Revelstoke Mountain Resort Review

Overall Quality Points: 88.5

Stats
Vertical: 1713m (5620ft)
Skiable Acres: 3121
Highest elevation 2225m (7300ft)
Runs: 59
Inbound Chutes: 15
Avg Snowfall Base: * can't find anywhere!!
Avg Snofall Alpine: 1200cm unreliable source
Lifts: 4 total -  2 High Speed 8-person Gondolas,  2- high speed quads
Ticket Price: $76 Adult full day, $1049 Adult season
Time Driving to hill: 5min 

The score is based on these quality points out of 10.

Terrain: 9.5 - All around my kind of mountain. Lots of steeps, opened up gladed tree'd areas. Some minor traverses at the bottom.
Snow Pack: 8.0 - I really don't know what the overall base snow level is. I couldn't find this information anywhere, other than the current base (183cm) which isn't that impressive. Either they are trying to hide the lower elevation snow levels or the don't measure it. The alpine gets tons! (1200cm) but I don't know how reliable that is.
Snow Management: 8.5 - Mostly left open, steep enough where they don't need groomers on every run.
Lift Access: 9.0 - This hill does it right. All high speed, gondolas and quad chairs. No wasted time, just straight up efficient. The break in the middle of the Gondola, where you have to get off and then wait in line for the second component is the only downside.
Day Lodge & Amenities: 9.0 - Great lodge at the base with a couple fancy bars and restaurants, a mid mountain lodge with bar and a heating room at the top. An easy going pub at the bottom would be a nice addition.
Cross Country Trails:  7.0 - No xc at Revelstoke mountain resort but 7km outside of town there are 26km of trails.
Ticket Price: 9.5 - $76 Adult full day, $1049 Adult season
Distance to town: 10.0 - 2km. It doesn't get much better than this. You could walk to town if you needed!
Quality of Town: 9.5 - It is a quaint mountain town. Small main street with shops on both sides. No malls or big block shopping centers.
Accomodation: 7.5 - It is hard to find a place to stay.  There are hotels and other places but they get booked up quick! Needs a few more options.

Overall: 88.5

Top of the mountain 

Open glades in the north bowl

M id-mountain lodge! Yes, this is a waitress serving beer on the  deck.

Sun Peaks Resort Review

Stats:

Vertical: 882m (2894ft)
Skiable Acres: 3678
Highest elevation 2152m (7060ft)
Runs: 124
Inbound Chutes: 13 (glades)
Avg Snowfall Base:
Avg Snofall Alpine: 197cm
Lifts: 7 - 3 high speed quads, 3 fixed quads and t-bar
Cross Country Trails: 30km groomed
Time Driving to hill: 25 minutes (14km)
The score is based on these quality points out of 10.

Terrain:  6.0 - I originally thought I would give it sub par, a 5 or less, but I had a look at the map again and decided that it was larger than I thought. There is time to get lost on the hill and many secret pockets to explore. The downfall is that 60-70% of the hill is too damn flat (for my liking) there are many long traverses to just waste time riding out. 

Snow Pack: 5.0 - Yearly averages are in the Sub 150cm range. There website only states annual accumulated snowfall (of 559cm) and doesn't even post avg base level.  This year was an anomaly because they already had 150cm by late December. On the lower hill there are many bushes, logs and stumps showing through on the open runs. Ideally these would become fluffy pillows to drop off, but there is not enough snow for that. 

Snow Management: 4.0 - This low score to me means that there is LOTS of management; groomers on every run. Everything is groomed flat and that is needed due to the pancake status of the hill. 

Lift Access: 6.5 - A variety of lifts ranging from low speed to high speed. One large downfall was the lowest lift (Burfield) took 24minutes from bottom to top! This was 2.5x what I expect a lift to take low OR high speed. It was windy and cold and took too long to get another run in at the end of the day. 

