Road Tripping BC’s Powder Highway. Part two, Revelstoke.
Mountainwatch |Reggae Elliss
In part two of our Powder Highway road trip, we head west from Golden to Revelstoke, one of British Columbia’s best resorts and coolest towns.
Revelstoke is an easy two-hour drive from Golden, through the spectacular Rogers Pass. In some sections of the drive the mountains on either side of the highway are near-vertical and after a snowfall the road is often closed for avalanche control. While it was snowing off and on during our trip it the rental AWD with snow tyres made for a cruisy run with ample opportunity to take in the view.
Revelstoke Mountain resort opened in 2007 and is one of the newest resorts in Canada. It is a short 5-minute drive from the town of Revelstoke, which has a variety of accommodation and regular shuttles to the mountain. We stayed on-mountain at Sutton Place Hotel, just steps from the gondola with a few food outlets nearby although it was an easy drive to town to explore other dinner options.
Revelstoke has a reputation for big mountain terrain, with high open alpine bowls, gladed tree-skiing, long cruisy groomers and the longest vertical in North America at 1713m. And it is big with over 3000 acres of skiable terrain – most of which is off piste.
We arrived a couple of days after a good 30cms snowfall and by all reports the snow in the upper bowls was in great shape. Revelstoke is a mountain that takes a while to find your bearings and work out where to go and where to find the best snow. Fortunately, we had the perfect guide in Aussie pro skier Nat Segal, who has been living in Revelstoke since 2018 after spending the 10 years prior to that travelling to compete in freeride events and film.
We arrived a couple of days after a good 30cms snowfall and by all reports the snow in the upper bowls was in great shape. Revelstoke is a mountain that takes a while to find your bearings and work out where to go and where to find the best snow. Fortunately, we had the perfect guide in Aussie pro skier Nat Segal, who has been living in Revelstoke since 2018 after spending the 10 years prior to that travelling to compete in freeride events and film.
I hadn’t seen Nat for a few years and was great to catch up and she was keen to show us around – she said it was a good excuse to ski in resort after spending a lot of time in the backcountry this season.
“You guys up for a short hike into the bowls,” Nat asked as we headed up the gondola. “We can head over to Stoke Chair hike up Lemming Line into the north bowl, there’ll be some good snow in there.” Ok, sounds good.
Now, I’m not one for long boot-packs, but Lemming Line is an easy hike, the name obvious when you see the number of people doing it. After traversing around the ridge there are plenty options, the north-facing aspect of the bowl ensuring good snow quality.
We dropped into Powder Assault Bowl, and the snow was surprisingly light and fluffy as it hadn’t snowed for three days. “How good was that,” I said to Nat.
“Yeah, it is north facing, and the SW winds often blow snow into the bowl and keep it fresh, for days after storms,” she answered. “It also keeps the snow cold and soft during warm periods.”
On the next lap Nat suggested we traverse further across the top of the bowl and drop into a steeper face further along. “Arkie and I can hit Cinco Chute, which is pretty steep, bit of a Revy classic. If you guys don’t want to do that, you can drop in earlier.”
Amanda and I dropped in earlier and it was perfect, soft snow and not many tracks dropping into the trees. We stopped at the bottom and watched Arkie and Nat ski the chute, a steep line that opens up towards the bottom and onto the bowl.
Nat suggested we head to The Outpost for one of the best on-mountain burgers you’ll ever eat which is no exaggeration. Nat has seen a lot of the world and skied a lot of places, so what is it about Revelstoke and the surrounding mountains she likes? “I love how close the resort is to town; it’s 10 minutes from my house to the base of the gondola. Revelstoke is nestled between the Monashee and Selkirk mountains that have an amazing variety of skiing – that was the final sell for me. I love alpine skiing, but Revelstoke also has some of the best tree skiing and powder snow in the world. I feel like I am going to spend the rest of my life exploring these mountains.”
After just a few days in Revelstoke I could see the attraction. The mountain has so much to offer while the town has a cool mountain vibe, it’s relatively small with a population of around 9000, but has a lot going on with some great restaurants and bars and variety of retail.
There is a hub of creative people in town with a vibrant arts and music scene. “I stayed here because Revelstoke offers the perfect mix of resort and backcountry skiing and community I had been wanting,” Nat said. “There’s the mix of people working in resource industries (forestry and mining), on the railway, in tourism and my favourite part – and a lot of entrepreneurs. Some people are into mountain sports and other people live in the area to be close to nature. There is a really special community that takes some time to sink into.
Every year there are lots of fresh faces coming to work for the winter or summer and there is always a percentage of people who get hooked and stay.”
Stay tuned for part there of 0ur BC Road Trip, heading from Revelstoke to Fernie.
For more information on Revelstoke, check out the Mountainwatch Guide to Revelstoke
Revelstoke snowcams, forecasts
Head to Mountainwatch Travel for info on Revelstoke 2025-2026 season packages
*Note: Having the right vehicle is important for a winter trip like this and we rented a mid-sized SUV with all-wheel-drive with winter tyres from Budget and the car rental area at Calgary Airport is conveniently located across the road from arrivals. Winter tyres or chains are mandatory for most routes in British Columbia from October 1st to April 30
