Two Weeks along the Powder Highway
Hello my friends,
I truly am a sucker for a good road trip… especially one that involves quality snowboarding, close friends, and exploring new mountains. I’d never been to Canada before this trip but after living in Mammoth for two winters I’d gained a close Kiwi friend who were spending this past winter up in the Great North. So, myself, and my two close friends Tess and Lindsey bought plane tickets from LAX into Calgary and secured a two-week RV rental. The plan was to scoop up our friend Sam, then bounce from ski resort to ski resort along the Powder Highway through Alberta and the interior of British Columbia all while living out of an RV with four people. No hotels, very rare cell service, and a lot of fun to be had.
There’s a certain type of person that fits the mold for this particular type of trip. Simply put, you just need to be down for the journey. You need to be okay with being uncomfortable, okay with the uncertainty of where we would sleep each night, okay with waking up in quite literally an ice cold RV every morning, and okay with snowboarding all day then driving all night. This was not at all a party or relaxing trip, this trip was a trip dedicated to a coveted snowboard mission to pack as many epic resorts in as we could. We each had our own little of plan of the resorts we wanted to hit. Some overlapped and some didn’t.
For anyone who’s never been on Canada’s Powder Highway, there’s ski resort after ski resort along a rugged and treacherous highway that weaves in and out of the Kootenay Rockies. The stretch covers both the Alberta ski resorts and interior BC resorts. Also, there isn’t just one Highway, there’s a few different highways and different routes to take… but all resorts in this region claim to be on the Powder Highway, good marketing I guess.
On top of the epic big mountain riding, small resorts with less crowds, and beautiful mountain scapes everywhere, the snow along the Powder Highway is classified as champagne powder. That means it’s extra light, extra fluffy, and snows a ton each season. The reason for this type of snow is because the resorts are far away from any big body of water like an ocean so there’s not as much condensation in the air and clouds resulting in snow with a lower water percentage that is extra light. Pretty much it’s a powder hounds dream.
Throughout our two week road trip we drove over 1,000 miles, woke up in a freezing RV exactly fourteen times, parked and slept illegally in five separate resort parking lots and never got in trouble, spent a total of eleven days snowboarding, scored six epic powder days, snowboarded at a grand total of nine different resorts, only had one minor case of frost bite, travelled once across the worlds longest free fairy while eating a terrible Mexican food dinner at our table in the RV, went on one in-door water slide, tried four different types of Cesars, soaked in three different hot springs, and somehow only lost control of our giant 2WD RV once! Which resulted in.a 30 mph donut during an insane snow storm across all four lanes of the icy highway and caused us to lose our passenger side mirror… but we were very thankful there were no cars coming in the opposite direction.
But the highlight of the entire trip was the small town of Nelson, BC and Nelsons local hill Whitewater Ski Resort. There’s something about the people of Nelson that made it so special, lots of small ski towns now are filled with massive vacation homes, five star resorts, tourists, and big pretentious egos. Nelson is not at all like that, Nelson is a true throwback town where you feel like you’ve almost transported to an alternate universe. The town hasn’t been tainted by tourists and isn’t overrun by others looking to capitalize on the monetary value of a ‘ski vacation’. It’s simply a town filled with people who live and work in Nelson and who go up the hill to ski Whitewater when they can. My friend who was living in Nelson put it beautifully to me, “the people who end up working or living in Nelson are here for all the right reasons…” It’s almost as if Whitewater is Nelson’s private backyard ski resort. There’s only three chairlifts and crowds are literally not even a thought. Once you’re up on the hill it’s as if everyone knows one another. The three lifts access a huge amount of terrain that feels more like a backcountry playground than a groomed ski resort. It was the only resort we rode for three days straight because we had so much fun.
The best part is that it feels like Whitewater’s primary goal is to service the people of Nelson, the others visiting come second. It’s a family owned resort that has no plans of growing, bringing more people, or charging higher prices. Again it’s a place where people are there for the right reasons. I would encourage everyone to stop by Whitewater and Nelson on their Powder Highway roadie, I guarantee it won’t disappoint.
By the end of the two weeks we were all absolutely exhausted, I mean just complete piles of dust. We were in it for the long haul and our time spent driving and snowboarding was certainly a long haul. But truth be told, it was the most fun I’ve ever had. Like literally, ever. That is not an exaggeration. I know I’ll cherish these photos forever and I hope you enjoy them too. Take a peak below and let me know what you think.
-owen
