMR was about 5 years ago and I recall some locals talking about how tourists were lining up for the very popular summer Mountain Coaster, and joking about how the Mountain Coaster was subsidizing winter operations.

[nortonwhis]

When was the last time you were in Revelstoke? Have you seen the amount of development here the last 5-10 years, and what's planned for the next decade? Have you taken a look at the price of real estate? You always post like RMR is doomed to fail, when the facts on the ground show that it's proving to be quite successful.

As for the new lift, it's nice to see, but doesn't really do anything for me either. I can see why they chose it over the north bowl lift, and that's because it allows them to expand the terrain further south and, as a die benefit, will make opening north bowl faster on powder days. It will also link into the future lifts from the base and above mid-mountain, providing a second access from the base and better access to the best intermediate terrain on the mountain.

Literally anywhere other than Sun Peaks sucks if you are DanoT. Hearing him rag on Whistler in the Whistler thread is both hilarious and infuriating in equal measures. "Make sure you buy a Whistler Blackcomb branded garbage bag to protect you from the non stop rain et al". Ill take spines and sick inbounds alpine terrain with a couple of days of rain here and there over blue groomers any fucking day.

[paulster2626]

Sun Peaks is a place I would want to go and ski with my 73 year old dad and my 10 and 8 year old kids. It has it's place in the ski resort realm, no question. Amazing for families - well designed village, and a LOT of easy to medium terrain to explore. But when it's time for me and my buddy to go and rip, we're not going there.

Ironically considering the DanoT fandom, the worst day I've ever experienced skiing was at Sun Peaks. We rolled in on a Sunday, and at a welcome reception with Nance and Al (free wine, of course), they explained how it rained all day and was "probably the worst skiing we've ever experienced here, and if the weather reports are accurate, tomorrow will be worse."
Well, it was worse. Temps dropped overnight and the next day was the ICIEST ice I've ever tried to change directions on skis. And I am from the east! We did one top-to-bottom and said screw it lets go in for a hot chocolate or coffee or something and hope things soften up. Came back out to try again and the lifts are not spinning - place is closed down for the day. Apparently there were too many people wiping out and hurting themselves that patrol couldn't keep up. The whole vacation was in jeopardy - the Paulster was losing it! "This place needs a foot of snow or something, this is nuts" I recall saying.
Well, anyway, around noon it starts snowing. 2pm it's dumping. Mood getting better. Overnight - 18" and bluebird the next morning. My tits were jacked!! We were on 2nd chair - an epic first run underneath with people cheering from above, I'll never forget it. Rest of the week was awesome. I've got pics on a broken laptop somewhere around here.

[grinch]

He's definitely missing something but im quite ok with that. The nice thing about rmr is fresh is ez to find bell to bell. Just busy enough to work but not busy enough to be a PITA. Roll on at 10am for no line up and get 50k ft. 10 minutes into town for a $20 chicken and ribs dinner w a $7 bottle o suds

Sent from my SM-A536W using TGR Forums mobile app

[LeeLau]

Revy groomers are underrated. Lack of green and blue trails my ass. Today at 1pm.

I owned a place slopeside in Sunpeaks at Trails Edge for 4 years. SP is nice but it doesn't compare terrain wise to Whis/ RMR or KH. DanoT is on crack

Actually what am I saying.....everyone go to SunPeaks!!! Kampoops is the best!

[teamdirt]

Golden is part of the Rockies which generally sucks…good reason to not come here. Stay west of the facet please!

[jono]

Revy groomers are underrated. Lack of green and blue trails my ass. Today at 1pm.

I owned a place slopeside in Sunpeaks at Trails Edge for 4 years. SP is nice but it doesn't compare terrain wise to Whis/ RMR or KH. DanoT is on crack

Actually what am I saying.....everyone go to SunPeaks!!! Kampoops is the best!

This is absolute fact. Mind you, the white board hasn't changed since it was posted last week, but the groomers and eventually some bumps were really good places to spend a day with minimal pow. Airshow on a dark blue background didn't hurt, either.

You guys up again tomorrow? My wife and I are slightly hobbled ATM, but we're going to take another shot at finding something in that North bowl. (Green coat/purple pants, can't miss me.)

[LeeLau]

This is absolute fact.

You guys up again tomorrow? My wife and I are slightly hobbled ATM, but we're going to take another shot at finding something in that North bowl. (Green coat/purple pants, can't miss me.)

Heading into Esplanades for a week tomorrow. Forecast looks cold and snowy for Sunday though!

[jono]

Forecast looks cold and snowy for Sunday though!

This was ensured when we made commitments to be home by Sunday. RMR: you're welcome.

ETA: North bowl was not too corally.