Whilst a great deal of the enjoyment of skiing in Revelstoke is telling other ski afficionados that you’ve been there and basking in their admiration, Revelstoke is genuinely a skier’s paradise. Revelstoke Mountain Resort is undergoing a huge program of development to turn it into one of North America’s largest resorts, but for the moment it’s still fairly quiet due to its isolation.
What’s the reason for the faith that the developers are showing in this 15 year, $1bn project? Well, Stokey is sited on Mount Mackenzie, and already offers the greatest vertical drop (1845m) and the longest vertical descent of any North American resort. When completed the resort will be 10000 acres (40 square km) which will make it the largest in North America. And here’s the main point – the peak receives a stupendous 12m of snow a year, and given the altitude and location this will be a consistent quality snow rather than the feast-or-famine of the West Coast’s snow catching resorts.
Image courtesy of www.revelstokemountainresort.com
The terrain and abundance of snow lends itself to amazing off piste potential, so for the fat-walleted amongst us Revelstoke offers cat-skiing and heli-skiing. There’s plenty of off piste accessible from the lifts (even more with backcountry kit) for the rest of us plebs, but be careful.
Don’t expect wild après ski here (this is North America and you have to drive everywhere) or pretty old architecture. Do expect incredible skiing and lots of snow. Go before everyone else does.