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  5 of 5, "Living the DREAM" 29/04/2009 @ 00:35 |
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| 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Price Paid |
| Cost of my airfare... |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Moved here on a whim... |
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| Times Visited |
| 15 Times + |
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| Review Detail |
How to review Whitewater??! I am shocked I hadn't thought of doing this sooner... where to start?
Ok, the place is truly amazing. I am not just saying that because I live here (literally on the mountain) it truly is an awesome mountain, with a friendly vibe! There is something for everyone, admittedy alot more for the advanced rider with it being so steep, but it's a superb mountain to push your skills further than you could imagine.
My first season here it took me some time to get used to the dense tree's and steep pitches, but that was me coming from riding many European resorts where I had barly ever seen a tree on a slope!
Some specs:
Average snowfall: 1350 cm/45 feet! In 2002 they closed the hill with 529cm's.. the skiere/boarders were higher than the people on the lifts!!! Last season (07/08) we closed at 350cms!!!!
Elevation:
Lodge base: 1640 metres/5400 feet
Summit: 2040 metres/6700 feet
Ymir Peak: 2400 metres/8000 feet
Vetical drop: 396 metres/1300 feet
Average temp: -8
There is endless backcountry at your fingertips here. You literally step off the lift and you have access to some of the most amazing chutes, bowls, tree runs etc... you could ever imagine.
Fresh Tracks cafe has won awards for it's gormet 'ski hill' food. I challenge you to find anywhere that does better food on a mountain!
WH2O Burger & fries10bucks
Chicken Soulvaki & fries 13bucks
Ymir Bowl 8bucks
Lift tickets:
Adult full day - 55bucks
Jnr full day - 44bucks
Rentals:
Full ski/board package -36.96 (inc tax)
Whitewater is just 15km up the road from Nelson, a super awesome town where anything and anyone goes! Guys.. come with your scruffiest beard! hehe
There are plenty hostels in town providing cheap digs for your stay.
WhiteHouse Backpackers Lodge - http://www.white-house.ca/
Dancing Bear Inn - http://www.dancingbearinn.com/
I would def' recommend a trip to Whitewater to anyone.. just don't forget to bring your snorkel!!!
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| Strengths |
Friendly local vibe
Amazing champagne powder
Quiet
Super tasty food
Grooming is awesome
Cheap passes/rentals
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| Hot Spots |
As in runs in bounds:
Catch Basin
Sproulers
Nugget
Terrada
In town for food:
Red Fish
All Seasons (more expensive)
Outer Clove (everything is made with garlic)
Pubs & music:
Mikes Place
Sprit Bar
The Royal
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| Weaknesses |
| erm... |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| None - Whitewater has it's own unique charm! |
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| Reviews: 37 |
| Review Mod |
| Kirkcudbrightshire |
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| 5 of 5 06/05/2004 @ 12:49 |
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| 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Revision #1 (Last edited: 06/05/2004 @ 12:53) |
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| Price Paid |
| N/A |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| ROAD TRIP |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
This was a place i had read quite a bit about and really wanted to visit as soon as possible.
Before moving from Whistler back in March i posted on the site to ask about conditions at Whitewater and this was the reply i got from CQ.
"Hi
We've just got back from Red/White... White had about 40 cm last week (not sure about Red), the whole are is looking marginal... I wouldn't advise going, stay well away, tell everyone you know how crap it is and tell them to stay away. The snow sucks, the mountain sucks, the people suck... definitely give it a miss. I can't emphasise enough how FAR away you should be from Whitewater... really. Dont go."..
Well my internet time was running out as i read this and i was a bit down as i went back to the Bar to tell Jill !
I was confused as by all accounts things had been pretty good up until then.My head and thoughts were probably not 100% in gear after a few beers in Whistler....so i went to bed asking myself if it was worth visiting Whitewater after all.
Anyway the next day when we came back off the slopes i logged onto Goneboarding again and found boardgirl had posted this...
"CQ sounds really sarcastic, you sure she isn't just trying to keep all the powder to herself? how can 40 cm be bad?"....
.Then it clicked that she had been winding me up...how did i fall for that,how stupid. I think it was because i had such a clear idea in my head about this place and just could not believe it had been shattered. I will get you back someday CQ, just wait.
