The Best Powder Skiing in Canada

Skiing in Canada: the 10 best Canadian resorts, hotels and ski slopes

The infamous Revy POW!

Bighorn is listed as THE place to stay as Revelstoke is named as the Best Canadian Resort for POWDER.

In their latest article in The Telegraph, Felice and Peter Hardy say:

“Until 2008, Revelstoke attracted only a contrasting clientele of wealthy international heli-skiers and a scattering of locals, who frequented slopes served by one short lift. But then a world-class gondola and two fast chairlifts transformed it into a 3,000 acre resort with the biggest vertical in North America (1,713m).

Revelstoke attracts huge amounts of powder – around 12m a year on average – and much of the terrain is steep and is left ungroomed. There are wonderful glades of trees and a big open bowl accessed through a cliff band – it’s essential to know the best ways in. The ski school offers half- and full-day private guiding – a must for any keen skier or snowboarder. New for 2019/20, the Steller quad chairlift opens up some beginner and intermediate terrain, giving the resort a family appeal that it previously lacked. 

The resort also has its own snowcat and heliski operations for accessing untracked snow. For committed powder hounds the great beauty of Revelstoke is that there’s no need to book a full heli package and risk expensive ‘down days’ when weather conditions prevent helicopters flying. Instead, the decision on whether to heliski, snowcat ski or simply ride the gondola to explore the ample terrain can be made each morning after looking out of the window. 

Revelstoke has a small resort village at the foot of the slopes, with a hotel, separate restaurant, bar and coffee shop. There’s also a choice of hotels in unpretentious Revelstoke town, a five-minute drive away, served by a daytime bus service and with a fair choice of restaurants and bars.

Where to stay

British-owned Chalet Bighorn at the resort village has eight extremely large bedroom suites and consistently wins awards as the top luxury chalet in North America – the quality of service and cuisine is extraordinary. There is a spa with pool, gym, sauna and massage rooms, cinema, outdoor hot tub and private helipad. From C$74,750 half board for the whole chalet, not including travel.”

We couldn’t have said it better, ourselves! To read the article in full, click here

Bring on the Pow!

Courtesy of Revelstoke Mountain Resort

 

Revelstoke is renowned for it’s legendary pow and last season was record breaking with over 12 metres of snowfall (a 10 year high!).  This season looks set to compete with that with nearly 7 metres already at the start of January, incredible conditions on and off the slopes and the season’s only just getting started!   This is what makes January skiing momentous – it’s a quiet time of year to ski (shh…don’t tell everyone!) and the pow is amazing!  With conditions like this, what more can we say?  Enough talking, let’s go skiing!

Taking a GoPro Heliskiing? Our Tips for doing it like a Pro.

Skiing the Pow
Catching that shot

These days, on mountains all over the world, you can’t help noticing how many skiers and boarders have a GoPro attached to some part of their body.  We’ve become obsessed with digitally recording ourselves … and there’s nothing wrong with that as far as we’re concerned at Bighorn.  The breath taking vistas and snow conditions here at Revelstoke lend themselves perfectly to shooting incredible footage of your ski adventures.  So move over Warren Miller, here’s a few tips to ensure you actually record the memorable images you want (rather than a long bumpy video of your ski pants)!

  1. Where to mount the camera?

Helmet mounts:  a unique viewpoint from your own perspective – but make sure you mount it near the front (not on top).  Before you put it on your head, angle it down slightly.

Chest mounts:  work equally well for skiers, not so much for boarders as they are often standing sideways on, unless of course you just want to shoot your friends skiing.

Boot, board or ski mount:  provides a unique angle to show the view of the ski or board as it moves or you can invert it to show the skier.  The only issue is the adhesive doesn’t tend to last long in very snowy conditions and damage is more likely with it being so close to the ground.

Ideally to get the best varied footage, use a combination of the above.

  1. Filming your ski buddies? With the GoPro’s wide field of view, it’s best to get as close as possible to the action, ideally no more than a couple of metres away and aim the camera at the middle of the person, keeping their head to toe in shot.
  2. Which resolution? (i.e. the number of pixels). Whilst it’s tempting to go for the highest res, unless you really are planning on being the next Warren Miller, 720 is actually good enough for most computers and will save you memory space whilst making editing much easier.
  3. Anti-Fog Inserts. The conditions can be cold and humid on the BC terrain leading to a fogged lens.  GoPro has the answer with anti-fog inserts that protect your lens from fogging up.
  4. Battery Packs. Even if you fully charge your battery before you spend the day heliskiing, your charge may not last the entire day, so bring a spare battery pack or two.
  5. Get the GoPro App. It makes it really easy to control the settings and preview your amazing powpow shots from your phone.
  6. Do a test run with your trusty GoPro to check you’ve got it set up properly before your head off on one of the best powder descents you’ve ever done (speaking from experience!)
  7. Finally…sit back and relax at the end of the day with a well deserved drink in hand to watch your amazing powder adventures in HD in the Bighorn cinema.

