The Powder Highway (Part 2)

The Powder Freeway (Half 1 & 2): Written by Courtney Bowen at TravelCuts

The place and What Is The Powder Freeway?

Often known as Route 95A, in British Columbia, Canada, the Powder Freeway loops between seven ski resorts which can be assured to ship wintery adventures. In Part 1 we talked about Revelstoke, Kicking Horse, and Panorama, listed here are the opposite 4 ski resorts that make up the loop on The Powder Freeway …

Ski Resort: Kimberley

Sunny Kimberley ski resort, 140kms south of Panorama, is taken into account massively underrated. It gives glorious, economical and family-friendly amenities while nonetheless providing difficult terrain. Just like Panorama, it’s extra of a neighborhood ski resort so it stays uncrowded in comparison with the larger resorts resembling Whistler. Carry infrastructure could possibly be higher however caters to the inexperienced, blue and black runs, all beneath the treeline, surrounding the resort.

Talent: Intermediaries love Kimberley, however freshmen are certain to benefit from the runs as effectively given the magic carpet and t-bar space. Snowfall is across the 4metres/13ft per season. Kimberley is 400km from Calgary, 2.5hrs from Kalispell, Montana or simply 20minutes from the Canadian Rockies Airport.

Lodging: Lodging is offered in all kinds on the resort and all budgets in downtown Kimberley, 4kms from the resort, which additionally offers extra entry to facilities, of which they’re restricted on the resort. Kimberley additionally gives different standard actions other than snowboarding and boarding, resembling cross-country snowboarding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and scenic helicopter flights.

Ski Resort: Fernie

Fernie ski resort is a well-liked (but nonetheless uncrowded) resort for being an all-rounder ski vacation vacation spot, particularly to native Calgarians. From Kimberley ski resort, Fernie is a 120km south-east and requires a detour off the ‘Powder Freeway’, however is usually visited anyway.

Talent: It’s relaxed and pleasant and appropriate for all ages, ranges and talents. There’s loads of dry snow (9m / 29ft per season) and nice terrain providing 1,000 hectares (2,500 acre) of playground, and 1,100 metres/3,600ft of vertical. Fernie ski resort’s worldwide crowds preserve away to a level given its distance from cities (though a shuttle does run from Calgary Worldwide Airport, 3.5hours away). The city of Fernie is 5km from the resort, Cranbrook airport (Rocky Mountain airport) is 1.25 hours away, and Kalispell in Montana is 2 hours away.

Lodging: Services on the mountain are restricted, nevertheless, downtown Fernie gives extra budget-friendly choices and amenities together with shuttle companies as much as the mountain. Just like Kimberley different actions embody snowmobiling, sleigh experience dinners, snow-shoeing, ice-skating, curling, and cross-country snowboarding and cat snowboarding is one other spotlight of Fernie.

Ski Resort: Whitewater

Again on The Powder Freeway Whitewater ski resort is a 320km drive from Fernie or should you’ve skipped Fernie, it’s a 260km drive from Kimberley. Nelson the close by city, sits on the shores of the beautiful Kootenay Lake, and is effectively know for being the gateway to a few of Canada’s (and North America’s) finest snowboarding, at Whitewater. Whitewater is relaxed and largely serves the local people of Nelson, however gives a number of the finest terrain and large snowfall of round 12m yearly. Whitewater is 19kms southeast of Nelson and is accessible through the close by airports at Castlegar and in addition Spokane in Washington USA. Nelson gives cat snowboarding, heli-skiing and resort snowboarding at Whitewater. Cat snowboarding is promote out standard every season, so bookings effectively upfront are required. Cat snowboarding is really helpful for attending to see the encompassing, unbelievable Kootenays.

Talent: The vertical drop is 620metres/2000ft and the terrain caters nearly 50/50 to newbie/intermediate and superior/skilled. On-mountain facilities are primary, however enough and meals has a top quality and style to it, that different ski resorts catering to the plenty, can’t present.

Lodging: is simply obtainable in Nelson, which is cheap and there are many relaxed, pleasant and reasonably priced meals choices obtainable.

Ski Resort: Crimson Mountain

Apparently, there are Scandinavians who got here to Crimson Mountain within the Nineties for the gold rush and haven’t left. That is in all probability for just a few causes, however the snowboarding on the mountain was presumably an element too! Professional’s of Crimson Mountain embody uncrowded runs, loads of snow (7.5m / 24.5ft), a terrific mixture of difficult and household pleasant, a pleasant and laid-back angle and most significantly, it’s reasonably priced for all budgets. The one negatives actually are that the ski lifts is usually a tad sluggish and actions for non-skiers/snowboarders are restricted.

Talent: Crimson Mountain gives 1,128 hectares (2,787 acres) of snowboarding, and 890 metres/2,919ft of vertical, with 18% of terrain being newbie, 31% intermediate and the remainder largely catering to superior and skilled. Positioned 76km southwest of Nelson and about 3kms from Rossland in BC, Crimson Mountain can be accessible from Kelowna Worldwide Airport (3.5hrs away), 30minutes from Castlegar Regional Airport or 2.5hrs from Spokane in USA.

Lodging: is offered on mountain or in Rossland once more with extra facilities in Rossland than on mountain, however with out the ski in/out ease of being on mountain. The relaxed really feel of each Rossland and Crimson Mountain is each charming and comfy. There are many amenities offered catering to vacationers, with out the capitalising on vacationers. A cat snowboarding day journey is extremely really helpful (as is reserving upfront) while staying in Rossland.

Finishing the Loop — Return to Kelowna

When you’ve had your fill on Crimson Mountain, you possibly can full the loop by reaching Kelowna (relying on the place you’ve began from, in fact). If you happen to haven’t had sufficient or want to interrupt up the journey you can even name into smaller lesser recognized ski areas together with:

• Baldy Mountain: Newbie and intermediate pleasant, uncrowded and cheap, 135km south of Kelowna.
• Apex Ski Resort: Northwest of Baldy, off-the-grid Apex is 95km south west of Kelowna the place crowds gained’t be a problem.
• Massive White Ski Resort: 55km east of Kelowna is another choice, highly regarded with households in addition to everybody else of all ages given its all spherical nice facilities and amenities.

See Part 1 to learn in regards to the different locations on The Powder Freeway; Revelstoke, Kicking Horse and Panorama …

Able to expertise The Powder Freeway? Chat with a travelcuts skilled and begin planning your subsequent journey!