I then suddenly felt much better and coudnt wait to see what Whitewater had to offer.
Last year i was lucky enough to spend a day on the Vallee Blanche in Chamonix in the company of well known mountain sports photographer John Norris.He was with us as he was wanting to get some pictures for Ski & Board magazine among others and for various brochures.
Then in this Springs issue of "Ski & Board" i came across an article by John covering a trip to Whitewater as part of a Canadian tour he had done. The pics caught my eye at once...Lots of deep powder and action shots of people flying through the trees - great stuff !!
In his article he mentions the road up to the Base area..
" Further along,we passed a few vehicles which had been quite deliberately parked by the roadside that morning but with no sign of occupants. This puzzled me vaguely,but we continued along the remaining kilometres to the base area"
This road is pretty rough and full of pot-holes and it is about 8km from the main road to the parking area at the base.You can tell a lot about a ski area by the vehicles you find parked there. Whitewater car park is normally full of tatty old pick-ups,works vehicles and the odd camper van or two and our brand new Ford Explorer 4.6l V8,which probably marked us up as outsiders (tourists!).
John goes on in his article about how they traversed along the ridge and dropped down through the trees coming back out onto the road where the vehicles they had seen earlier were parked. He then realised what goes on - groups of friends leave cars there so that they can hit these great spots before driving back to the base area and the lifts !
The day we visited was a Sunday and we were in the car park before 9am after a nice run of about an hour from Rossland (Red Mountain).There were only about 20 vehicles there and in total about 50 at the most by the end of the day.We had clear blue skys and no wind. Perfect weather.
The Whitewater area was discovered in the 1960s, Ymir Bowl and its 8000ft peak turned out to be a secret powder stash and a sheltered area for the epic winters that happen in this area. The areas average snowfall is over 1300cm. There are only two lifts here. The Silver King Chair and the Summit Chair on the other side. They are both double chairs. There is a vertical drop of about 400m and most of the inbounds terrain is graded 20% beginner,40% intermediate and 40% advanced so there is something here for everyone including some great groomed pistes,plenty of trees and Bowls along with some pretty steep chutes with deep powder as well as endless possibilities for venturing into the backcountry.
On our visit there had not been any fresh snow for a while so the main part of our day was spent flying down the groomed runs of "Joker","Motherlode" and "Paydirt" from the Summit Chair.The place seemed deserted for most of the morning.
We then went over to the Silver King Chair and traversed along the ridge to come down black diamond runs with names like "Tramline" and "Nugget". These were good pitches where you came out onto a track at the bottom and re-traversed back along to the lift.
We stopped at the base area for an early lunch at the Freshtracks Cafe which has been voted Canadas finest by Ski Canada magazine. We had a White H2O burger and a beer and sat out on the terrace to soak up the sun for a while.
We then headed back over to the Summit Chair from where the views were spectacular and traversed along to "Powder Keg Bowl" and dropped back down onto the groomed trails and back to the lift. This area must be superb after a fresh snowfall ! We went back up again and spent about an hour at the top in a secluded spot sunbathing before cruising back to the base area and back to the car.
This had been a great day out from Red Mountain and it was easy to see the potential of this place after a major snowfall - we are coming back next winter in Feb so hope to be in luck and we will bring backcountry kit to allow us to explore a bit further in this unspoilt area of British Columbia. I just hope that it does not get overdeveloped or over popular as it would then lose its magic and sparkle.
YES CQ you were right...we should have given this place a miss (NOT) !!
Lift tickets cost in 2004 - $42cdn.
We drove from Rossland via Trail and Salmo to Whitewater and returned via Nelson and Castlegar to make a nice round trip. This is a beautiful place and i cant wait to return.
Whitewater markets itself as "Pure,Simple & Real" and that is exactly what it is !
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| Strengths |
Great snow record.
Unlimited Off-Piste potential.
Great Tree runs.
Plenty of steep terrain.
Superb groomed trails.
Nice and quiet.
Brilliant scenery.
Cheap lift pass.
Great Daylodge.
Friendly locals .
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| Weaknesses |
If it has any weaknesses then these are part of the charm of the place.
Pot-holed access road and an ice rink of a car park (when we were there) |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Over 140. |
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