B.C.’s resorts ramp up for ski season
New terrain, experiences offer adventures for snow bunnies of all varieties
B.C. has 10 mountain ranges, 13 world-class ski resorts and dozens of backcountry and Nordic ski operations. It’s also the birthplace of heliskiing and cat-skiing.
But after several years of relatively flat growth, B.C.’s resorts and adventure operators are opening up new terrain, expanding their offerings and integrating technology into the ski experience. They are also developing programs to make ski vacations more appealing to newbies or non-skiers.
“We have four new heli-ski companies starting up this winter and one new cat-ski company,” says Ian Tomm, executive director of umbrella organization HeliCat Canada. “So in one year we’ve gone from 40 operations to 45, and early season bookings are quite strong.”
Heli-skiing and cat-skiing are no longer the exclusive domain of extreme adventurers; operators are now offering a variety of experiences for all skill levels and budgets. Catskiing, which uses a snowcat to access areas typically inaccessible to skiers, starts at about $350. Heli-skiing offers a range of excursions, from day trips out of resorts to multi-day trips at remote lodges, providing access to10 per cent of B.C.’s wild peaks.
Many of B.C.’s ski resorts have also revamped their offerings for the 2015/16 season.
“We’ve just invested about $10 million in the resort, building a new chair lift, a new discovery zone and a new kids’ theme trail with lots of kids’ characters,” says Scott Morgan, marketing manager at Panorama Mountain Village.
Panorama, known for its long cruising runs, has 120 named runs and 10 lifts. Until recently, skiers could access the resort’s Taynton Bowl only by helicopter; now a chairlift allows any skier to explore 1,225 vertical metres of double diamond powder. And the area is patrolled for avalanches, so skiers don’t need special backcountry equipment. Also new this year is significant glading on the Heli High, Kinbasket and Ktunaxa trails.
Whistler Blackcomb is launching WD+, an online interactive platform connected to the resort’s RFID technology (introduced last year). This gives skiers and snowboarders the option to create a profile to collect stats and data about their days on the mountains, including total vertical ridden. They can also reload winter lift passes and EDGE cards online to avoid lineups.
SilverStar Mountain Resort has expanded its My1Pass, an all-inclusive season pass and lift ticket, to include fat biking, a new sport of cycling through snow using bikes with oversized tires. After two years of trials, the resort has added more than 15 kilometres of trails for fat biking (rental bikes and introductory lessons will be available).
The resort, close to Kelowna’s airport, has added 42 hectares of new terrain, including gladed ski terrain in Putnam Creek and Silver Woods. With access to Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre, it also offers more than 105 kilometres of groomed trails for cross-country skiing; improved trail signage and better grooming are in the works, along with a larger selection of rental offerings including skate skis.
Also this season, Revelstoke Mountain Resort will open a 4-hectare terrain park, featuring more than 20 jib features and a range of jumps. As a fairly new resort, “it’s a big deal for us,” says Daniel Sculnick, regional sales manager at Revelstoke Mountain Resort. “The features are designed around similar features you’d experience on the mountain itself, with a progression in mind from the beginner to the most adventurous adult.”
The resort will also get 20 hectares of additional glading and see the expansion of its guided side country touring programs to explore untouched terrain just outside the resort boundary. Also new this year is the addition of HD video cameras all over the mountain; guests can download the Paparazzi app to automatically record their moves and view them later — no selfie stick required.
Fernie Alpine Resort, the biggest resort in the Rockies with1,000 hectares of skiing area, five alpine bowls, 142 marked runs and10 lifts, is adding new programs for fat biking this season.
“Fernie, being a very prominent mountain biking destination, has really embraced this,” says Jikke Gyorki, executive officer with Tourism Fernie.
“We get over 30 feet of snow a year,” she says. “We’re very well known as a powder spot.” There are two hardcore cat-skiing operations in town, she added, but Fernie is also a destination for learning how to heli-ski.
With so many new offerings from B.C.’s resorts and adventure operators, there’s something for all levels of skiers in Mother Nature’s highest peaks and deepest powder.