Revelstoked

Written by Adam

Sunday, 27 December 2009

It’s likely that December 2009 will go down as having some of the worst conditions of the past 10 years of Mt. Baker’s history. Rain at the end of November, followed by almost two weeks of arctic outflows, turned the ski area and nearby backcountry into an ice cube. When precipitation finally returned, it was rain. We were already a month into our season and the tension along Highway 542 was running high. Where was our powder? One day, Torkel Karoliussen and Mikael Pilstrand, two extremo Scandalnavians on a PNW-turned-B.C. roadtrip, showed up at my door in Glacier with tales of an epic few days in Revelstoke. They stayed at Baker for less than 20 hours before heading going back to the goods in B.C. The pictures they had were enough to convince Grant Gunderson, Rene Crawshaw, Zack Giffin, Dustin Geesaman and I to pull together a last-minute trip together, and a few phone calls and about six hours of driving later we were checking into our first-class condominiums at the Nelsen Lodge in Revelstoke, a whopping 100 feet from the gondola. In the few years it’s been around, Revelstoke Mountain Resort has often been touted as the “next big thing” in Canadian skiing. I was wary of the hype surrounding the place, but it only took me a few minutes to realize that everything I had heard was true. RMR boasts nearly 5800 vertical feet of lift-serviced terrain, not to mention vast cat and heli skiing potential. If that’s not enough, the surrounding mountains offer nearly unlimited sled and touring possibilities as well. We hooked up with Chris Rubens who showed us some little secret zones. As usual, having a local showing you the goods is the most efficient way to get things done. Here’s Chris getting it done in a pillow zone somewhere below North Bowl. Chris continuing to get after it in a cliff band somewhere inbounds. There are little (and not-so-little) nooks and crannies of amazing terrain everywhere you look. Although a Baker local, Rene Crawshaw has spent enough time cruising around RMR to know a secret or two as well, so when Chris had to get back to work we just followed Rene. It turns out that the entire town must’ve had the same idea one morning because everyone was behind us. Once we got to the top, the crowds disappeared. Zack Giffin and I didn’t mind the breathing room. Grant Gunderson is used to full-contact photography and powder-frenzy mornings, so having some space was probably pretty refreshing for him, too. There is crazy terrain everywhere. This line right off the top was begging to be shredded. I would bet that if this was in Whistler or anywhere else it would have been hit immediately, but here it is a few days after the last snowfall and… nothing. We had every intention of getting that line ourselves but flat light and time conspired against us. Even so, we were more than satisfied with our lines. There were some amazing sunsets while we were there and after a lap or two for ourselves we skinned back up to work the evening light. Given how horrible the conditions were when we left Mt. Baker, we were extremely fortunate and grateful for the hospitality offered by Revelstoke Mountain Resort. We will be back, but next time we might bring a bigger vehicle.