Day Lodge & Amenities: 8.5 - This size of the village is huge! There are tons of coffee shops, pubs and restaurants around the area. The options are endless.
Cross country Trails:  7.5 - 30km of groomed trails around the Morrisey ridge loop with some decent hills to boot.
Ticket Price: 7.5 - $76 Adult full day, $1099 Adult season.
Distance to Town: 6.5 - It is 58km winding road that takes around 1hr to drive the distance. I gave an extra 1.5 bonus point because Sun Peaks is now a municipality itself!
Quality of town: 6.0 - I particularly like small valley towns and neither the Sun Peaks municipality or the city of Kamloops fills this void. They both have everything a person would need, but the vibe isn't quite there for me. Good for families and small groups!
Accomodation: 8.0 - The resort and surrounding town of Sun Peaks has plenty of places to sleep including an on-hill hostel! Kamloops has everything you would need in price range for sleeping.

Overall: 65.5 points

 

 

 

 

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Review

Stats
Vertical: 1260m (4133ft)
Skiable Acres: 2800
Highest elevation 2450m (8033ft)
Runs: 120
Inbound Chutes: 85
Avg Snowfall Base: 252cm
Avg Snofall Alpine: 650cm
Lifts: 4 total - High Speed 8-person Gondola,  2 fixed grip quads, and a 2-person old chair.
Ticket Price: $83.75 Adult Day, $1399 Adult season pass.
Time Driving to hill: 25 minutes (14km)

The score is based on these quality points out of 10.

Terrain: 8.0 - Very steep and lots of open chute areas to really let loose. Up to 10km long trail from top to bottom gives a good workout for circuits of the gondola. The bottom is quite flat with a long winding traverse/trail to get down to the bottom.

Snow Pack: 8.0 - Decent with an average consistent base level covering up everything. There are almost two different mountains here with snow levels. The upper bowls get almost 3x the amount the lower flats get.

Snow Management: 7.0 - Many open glades are left raw and open, the lower mountain has too many groomer for my liking, but with the flat terrain there is nothing they can do.

Lift Access: 6.5 - The high speed 8-person gondola saves this mountain. It is only 12 minutes and reaches the full vertical of the mtn of 1260m. The problem is that you need to ride the slow fixed-gear quad if you want to stay in the powder at the top. Or else you have to make your way down to the gondola every time.

Day Lodge & Amenities: 8.0 - It has everything that you would want, a comfortable day lodge lunch area, nice washrooms, a ski gear shop, a few restaurant/pubs with indoor and outdoor seating. 

Cross Country Trails: 9.0 - Excellent groomed trails just past the base of the resort. Groomed daily with a new stand alone xc lodge for warming up in. 

Ticket Price: 6.0 - Quite pricy for my liking ($83.75) for a day pass, but lots of good terrain opened up. XC skiing was ($10) day pass, in my mind worth it due to the amenities at trails. 

Distance to Town: 7.0 - A bit of a hill climb (14km) up to the base of the hill, with a single lane bridge over the Columbia river slowing things down if there is lots of traffic. 

Quality of Town: 7.0 - The old downtown is cozy an cute with a multiple of ski-shops, coffee shops and bars/restaurants. The town is split by two large highways that creates a big divide in town. 

Accomodation: 7.0 - There are a new cabins on-mountain or above the pubs and bars, a very affordable 

Overall: 73.5

View of the hill from the bottom

 

 

Cross Country ski lodge

Alpine and Nordic

This weekend, after the end of the world a full week of work, I will be spending few days in the sub-alpine at Mount Washington Alpine Resort.  Time for some altitude training and to tune up my skills before I head with my wonderful wife to the alpine and nordic skiing wonderland of the Interior BC.  I'm only joking about the altitude training, 12+days are needed at 1500m+ to have significant physiological effect.

 I have been getting very excited for xc skiing by following Devon Kershaw the past few years as he has climbed through the ranks. Please watch the video below... just an amazing sprint finish.

I have pieced together a set of skate skis, boots, and poles just last year but was unable to get out on them due to my commitment to another endurance sport we will not speak about. To tell you the truth, I'm more excited to get on the groomed xc track than the slopes this winter. I don't know why I would rather propel myself on the flats vs. dropping chutes and open glades with my snowboard. Maybe I'm trying to get back to my Norwegian roots and get back to traditional forms.  Maybe I'm getting old and not such an adrenaline junkie anymore. Or maybe my tastes have changed.  More on this soon!