Downtown Revelstoke
Winter hasn’t really kicked in here in the Southern Kootenays. I was riding my bike in Rossland on Friday, the first time I can recall riding in December. But the storms have arrived a little further North, so after an evening of Backyard Booty in Nelson, Andrea and I followed rumours of a dump to Revelstoke. On Saturday, after a long and treacheous drive, 25cm of new snow was slabbing off easily and it was dumping heavily at Rogers Pass, so we took the well travelled path up to Ursus Trees, just to check out the conditions. The coverage was still very thin down low, with inpenetrable Alder in the valleys. The crusty grabby surface of the old snow made for challenging skiing, but it was good to stretch the legs, break a bit of trail, and feel out the new boots. Descending the summer trail to the valley bottom was as fast and committing as ever. With 65cm of new snow over the last few days and more snow in the forecast, I’ll ceratinly be heading back to the Pass as soon as the Avy danger and weather allow getting up into the Alpine.
Revelstoke Resort – Spectacular in the sun.
After enjoying the hospitality of friends in Revelstoke, we skied the Resort on Sunday. Unexpectedly joining up with Jeff and Steve from Rossland, we charged around in 15 to 30 cm of silky new snow on a suprisingly good base. There were ceratinly a few early season obsticals to negotiate, but it was real powder skiing, and we were ripping through the trees, the chutes into North Bowl, and even a couple of runs all the way to the base. It cleared a little in the afternoon for some views, but our legs were done, and a long drive awaited.
