Super Road Trip in Western Canada
Road trips are the essence of great snowboard stories and every rider needs to head out onto the open highway in search of powder turns and everything else, driving far from what your used to brings…..the unknown.
I got a call from some friends in Europe this past spring to do that very thing. They were unsatisfied with the season they had been having and wanted to come over to Western Canada to go on a “no holds barred” snow adventure. I was given a timeline and a budget with the instructions to “JUST MAKE IT HAPPEN!” and we’ll take care of you. We want powder, beer and more powder. I hung up and smiled.
This was one of the best calls I got all season and I got to work and picked up the phone with a million ideas racing through my head. I made a 12 day plan for them that I assured them would blow the doors off anything they had ever experienced. I kept the itinerary to myself and told them in the last email that I’d be at the airport in Calgary, Alberta, Canada to pick them up. My only instructions were to be ready for anything.
Day ONE: Airport to Golden, BC and Kicking Horse ski resort.
I grabbed the guys who were seriously hyped to be in Canada. Some of them for the first time mind you. The usual pile into the van was made and we hit the gravel west into the mountains. It was dark out by the time we were deep into the mountain range and jet lag took its toll on all of them. Everyone was fast asleep… awesome!! Thanks guys.
The resort Kicking Horse was a perfect place to introduce the crew to Western Canada and get everyone’s legs into shape for the long and deep days ahead. Being told to make it as nice as possible I booked us into an amazing hillside condo at the Kicking Horse ski resort called GLACIER LODGE. Kicking Horse has great steeps and really intense terrain so the stoke meter was already on the rise. This was only a quick stop though and we needed to hit the road that afternoon but the group vowed a return would have to be made. Golden had many other things to offer…like more steeps, beers and a strip bar… We shall try to return ASAP.
Day 3: Selkirk-Tangiers Heli Skiing-Boarding
When I dropped the news that we were booked to fly into the mountains for 6 or more runs the jaws hit the floor. None of my visiting friends had done any Heli in the past and they were about the tick off something that everyone must do in their life as a snowboarder/skier. Fly in a Helicopter. Our 212 beast of a heli was waiting outside the hotel in Revelstoke for us and the group was about to fly out of the valley bottom and onto some of Canada’s most beautiful glaciers for a day of long…….long….powder runs. I was amped watching them in the heli as they all peered out the window with grins from cheek to cheek. Getting picked up by a 212 Heli is fun all in its own. Just think Vietnam movie, intense noise, mountains and if you’re lucky enough a couple people will be sharing that heli with you and will crawl on their belly commando style to the door for your amusement… True story!
Day 4: Revelstoke Mountain ski resort.
It’s hard to top Heli boarding but you’d have to have a lot of money to do it non-stop and we had other amazing locations to visit before this trip was finished. Visiting Canada’s newest ski resort was one of them. Revelstoke is known for its deep powder and pillow lines. This resort is new to most locals in the area as this past season was its first year in business with a Gondola right to the peak. The snow hadn’t been dumping out of the sky the past week but we were all surprised at how fun this resort is for riding groomers. Most people only think of powder when you say Revelstoke but this resort has some of the best rollers and hit runs this side of Whistler. I had been running my mouth off about BC powder to these guys. I was pleased to hear that they were having fun at the resort minus all the powder I had talked about.
Days 5-6-7: Retallack CAT skiing/boarding.
This was the gem of the trip that I had been keeping from the group. Cat boarding is as Canadian as heli skiing but it’s a little more grassroots and attainable for most people. The group loaded into the van, which had a fool proof packing plan at this point….I think. The town of New Denver, BC was our staging point for our next three days. I explained that the group could kiss away cell phone service and good internet signal for a few days and say hello to beer and powder turns.
We were lucky enough to ride up with lodge operation managers Phil and Kevin for our first day at Retallack and what a tour it was. The place is pillow line heaven and has some of the best fall line tree riding that I’ve ever seen in my life. Even without new snow Retallack can still pump out the goods. We assured the lodge that there was nothing wrong with the snow conditions as they tried to explain what it’s usually like. (Holding hand and chopping at neck and armpits with eyes wide open.)
The vibe at Retallack is unreal. It’s like being on planet CHILLout. No one’s even bragging cause everyone knows… that everyone is getting some! The CAT’s come fully loaded with snacks and lunch for the day and one other notable amazing feature. Stepping onboard you’ll find an IPOD station to rock your own personal tunes while you climb up the seemingly endless Cat roads that maze through Retallack’s terrain. My European friends got the dance hall Jamaican Reggae going…Biiiigggg upppp Retallack!!!
The morning’s greet you in Retallack with a breakfast fit for CAT kings. Our Guides from this point on would change and so would our trip. The guide you get while Heli skiing/boarding or CAT skiing/boarding will dictate how your trip will go. This coupled with the people your with will determine what kind of action you’ll get into while out on the mountain. We had hit the jackpot on this one. Shawn West is one of the best guides I’ve ever been out with in the snow. He knew exactly what we were after and did it all with humour and a keen sense of getting the goods. He guided us for the next two days on his Split board which made for less traversing and a complete snowboard friendly time on the mountain. He also gave off that elder of the mountain and “trust me, this next run is sick!” vibe that made us all hover around him like he was a guru about to tell us “the reason why we snowboard” at any moment.
Each day before we headed back to our lodging in New Denver we saddled up at the Retallack lodge for a beer or five talking with the other guests there. Even did the drink at the bar till midnight in the snowboard gear move… Classic!!
We gathered our belongings and put forth a horrible effort to pack the van and made a bee line back to Alberta, Canada and the resort of Lake Louise. We went from groomers to glaciers to groomers and then to endless powder tree runs. The trip would end with another groomer session and I took the crew on a tour of my home resort Lake Louise. The resort, like the others, hadn’t had the best snow conditions while we were there. The view in Lake Louise can make up for scarce powder conditions, though for first time visitors as all they talked about all day was the vista from the top lift. Lake Louise is a beautiful place. It’s hard to have a bad day there.
Settled back in the mountain town of Banff, Alberta I listened proudly as my friends from Europe ranted about the trip. As all road trips end we went on a bar crawl of Banff’s night life to cap the amazing week of snow that we had just had. I can only sum it up with what was told to me in the bar from one of the Europeans. “When knew I was coming to Canada, this is exactly how I dreamt it would be.”
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