Route 3 traverses the border from Vancouvers Fraser Valley to the Alberta
Provincial line and then East to Saskatchewan. All along the way are the principal mountain ranges including
The Rockies, parts of the Coast Mountains, the Colombia Mountains , as well as many sub-ranges like the Okanagan
Range ,the Kootnays and Selkirks and more like it. Also, interesting enough is the fact that this is where the moist
Pacific air moves over land and into the various mountain ranges starting with the Coast Mountains and driving East
towards the Rockies. Not all of the moisture is gulped up by the initial coastal ranges and some even finds its way
through to the Eastern reaches of Canadas Southern Rockies. Along this path and extending Northward several hundred
kelometers is where you will find the Powder Triangle, this is my favorite places to play in the powder that falls
in this area.What will become obvious to my readers is I don't take into consideration the bigger resorts, all of the Powder triangle resorts are actually quite small when compared with places like Whistler or even Big White. Larger resorts seem to do just fine blowing their own horn about who is deeper or bigger ( did you ever notice upon opening a big ski resorts' brochure that they are always bragging about the biggest this or the tallest that, only to find the next big resort over braggs about quite the same thing ?, hum...) well I've been around to all of these hills and I can tell you that the big hills get tracked out just as fast as the smaller hills do so, when I'm in the the mood for some down home warming house ambiance, I wait for a huge onshore winter storm and then I head out a day before it hits to the great Canadian wilderness in search of The Powder Triangle!
When thinking
of a sure bet with fresh powder, cool locals and a town to match, the first name on my list is Whitewater Resort
located North of Highway 3 in the town of Nelson. Whitewater is one of the ski hills receiving a lot of
attention in the American press lately. Seems that they are now discovering what we knew years ago, Whitewater
rocks! Not only with its over 50 feet (1300cm) of pure powder that falls each year but the town of Nelson is
only 13km away and is where most people stay when skiing Whitewater. Now Whitewater is a smaller hill but what
it lacks in the on pist experience it more than makes up for it to the advanced skiers, they will get a big
thrill out of the many many off pist trails of pure white pow to endlessly tweak your thrill buttons.
Bowls, trees and a lot more, waiting for the experienced team of back country adventures,
are but a small ridge hike from the lifts. One word of caution, don't go alone and try not to go out of bounds to far
because these off pist areas can be very hazardous to the lone skier- border. Last year I know of a least one boarder who
fell head first into a treewell and suffocated. Seems his group started skiing together but seperated on the way down,
one never came out and after a while, his friends organized a very expensive search and rescue team only to find him the
next day, frozen. The serchers came across his snow board protruding from the snow. There have been other off piste
fatalities here over the last few years but If you follow the rules there should be plenty of help around when trouble
arises.
On pist at Whitewater gives the intermediate and advanced skiers and boarders quite a bit for their buck. Up the Summit chair adventure seekers can access Powder Keg Bowl and further across is the Catch Basin. Together these two areas get a lot of powder all season long . Blue square and black diamond runs of ungroomed powder are in the wait, tree skiing and cornice jumps are all there. Its just that Whitewater has only about 1300 feet of vertical, you wont be wearing out your legs getting to the next chair but you wont have to ride long lifts either! Across this natural bowl area is the second lift at Whitewater called Silver King Chair. This double chair leads up to the more tamer side of the Bowl with some green and blue runs off the top.
Whitewater is a total powder experience complete with back country bowls and a
beautiful antique town to go with it. Nelson has a cool that penetrates well into the past century when paddle boats would
ply the Kootenay River, miners and loggers choked the restaurants and bars that were and still are a big part of Nelson.
Also, Nelson, was the place that Steve Martin chose to film his Academy Award winning movie Roxanne, in 1977. Even to
this day pictures of Martin with shop owners and big murals depicting scenes in the movie can be found all over the
town . These murals complement to the old town and its inns and lodges. I like to stay at
Heritage Inn on Vernon street.
