One of the greatest joys of being a skier is the ability to explore mountain ranges you’ve never been to before. Sometimes the only way to rediscover your home range is to branch out and get lost in a new, wild place. So myself, along with Adam Symonds and Jon Strickland, loaded up the Yurt on Wheels and drove 16 hours north to Nelson, British Columbia to ski the backcountry around Whitewater Resort.
The drive up was long and slow, as a storm system iced up roads from Missoula, Montana all the way to Nelson. We arrived at 1 a.m. and luckily, Whitewater Resort allows campers and RVs to park in their upper lot by the maintenance sheds. They even provide plug-ins! We were so stoked to not have seek out a place to sleep. Dead tired, we went right to bed and woke up early to meet Brad Steele and Andrew Creighton from BackcountrySkiingCanada.com. The guys were kind enough to show us the backcountry around their home resort, and I couldn’t wait to experience my first Canadian turns.
Backcountry terrain is vast in Canada, and Whitewater has it in spades. What’s great about this place, alongside the low-key vibe and small town flavor, is that the backcountry access is amazing. Lift-served “sidecountry” is extremely easy. You simply have to sign in with ski patrol at the base lodge and fill out a waiver before using the lifts to get the out-of-bounds goods. Once that was finished, our group rode the Silver King Chair to the top, where a skin track continued up to the ridge.
Brad and Andrew took us to a spot called Five Mile, in a canyon north of the resort. The terrain is treed and lower angle – an appropriate place to ski due to the high avalanche danger. The Canadian Avalanche Center issued a considerable danger rating because of a stout rain crust below a layer of hoar frost and new snow that fell overnight. With a conservative mindset, we skied down into Five Mile and skinned up through the trees on a west-facing slope. Visibility was low and the light flat. I longed to look out over the vast expanse of the Kootenay Mountains when we reached the top of the skin track below ominous-looking bowls and cliffs. But the lack of a view was forgotten as soon as I made my first turn.
The snow we white-knuckled the Yurt on Wheels through on the drive in was no longer a nuisance, but absolute heaven. As I made sweeping turns, bringing my ski tails around with ease, I could not help but smile. The powder was perfect, not too heavy and not too light. I never touched bottom (a good thing since that bottom was rain crust) and practically bounced through every turn. I leaned forward, letting the rocker tips of my Voile Chargers keep me afloat. We leapfrogged each other down the slope, taking photos and hollering as powder sprayed up over our waists. At the bottom, it was all high fives and snow-eating grins.
With no time to waste, we transitioned back to uphill mode and skinned the same up-track for another run. With the first run under our belts and knowing what to expect, the second run was even better as we opened up our speed and skied from top to bottom without stopping, choosing direct fall-lines to the flats below. We took four runs that day and returned to Whitewater by skinning back to the to of the boundary ridge. From there, a descent in the trees alongside a backcountry slide path called “Goat Slide” put us back into the resort.
That night Adam, Jonny, and I settled into the Yurt on Wheels as an arctic cold front swept through, bringing very cold temperatures. Regardless, we geared up for another day in the backcountry, meeting up with Brad at the Whitewater base lodge once again.
For something different, Brad took us to a backcountry run called Acidophilus: a north-facing, evergreen-filled slope that empties into lower Five Mile. But with the cold temps, we also suffered high winds, which destroyed the snowpack, leaving thick drifts and a crusty layer. Discouraged after slogging down through overly thick snow, we made the decision to skin back to Five Mile and check the slopes we skied before. The hope was that a different aspect would have been protected from the wind. Plus, Five Mile was so good the day before…
Bingo! The snow in Five Mile was not only unaffected by wind, but skied even better than the day before. The cold air turned the snow into an even lighter, fluffier consistency. It was blower pow. We milked every turn and our frozen feet were soon forgotten we as whooped through face shots and pole-clicked high fives at the bottom.
Back up for another run, we skied a bit more skier’s left in the trees, but ended up above some rock outcroppings. Left with two choices – a large gully to the left that looked dangerous given the avalanche conditions, and a smaller “pocket” to the right. Adam chose right and dropped the rocks to ski cut the slope. As soon as he landed, he triggered a small, class 1 slide. Fortunately, the slab didn’t break above him and he wasn’t carried far or even buried at all. Yet he still activated his airbag pack as a precaution. It was a wake-up call as to how sensitive the snowpack was at the time, and would dictate every decision me made on the trip moving forward.
After the slide, we skinned back to the Whitewater boundary ridge and skied back to the warm confines of the lodge for beers and excellent food at Fresh Tracks Cafe and Coal Oil Johnny’s Pub.
If You Go: Whitewater Resort has some of the best backcountry-skiing access I’ve ever seen. The resort is located in the Selkirk Mountain of British Columbia and is located at 5,333 feet. Backcountry skiers must sign waivers and check in with ski patrol before leaving the resort boundary. Single lift ride tickets to reach backcountry access points are $21. Full day passes cost $69. For more information, visit skiwhitewater.com
For a massive amount of information about ski touring in British Columbia, visit our friends at BackcountrySkiingCanada.com. They have vast knowledge about backcountry routes in Canada and the website has photos, info, maps, and tour descriptions, plus current conditions, trip reports, gear reviews and more.