…and cut! That’s a wrap, folks!

Which is the best month to ski in Revelstoke BC Canada?

_DAN3870

We often get asked which is the best month for snow and skiing in Revelstoke. Our answer is that it depends – not only on Mother Nature, but also on what kind of skiing you like. So whether you want steep and deep in the trees or cruisey pow in the high alpine glaciers, check out our guide below:

December: Its dumping. We get heaps of snow, but visibility up top can be a challenge. So if you want to fly through the trees getting face shots, a pre-Christmas break is for you.

January: On average the snowiest month of the year. A safe bet for deep powder, a good snow base and awesome conditions.

February: Typically our busiest month – a good balance of snow and sun as conditions move towards spring skiing.

March: Longer days, stability and clear skies with heliskiers getting access to the high alpine powder bowls and glaciers.

April: Excellent conditions at high altitude, sunshine and spectacular views.

* Please bear in mind these are generalisations and conditions can vary.

 

Best snow conditions in 10 years in Revelstoke BC Canada

The best ski resort in the world

Revelstoke has had an amazing start to the season with huge snowfall and continuously cool temperatures.

Huge early season snow (more than 5 metres) and steadily cold temperatures mean Revelstoke is having the best start to the winter season for years. The snow pack is stable, meaning heliskiers are tearing down epic runs that have not been accessible for a long time. Meanwhile,

Revelstoke Mountain Resort has had 15cm of powder snow this week, keeping conditions fresh on the hill. The experts are calling it the “perfect” winter so far. With temperatures forecast to stay cold and clear skies next week, heliskiers will be hitting the high alpine and skiing the very best the Selkirk and Monashee Mountains have to offer.

Check out all the powder on our helipad this week in this clip! There has never been a better time to come to Bighorn.

Bluebird after the storm

photo[14]

After 62cm of snow in the last 7 days we now have bluebird skies and perfect conditions to ski all the powder snow. Revelstoke is famous for its consistent and heavy snowfall, so the few sunny days after the storm are to be cherished! Check out this video of the heli coming in to land on the Bighorn helipad. It shows not only how quickly guests can be whisked into the world famous heliski terrain, but also the stunning views from Bighorn when the sun shines.

Clear skies mean guests can fly higher and access some of the alpine terrain – glaciers and powder bowls. The beauty of heliskiing in Revelstoke is that there is terrain for any weather. On snowy or cloudy days skiers can rip it up in the forest – Revelstoke has epic tree skiing that attracts ski fanatics from all over the world. There is so much fun to be had popping off terrain features and landing in pillows of soft powder snow.

Needless to say, the guests heliskiing in the video had an unforgettable day, polished off nicely with a brandy hot chocolate on the helipad when they returned!

Superb Snow Conditions for Revelstoke’s Opening Weekend

Bluebird day at Bighorn Revelstoke

Revelstoke is enjoying superb early season conditions with a solid base of snow and a dump of 40cm of fresh snow last weekend. Revelstoke Mountain Resort opened with a bang and there were queues of people who had been camping out overnight to get the first tracks of the season! Cold temperatures have ensued, keeping the powder snow light and dry.

These cold bluebird days are perfect for enjoying the views from Bighorn. They also make for some spectacular heliskiing in the backcountry, with good visibility and fun terrain features. We still have some availability in January, so contact us now to enjoy the fantastic early season snow.

It’s Dumping at Bighorn Revelstoke


DAN_7891

It’s been snowing in the Selkirk and Monashee Mountains for a few weeks now, but in the last few days it has been dumping all the way to the base. Check out our video to see the white out at Bighorn. With just 3 weeks until the start of the season, the snow base is looking good and we expect great early winter conditions. Bring on the pow!

Early Snow in Revelstoke

Early snow Revelstoke

Snow has been falling earlier than usual in Revelstoke and the top of the peaks are already covered white. This should set both Revelstoke Mountains Resort and our heli ski partners up for a great start to the season. The first week of the season is still available at Bighorn, so if you want to get first tracks this season we are open from December 14th.

The Selkirk Mountains are famed for their massive snowfall, averaging 12-18 meters per season. This year winter temperatures are forecast to be cooler than normal, which would make the powder snow especially light and dry. Perfect for tearing through the trees, cruising along a glacier and floating down a high alpine bowl!