Revelstoke Reviews

"Had less bowls & chutes than Kicking Horse, but some great gladed runs and easily accessible back country. The glades still had powder nearly a week after the last snow - though you did have to hunt for it. "

"Pistes kept in v good condition and empty. Unfortunately cat-skiing cancelled for the 2 days we'd booked - the luck of the draw/snow conditions. Sandman Inn was fine base, plenty of restaurants in town."

"Had less bowls & chutes than Kicking Horse, but some great gladed runs and easily accessible back country. The glades still had powder nearly a week after the last snow - though you did have to hunt for it."

"Had less bowls & chutes than Kicking Horse, but some great gladed runs and easily accessible back country. The glades still had powder nearly a week after the last snow - though you did have to hunt for it. "

"Your recommendation for Kicking Horse was much appreciated. If you at Ski Safari have not skied in Revelstoke, I can positively state that it is even better than Kicking Horse & worthy of a big 5 Stars! "

"We stayed in Revelstoke for 5 days at the end of Jan 2012, having just spent 5 days at Kicking Horse. This is one of those little secrets you find out about, which you don't really want to tell anyone else about in case everyone finds out! The accommodation we stayed in was at the Sutton Place Hotel, in a 1 bedroom studio appartment including 2 bed sofa beds. The accomodation is new, furnished in a modern luxury style, with fully equipped kitchenette, clothes washing & drying facilities in the apartment, three TVs & Bose audio equipment. I could have lived very comfortably here! The property is at the bottom of the gondola & currently finishing touches being added to the third block for this hotel. The swimming pool & hot tubs had just been recently opened, but due to snow & ice falling from the roof into the pool area, they were occasionally closed. The ski rental shop is part of the same building, as are a couple of restaurants nad Wino Bar. The complex is very modern & finished to a high standard with obvious plans for further expansion. If you need shopping there are supermarkets in town, with an on-site store for basic supplies. Skiing at Revelstoke is excellent. They pride themselves on the depth and quality of powder which was better than anything I have ever experienced anywhere. They do have a beginner ski area & a couple of magic carpets, but in reality ski ability for this mountain needs to be good intermediate to experienced. One gondola services the bottom of the mountain to a mid station where you switch gondola to go to second level. From here it is a chair to the top, which is a fest of powder and snow covered trees. There is another separate (Ripper) chair lift at the bottom of the North Bowl & we didn't have to queue other than at the main gondola on Sunday morning first thing when all the locals come out to ski. Variety of skiing was superb, with only cat tracks being pisted & non stop skiing possible from the top of the mountain to the bottom gondola. We met several of the instructors from the Ski School and everyone was very friendly and helpful. We also met a chap from Calgary on a 2 week ski trip around various resorts who was on his way to Whistler and who had never skied in Revelstoke before. He told us he wished he was staying longer in Revelstoke as the skiing was far superior to Whistler - a recommendation if ever there was one. Would I go back, try stopping me! "

"Fantastic, serious ski mountain. Huge vertical, stayed during the 2010 Olympics so there wasn't a lot of fresh snow but the trees still offered hidden fluffy stuff. Definitely not a beginners mountain but loads for all others. The glades are especially good and go on and on! The on-mountain food deserves a plug. The day lodge is run in partnership with a local business and has a bakery etc. Fresh pastries in the morning, delicious soup selection all cooked fresh, create your own pasta cooked to order etc etc. The Rockford grill at the base was also excellent, Asian/Canadian fare and excellent value. "

"Just got back from a trip where one of the stops was at Revelstoke. Really enjoyed my visit to this place. It's good now so I can only imagine what it will be like when finished! Great fun - great runs both on piste and in the trees. Also has fantastic views of the river down in the valley from most runs. More interesting than other resorts that I've been to in the Calagry area. The support infrastructure is limited at the moment but what is there is excellent - good restaurant at the very bottom and good day lodge at mid mountain (excellent food and friendly staff). Bodes well for the future. Great fun now!"

"The town is not up to much, but the Tree skiing is great with plenty of long steep runs. Ripper runs need much more gladeing. "

"Don't believe the hype - at least not all of it! It is a huge mountain with a massive vertical drop for any continent, not just N America, so the scope for big vertical metres on a visit is huge. There is a reasonable variety of slopes but only for adventurous intermediates upwards - this is not a place for novices. Add to that that there were few visitors to the slopes so no lift queues/problems with slope congestion. But the biggest selling point this place had was the drier, lighter, more frequent powder than Whister. When I went, there had been no meaningful fall for 15 days & the mountain was tracked out with no freshies anywhere, so it was just another mountain with nicely bashed and empty runs - like many other N. American mountains. Added to that that (despite the website) there is only one place to eat on mountain at the day lodge & that small place was overwhelmed by the limited numbers on mountain! When accommodation at the base increases, I don't see how it will cope with increased numbers. Plus points: big mountain; empty slopes; varied areas. Minus points: v limited infrastructure currently; will it suffer from Whistler's problem - low base slopes mean rain/heavy snow on lower slopes which reduce effective vertical; long transfers if this is your sole ski resort - Calgary about 5 1/2 hours or Vancouver 7 hours (unless combined as part of a ski safari which I did & the travel times between resorts was easily manageable). "