It has an old world charm you cant find in these new hotels Also its neat because
Mikes Pub is located right in the building and its not a long walk and I don't have to drive when I'm done parting for the
night. With its antique styled rooms and its views of the Kootenay River combined with its central location in town I love
it. I,ve also stayed at the Alpine Inn, its nice and the rooms are quite clean. Its a little more than walking distace to
town but can be done with minimul effort. I Love the town of nelson and the people are very nice too I thought I would move
here after seeing the movie Roxanne, when I first got out of high school, now with the Whitewater ski resort there Išll be
going back often. Nelson makes for a good destination on a road trip and combined with a couple of the other hills along
route 3 a more than fine - along the way - stop.
While Whitewater ski Resort is 13km outside of town, our next resort in the Powder Triangle is a little hill located in the East Kootenays named Fernie Alpine Village. The entrance to the resort is right off highway 3, about 2km from town. Fernie boasts an awesome 30+ feet of Kootenay Powder and it seems to snow a foot or two at a time spreading out its Lucius carpet evenly all season long. The resort has grown in years to just over 2500 acres so it is one of the larger resorts among the Powder Triangle. Also, its impressive 2800 feet of vertical are just about a perfect size for a small town ski hill.
Bowling? did somebody say bowling? Well this must
be Fernies secret, for aside from the huge powder falls annually, 
Fernie has over
five bowls to set your powder skies into. Sieria, Timber, Currie, Lizard and Ceder Bowls are perched on the side of
the East Kootenay Mountains, waiting for you to challenge their mighty peaks. As if that weren't enough, all of these
bowls have a combination of groomed and non groomed blue square and black diamond runs to thrill almost anybody who wants to
try.
Fernie is a great family place to ski because of its diverse terrain and its Apri ski activities. Between the resort and the town, this place gives options galore such as great night life, dinning, indoor pools, cross country skiing, snowmobiling and the list is long and varied.
Fernie is a laid back coal minning town that is being ripped from its roots into the twenty first century. After Intrawest bought the hill, real estate began to rise in value. Fernie, still is however, one of the great land investments left for the average ski bum. House lots overlooking the mountain resort can be had for well less than two hundred thousand Canadian. I suggest turning the house into a heated garage and building your chalet in the backyard, ski untill your old or to crippled to walk and then retire to the islands, cheers!
My next selection for The Powder Triangle is a little hill named Red Mountain. Aptly named, for
this hill is a true powder mountain.
Names such as Granite
Towers, Needles, and Ledges with back country bowls within easy reach of the chairs, Red Mountain
has everything a locals hill could offer. Located in an old mining town, Red Mountain ski area
has a charm all its own as its a small town with a wild west atmosphere. The ski hill is located
just outside of town and right off highway 3A.
This is a no holes barred locals hill, so don't be surprised if the hill seems a little rough around the edges , they remodeled the town recently and is now ready to show off its new exterior as a ski town and leave its mining roots behind in the nineteenth century. If powder is what you seek then go no further, Red gets an astonishing thirty to ninety feet of the blissful stuff every year! These figures back up the fact that Red Mountain is the mecca when it comes to local hills that have the vertical, back country access and the powder to fill em up. Week after week sometimes such as two seasons ago, El Ninio poured it's juicy winds over the Canadian Rockies and blessed Red with snow so fine it billowed when you skied through it.
Back country bowl access is through the top of the granite towers to the West down Buffalo Ridge. Watch where the locals go over and then be prepared for acres of on pist bowl action. Double black diamond runs like Needles and Short Squaw will please you if the single black diamond runs Beer Belly or Dougs Run don't do the trick.
Honestly though these runs are just the beginning at Red mountain, the whole side of
the mountain is covered with some very challenging terrain. Reds reputation as a knarly mountain is
well deserved and perhaps this is why its breed two Olympic champions, one being Nancy Green, Canadas
only double medalist. Red does have lots of intermediate and beginner runs and what thrilled me was
the great snow over most of these other runs. Red Mountains interesting and varied terrain will keep
everyone happy.
