Revelstoke - February 3, 2012
With the large high-pressure ridge over Western Canada at the moment, the snowfall forecast has been looking very dry (probably the driest it’s been since we added the snowfall forecast map to our site). Although we love skiing Revelstoke Mountain Resort when it’s been puking snow, it’s also a spectacular spot for some bluebird turns.
If we look back a year ago, there is at least one key addition to this resort - the best on-hill coffee shop we’ve found: La Baguette, located at the base of the Gondola. They serve gourmet foods ranging from breakfast wraps to croissants for strength, and great coffee (49th parallel beans) - Absolutely delicious and highly recommended.
There has been an inversion over the past two days, which resulted in clouds lying in the valley as high as the top of the Revelation Gondola, but once you’re above that, it was bluebird with an amazing view across the valley and peaks poking up above the clouds.
The snow was great through Greely bowl, especially considering it had been a few days since the last snowfall, and there are still some fresh stashes to be found in the trees off the Ripper chair. There were several riders up on top of Mt. Mackenzie picking some rad lines down into the bowl. Lunch at Mackenzie Outpost is now La Baguette serving burgers fresh off the grill with great views and warm weather.
The sun came out strong on the south aspects heating up the trees and causing large chunks of snow to fall from the tree tops, making for somewhat hazardous late day glade skiing. On open south aspects it felt like spring skiing up top. Below the clouds, the temperature dropped enough that the snow remained grippy, with ‘hero’ snow on the groomers below. (Hero snow makes everyone feel like a good skier – it’s grippy and you can really lay your skis over.)
If you’re out at Revy in the next few days, stick to North facing aspects in the morning, or lower on the mountain if you’re looking for softer snow conditions, and ski the south facing aspects in the afternoon once the sun warms up the snow again. (Jalapeno in the morning is probably not a good idea.) If you're new to the mountain, be cautious in the glades until you get a feel for where things are. You can get yourself into some trouble if you're not careful (see the following picture) or feeling ambitious on taking a cliff entrance into North Bowl Revelstoke has plenty of options for gnarly, epic lines. Alternately, just go around to the gap in the fence-line, and you can get into North Bowl with much less excitement.
If you haven't been to Revy, we would highly recommend you take a trip out - from rolling groomers to glades, moguls, chutes and powder, this mountain has something for everyone. On a clear day, it's worth a hike up the sub-peak to get a view of Mt. Mackenzie, and the panoramic view across the valley. As an additional bonus, you can then access Greely Bowl.
We always have a good time at this mountain – it’s a blast! You can find a few more pictures of snow & sun in our photo gallery.
Thanks to Grant Horvath for providing us with some of the photos!