British Columbia

New resort located within the interior of British Columbia changes perceptions of lift served heaven-on-earth.

The name of this resort really should be changed to Revelstoked!  With the longest vertical in North America and some of the deepest snow annually, this place is unreal.  This is the first season of operation for the new resort and they are coming out of the gate at full speed.  It takes less than 20 minutes to get from the base area to the top of the quad but almost an hour to get down.  I was there on the busiest day of their season (about 3,500 people) and waited no more than 10-15 minutes in any lift line.  Some times I wished the lines took a bit longer so my legs could rest but that's a personal problem.This season is rated as below average for snowpack in Revelstoke.  After driving around town and seeing almost half of the parking spots filled with snow piles, I'm a bit concerned what a big snow year would be like.  Rumor has it that people in town were having to crawl out of their second story windows last year because the snow was so deep and they only considered it slightly higher than average!  Imagine what the mountain must have been like…

The plans for the resort are pretty impressive.  There will be two, if not three, new lifts added to the mix for next year.  One of these will be serving an amazing bowl and have a vertical rise of over 2,900 feet.  I’ve heard that  makes it longer than any other lift in BC.  There is currently no lodging at the base, but that is being dealt with as a full on base area village is under construction.  You can find several cool B&Bs in town as well as a handful of hotels and motels.  The biggest issue with lodging at the moment is that you have to fight the slednecks and heli-brats for bed space.Be sure to check out the sweet 5 pin bowling alley in town after a day of ripping up the mountain.  The place is called “The Cabin” and the plans are to transform part of the building into an indoor skate park soon.  The owners are also planning on adding a snow and skateboard shop to the mix along with revamping the sweet bar.  Bowling, skating, beers, what more could you ask for?To sum up this place I tell people that most resorts’ trail maps open horizontally but Revelstoke’s opens vertically because it’s that big.  See for yourself at http://www.revelstokemountainresort.com/ and make sure to start planning your trip soon.