Alas, after skiing there must be a night life, Red lives up to this task, usually. The weekends can be a rocking time in Rossland, Reds home town, bars with bands like in the Uplander Hotel, play loud and to a young audience. I once arrived in town late on a race weekend Friday night. I got what was the last hotel room in town and it was at the Uplander Hotel. Everything sounds good but it turned out that the room was located directly above the band and although I didn't catch the name of the act I do know there are 3628 little acoustical holes in the ceiling above my bed.There are several other hotels in the area, I also have stayed at the Alpine Inn at the edge of town. Its a nice motor lodge with on premises owners who take pride in the place. Rooms are clean and reasonably priced and oh ya, its real quiet at the Alpine Hotel. Lodging isn't hard to find in Rossland.
Rosslands heritage of feeding hungry miners has transferred over into modern times, feeding the hungry powder miners of Red Mountain.Everything from the casual cafe scene to elegant four star dinning can be found within a stones throw of each other on Rosslands main street.
Red Mountain has a unique feeling all its own. With the beautiful antique town of Rossland, its nice hotels and fine restaurants plus friendly local residents, Red Mountain has me coming back year after year to be part of the total experience the real McCoy could only deliver.
My next selection in the Powder Triangle, is a star studded mountain named Silver Star Resort. Located outside Vernon, BC, Silver Star is truly a gem in the Canadian Mountains. With an average annual snowfall of over twenty three feet, fourteen hundred acres of on pist mountain , two half pipes, and a theme village Silver Star is a place that will always call you back.
The snow is what skiers talk about when remembering Silver Star.
When I skied there last February, the mountain had just received twenty five centimeters of fresh
Okanagan powder. Since it was a Friday morning, not many of the weekend warriors had invaded the
hill.On top of Putnam Creek express was like a dream scape. Soft snow was layered all around the
mountain. Snow smothered trees and encircled them like blankets. I stood there gazing out at the
vast whiteness that enveloped me. The sun was pretty much a no show but there was plenty of light.
I didn't bother looking at the map but rather let this dream just pull me through to the other
side. I pushed off and effortlessly leaned into the snow, began to parallel in big arcs into some freshly
coated glades. I dreamily whisked turn after turn with Okanagan champaign powder billowing past my ears.
Big chunks would rip out and fly past my head in an moment I was air born , high I tucked and braced for
a crash landing but the softness of the pow caught me.I landed back into the powder bomb, I could have
skied out but in the exhilaration of the moment, I pushed too far forward and began to roll head over
heals. I felt my right ski release and as I rolled onto my back I felt the sweet sensation of binding
number two releasing me into the deep snow. I summer salted and in an instant everything was still. I
burst out laughing and cried aloud " this is great, wow". Next I skied down to the backside towards
Putnam Creek express. I took the blue square run named Eldorado. This run is one of my most memorable
runs anywhere. It seems to have a magical combination of pitch and snow along with width or something. It skis
like a flying carpet. I ripped that run in a furious blur of flying powder and reckless speed ( it was,
remember a blue square run). The snow was really nice that day. I explored the whole hill and still wanted
more, even after the snow was all tracked, the runs were a lot fun. At the end of the day I was really
tired my legs felt like jelly. Silver will do that to you. But for you die hard boarders take heed, the
pipe is lit till eight thirty and so are a lot of the trails. Party on Garth!
Silver Star has a theme village modeled after a Western or mining
town. The buildings are centrally arranged and painted in a variety of mood enhancing colors. Rental
shops, sport shops, cafes and restaurants are all arranged on a main street complete with an authentic
boardwalk. The ski racks are in the middle so skiers can ski into the village. Main street isn't plowed,
but groomed. The warming house has a cafeteria and has traditional ski hill food, I can tell because it
tastes like it. Hotels are also located nearby in a neat and orderly fashion. Its almost like the ski hill
meets the twilight zone here. At night the whole place is lit up like Christmas, very cool. Restaurants and
accommodations are first class at Silver Star.
There are a lot of other smaller or more obskure ski hills in the Powder triangle that I havent listed here. As you go through maps or see them along the way stop in and ski them on your way to the big names. You will see why so many names like Red or Fernie and even other smaller names like Apex, Phoenix and Powder Keg will forever stay in your mind and no matter where in the world you travel next these memories will allways draw you back to the Powder Triangle!
