Canadian Freeskiing Championships, Jan 6-10, Revelstoke, BC
BY Feet Banks
big peaks, big clouds, but the comp went off anyhow. Photo-Revelstoke Mountain Resort/Bryan Ralph/MSI
After a big dump, the streets of Revelstoke have snow banks running up the middle of them as well as both sides. You know it’s awesome on the hill when it’s impossible to make a left-hand turn downtown.
There were no snow banks in the middle of the streets when Whistler artist/DJ Chili Thom and I arrived in town, but the ones on the sides were about seven feet tall–small by Revelstoke standards, usually they get twice that high.
But there was plenty of snow up top at Revelstoke Mountain Resort for the final round of the Canadian Freeskiing Championships. Plenty of snow and plenty of clouds. Qualifiers and the first round had gone off without a hitch midweek but Saturday was socked in, which meant Sunday would be the finals for the twenty-seven competitors from around the world. This was fine with Chili and I, who spent the day doing some primo tree skiing.
Revelstoke, once a quiet railway and logging town, is tucked in amongst the Selkirk and Monashee ranges – big mountains that see a lot of snow. Since expanding and opening three years ago Revelstoke Mountain Resort has been heralded as the next big thing, and it’s easy to see why. Revelstoke is big, big mountain with even bigger potential. Already boasting the highest vertical in North America and the only place where you can catch a lift, snowcat or heli all out of the same spot “Revy” is literally a skiers paradise.
With very little traversing or meandering, Revy’s runs are nearly all fall-line epics. The groomers are steep, fast, long and full of rollers to boost off. They’ve got a run called Snow Rodeo that offers top-to-bottom fall-line ripping that just might make it the best cruising run in North America.
The North bowl offers real alpine lines and big empty pow fields, and the trees, oh the trees. Revy already had good tree skiing before they opened the Ripper Chair last year, now it’s legendary.
Chili and I hooked up with Katherine, a Whistler-transplant with a brilliant smile, and she showed us a few of her favourite lines through the spruce and hemlock forests.
However, with a new resort like Revy, it’s as much about exploring as hitting old favourites –there are lines on this hill that haven’t even been discovered yet. Despite having gone a week without any significant snowfall and the fact that Chili and I had arrived on a “busy” weekend, there was plenty of fresh to go around and they were sending up empty chairs all day. Coming from Whistler we couldn’t believe it, “This is awesome,” Chili said more than a few times. It was.
Sunday rolled in not as cloudy as Saturday but still too socked in for the Helicopter to get the athletes to the top of Mac Face, a steep, rocky labyrinth of chutes and landings– Over 1000 vertical feet of very scenic, very extreme terrain that would provide a sphincter-tightening arena for the finals. It was a hurry up and wait kind of day but then with just minutes to spare before the Patrol-deemed cut-off time, the clouds broke and the comp was on.
It was a highlight-ridden contest– serious skiers on world class terrain. Riders charged the lines hard and fast. Frenchman Julien Lopez aired a sweet 70-footer double cliff drop and stuck the landing before skiing all the way into second place. Arne Backstrom skied fast, really fast, and smooth, launching four features on his way to victory in the men’s category. Fernie, BC, Resident Luke Nelson picked up third with a strong showing. On the women’s side USA’s Jess McMillan picked her way though the upper fog, chose a risky line and nailed it– First place.
Chili was playing records at the afterparty where I got a chance to talk to event coordinator SJ Horne. “It was Fantastic,” she enthused. “This was the first international event in Revelstoke since the 1970s and the first time the Freeskiing tour has stopped in Canada since 2004. Everyone in town is stoked. It came down to the crunch, we almost ran out of daylight, but we pulled it off. The athletes have been telling me how awesome it is to have the ski patrol so involved and supportive. Those guys were the backbone today.”
Head patroller Joe Lammers concurs. “It was down to the wire today, with weather and daylight, but I am really proud of how the team pulled it off. Two years ago Greely Bowl wasn’t even in our boundaries and now we are holding world class events there.”
And there will be more big events to come, if this weekend was any sign. The Freeskiing championships will be back for certain, but an event like this will certainly pique the interest of any mountain lovers, not that Revy is looking to start hosting halfpipe comps and jib fests, the mountain is currently without a terrain park and few locals seem to mind at all.
“There’s no park but then you don’t get any of that yo-yo attitude,” Katherine explains. “Everyone here is friendly, everyone loves the mountains. Getting out into the actual mountains, not hitting rails and hiking jumps. It’s a really nice vibe.”
And it wears off on a person. I’m sold. Revelstoke Mountain Resort is awesome. There will be growing pains before they get all 17 of their planned lifts built and operating, but they have an incredible mountain and amazing terrain to work with so if they build smartly they will be fine.
Revelstoke still has that small town vibe, I don’t think there are any limousine companies or cigar lounges to be found but you can buy smokes at the 7-11, get a massage with Mindful Body Massage, eat top-notch dinners at The Village Idiot or The Great White North, enjoy gourmet coffee at The Main Street Café, dance at Out Of Bounds Nightclub or watch the rippers at the place down the street. What more do you need after ripping soft, deep powder all day?
(Authors note- In the week in the week it took me to get around to writing this article, Revelstoke has had over 70cm of fresh snow fall and it’s bluebird there today. No left turns downtown, nothing but fresh turns up top. )
Hucking Mac Face. PHOTO courtesy Revelstoke Mountain Resort/ Bryan Ralph/MSI
