IT’S COLOSSAL! After polling all of the alpine, cat, heli and most of the backcountry lodges – we found out that it is GIGANTIC!
7.2 Million+ ACRES (2.9 Million+ HECTARES)
The Powder Highway has the highest concentration of cat, heli and lift service resorts in all of British Columbia, Canada and the WORLD! In fact, the skiable tenure makes up 50.5% of the entire Kootenays Rockies region (the southeast corner of British Columbia, Canada).
There is endless pow to be found within the 8 alpine ski resorts, 14 backcountry guides, 16 backcountry huts, 23 backcountry lodges, 14 cat-ski, 3 community ski clubs, 18 heli operators and 16 Nordic clubs/centres!
In comparison to other cities around the world, it is:
* 256 times the size of the City of Vancouver
* 134 times the size of the City of Seattle
* 46 times the size of the City of Toronto
* 43 times the size of the City of Edmonton
* 37 times the size of New York City
* 34 times the size of the City of Calgary
* 22 times the size of the City of Los Angeles
The skiable tenure for the ski ops along the Powder Highway is massive!
Photo by Kari Medig at RED Mountain Resort
What are you waiting for?
Photo by Dave Heath at the Fernie Alpine Resort
The Powder Highway is made up of 100+ skiing and riding options along the route, including:
8 Alpine Ski Resorts
Fairmont Hot Springs Resort; Fernie Alpine Resort; Kicking Horse Mountain Resort (Golden); Kimberley Alpine Resort; Panorama Mountain Resort (Invermere); RED Mountain Resort (Rossland); Revelstoke Mountain Resort and Whitewater Ski Resort (Nelson).
14 Backcountry Guiding Services
All Aspects Alpine Backcountry Guides (Golden); Adrenalin Descents (Golden); Arctos Guides (Slocan); BC Mountain Guides (Golden); CAPOW (Revelstoke), Deep Lines Guiding (Nelson); East Kootenay Mountain Guides (Invermere), Flow Guiding Services (Golden); Gearys Guiding Service (Icefall Lodge, Revelstoke, Rogers Pass); Golden Powder Guiding (Golden); Kootenay Backcountry Guides (Nelson), Revelstoke Ski Touring, Selkirk Powder Descents (Revelstoke) and Summit Alpine Guides (Nelson).
16 Backcountry Huts
AO Wheeler Hut (Rogers Pass); Asulkan Hut Cabin (Rogers Pass); Bonnington Hut (Bonnington); Elizabeth Parker Hut (Field); Fairy Meadows Hut (Selkirk Mtns); Glacier Circle Cabin (Rogers Pass); Grizzly Basin Mountain Cabin (Fernie); Kokanee Glacier Cabin (Selkirk Mtns); Lightening Strike Cabin (Selkirk Mtns); North Valley/Hazel Huts (New Denver); Ripple Ridge Cabin (Selkirk Mtns); Sapphire Col Hut (Rogers Pass); Stanley Mitchell Hut (Field); Whyte Hut (Field) and Ymir Ski Touring (Ymir).
(Most of the huts are booked through the Alpine Club of Canada, plus additional huts in the Columbia Valley.)
23 Backcountry Lodges
Amiskwi Lodge (Field); Assiniboine Lodge; Battle Abby Backcountry Lodge (Golden); Blanket Glacier Chalet (Revelstoke); Boulder Hut Adventures (Kimberley); Campbell Icefields Chalet (Golden); Golden Alpine Holidays (Golden); Ice Creek Lodge (Winlaw); Icefall Lodge (Golden); Lake O’Hara Lodge (Field); Mistaya Lodge (Golden); Mt. Carlyle Lodge (Winlaw); Powder Creek Lodge (Nelson); Purcell Mountain Lodge (Golden); Revelstoke Ski Touring; Selkirk Lodge (Golden); Selkirk Mountain Experience (Revelstoke); Sol Mountain Touring (Clearwater); Sorcerer Lodge (Golden); Talus Lodge (Invermere); Valhalla Mountain Lodge (Nelson); Valhalla Mountain Touring (Hills/New Denver) and Valkyr Adventures (Fauquier).
14 Cat-Ski Operators
Baldface Lodge & Baldface Valhalla (Nelson); Big Red Cats (Rossland), Chatter Creek Mountain Lodges (Golden); Fernie Wilderness; Great Northern Adventure Skiing (Meadow Creek); Island Lake Catskiing (Fernie); K3 Cat Ski (Revelstoke); Keefer Lake Lodge (Cherryville); Monashee Powder (Coldstream); Mustang Powder Cat Skiing (Malakwa); Retallack Lodge (New Denver); Selkirk Snowcat Skiing (Meadow Creek) and White Grizzly Adventures (Meadow Creek).
3 Community Ski Clubs
Summit Lake Ski & Snowboard Area (Nakusp); Salmo Ski Club and Wapiti Ski Club (Elkford).
18 Heli-Ski Operators
CMH Heli-Skiing (10 lodges throughout the region); Eagle Pass Heliski (Revelstoke); Eleven Heli Skiing (Revelstoke); Great Canadian Heli-Skiing (Golden); Mica Heliskiing (Revelstoke); RK Heli-Ski (Panorama); Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing (Revelstoke); Snowwater Heli-Skiing (South Slocan) and Stellar Heli-Skiing (Kaslo).
16 Nordic Clubs/Centres
Arrow Lakes XC Ski Club (Nakusp); Blackjack Ski Club (Rossland); Castlegar Nordic Club; Dawn Mountain Nordic Trails (Golden); Elkford Nordic Ski Club; Fernie Nordic Society; Kaslo Nordic Club; Kicking Horse Ski Club (Field); Kimberley Nordic Club, Nelson Nordic Ski Club; Nipika Mountain Resort (Radium Hot Springs); Panorama Nordic Ski Centre; Revelstoke Nordic Club; Sunset Ridge Ski Society (Sparwood); Toby Creek Nordic Centre (Invermere) and The Whiteway (Invermere).
Know Before You Go – Plan ahead so you can travel safely and responsibly. Familiarize yourself with weather, road conditions, general alerts for travellers and provincial health orders & recommendations.
Related Stories
~ 4 Reasons to Ski-Ride the Powder Highway this Winter
~ 7 Tips to Get You Started: Exploring Powder Highway’s Backcountry
~ Family Fun on the Powder Highway
~ Funky Finds on the Powder Highway
~ Guiding Services: Powder Highway’s Backcountry
~ Learn to Ski or Snowboard on the Powder Highway
~ Powder Highway 101
~ Quintessential Powder Highway Winters
~ Slackcountry Touring at our Powder Highway Ski Resorts
~ Up the Ante: Day Packages for Cat & Heli Skiing
~ What’s New on the Powder Highway?
Story by KootRocks Staffer (Shannon Harrison). Cover/top by Kari Medig.
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