So; I've been skiing in Revelstoke since the 2010-2011 season. Probably half a dozen times every season.. And yes, it is a great mountain with great terrain, but thinking about it I've had just as much fun skiing at most of the interior BC ski resorts on a good day as I've had at Revelstoke... I actually miss skiing at the more laid back/less competitive resorts where you don't have to line up before 7:30 on a powder day to beat the crowds, and yes crowds are a real thing now as much as the hype and marketing will say otherwise.. on busy powder weekends, average morning line ups can be upwards of 20 minutes at the chairlift. But that's too be expected when you have an 8 person Gondola leading only to a Quad chair, with terrain below it marginal or unskiiable for half the season.
I've had a lot of fun days skiing at Revelstoke, but the world-wide hype for it I feel is exaggerated. Not to sound bitter as I still enjoy skiing there, but my personal observations that I feel go overlooked when it comes to how "awesome" it is here.
-Most vertical in north america, yet half of the vertical is marginal or unskiiable for half the ski season on average due to low elevation.
-Majority is SW aspect and impacted heavily by wind and sun.
-Lying about snowfall. The mountain claims up to to 14m of snow annually, our best season we saw 12.5 meters. On average we get around 11m of snow a year in the alpine... Half of that falling as rain on the lower 1/3 of the mountain.
-The phenomenal bowl skiing... much you have to hike into or hike out of...
-Terrain funnels that force the majority of skiers from the big terrain into some pretty tight awful places once they get skied out.
-Big line ups and early line ups on powder days.
-Terrain gets skied out very quickly now as it's busy and a lot talented riders on the mountain will see most of the mountain skied out by early afternoon unless you're hiking.
-Very little on mountain facilities and infrastructure
-Very little terrain for beginners and intermediates... much of it is cat tracks or on the lower mountain.
-Some of the glading been great while some has have actually destroyed some of the fun terrain that once existed on the mountain... Such as Jalapeno before they clearcut it, Stop at the road glades before they carved a cat track through it, the terrain park which ended up exposing a lovely gladed area to the wind and no longer holds the snow as it once did.
-Almost no gladed terrain on the lower 2/3rds of the mountain aside from a few places.
-For half the season you're pretty much just skiing two chairs and 1/3 of the mountains vertical.
-Owners who don't care remotely about skiing and have little interest in real improvements on the mountain; all they do is spit propaganda.
That being said Revelstoke has a lot of un-tapped potential in terms of terrain... and it can certainly live up to the hype that's been built around it... For now, I see it much like Kicking Horse... a place that's fun on a good day with a lot of unrealized potential and a master plan that has barely moved an inch in the last decade... with some pretty awful owners.
The town itself is great, aside from people being pretty high on how awesome they are. And the high cost of accommodations.
**This thread was edited on Jan 1st 2018 at 10:14:38pm
I've had a lot of fun days skiing at Revelstoke, but the world-wide hype for it I feel is exaggerated. Not to sound bitter as I still enjoy skiing there, but my personal observations that I feel go overlooked when it comes to how "awesome" it is here.
-Most vertical in north america, yet half of the vertical is marginal or unskiiable for half the ski season on average due to low elevation.
-Majority is SW aspect and impacted heavily by wind and sun.
-Lying about snowfall. The mountain claims up to to 14m of snow annually, our best season we saw 12.5 meters. On average we get around 11m of snow a year in the alpine... Half of that falling as rain on the lower 1/3 of the mountain.
-The phenomenal bowl skiing... much you have to hike into or hike out of...
-Terrain funnels that force the majority of skiers from the big terrain into some pretty tight awful places once they get skied out.
-Big line ups and early line ups on powder days.
-Terrain gets skied out very quickly now as it's busy and a lot talented riders on the mountain will see most of the mountain skied out by early afternoon unless you're hiking.
-Very little on mountain facilities and infrastructure
-Very little terrain for beginners and intermediates... much of it is cat tracks or on the lower mountain.
-Some of the glading been great while some has have actually destroyed some of the fun terrain that once existed on the mountain... Such as Jalapeno before they clearcut it, Stop at the road glades before they carved a cat track through it, the terrain park which ended up exposing a lovely gladed area to the wind and no longer holds the snow as it once did.
-Almost no gladed terrain on the lower 2/3rds of the mountain aside from a few places.
-For half the season you're pretty much just skiing two chairs and 1/3 of the mountains vertical.
-Owners who don't care remotely about skiing and have little interest in real improvements on the mountain; all they do is spit propaganda.
That being said Revelstoke has a lot of un-tapped potential in terms of terrain... and it can certainly live up to the hype that's been built around it... For now, I see it much like Kicking Horse... a place that's fun on a good day with a lot of unrealized potential and a master plan that has barely moved an inch in the last decade... with some pretty awful owners.
The town itself is great, aside from people being pretty high on how awesome they are. And the high cost of accommodations.
**This thread was edited on Jan 1st 2018 at 10:14:38pm
