Around three o'clock in the afternoon, we set off from Revelstoke in a southerly direction. Our next destination: the small town of Nelson BC with its Whitewater ski resort. We were lucky that we left Revelstoke so early. The road along the Columbia River in the sunshine is simply a hit. Exactly how you imagine Canada to be. The slopes of the Rockies rise up to the right and left of the river and the glaciers twinkle in the distance.
In Nakusp, about 40 minutes south of Revelstoke, we had to get our beautiful SUV onto the ferry. The trip across the Columbia River and the Arrow Lakes takes about 25 minutes. If you make this crossing in the dark, you are definitely missing out.
Nelson, BC is the first place on our tour that can be described as a small town with a clear conscience. Like so many in the Kootenay Rockies, the town owes its origins to mining. Situated above Kootenay Lake, the town with its many restored buildings exudes a mixture of the splendor of times gone by and a pleasant "laid-back atmosphere".
The Whitewater ski area is around 20 minutes from the town. The basin into which the wide access road finally disappears immediately reminds us of Hochfügen, except that the possible "vertical meters" are significantly lower here. "Couloir Heaven!" I exclaim as we get out of the car. Rarely have I seen a place where you can ski so many couloirs in a one-hour hike.
The two chairlifts in the area really reflect Nelson's attitude to life. The lift boys did not reveal whether these lifts were once manufactured in-house. The wooden backrests and seats certainly gave the impression.
As in Kicking Horse and Revelstoke, it's remarkable how many different runs are possible with just two lifts. After a warm-up run on each side, we skied down the backside of the summit side into the backside bowl. With 50 cm of powder, we really let it rip in the trees. At the end of the run, we reached the access road about 1.5 km below the ski area. It goes without saying that the first car in Canada stops to give freeriders a lift back up. Without this mutual assistance, it wouldn't be possible in this sparsely populated country.
We used the afternoon for a photo session. As it had been three days since the last snowfall, most of the easy-to-reach lines had already been skied out. However, we still found what we were looking for with smaller hikes and were more than satisfied with our yield after a good hour.
To round off a great day's skiing, we treated ourselves to one of the big couloirs. It took about 45 minutes to climb up until we finally saw the gully from above. One jump and off we went. What an awesome gully.
Conclusion on Whitewater: Small but nice! But anyone who comes here should pack skins!
Text: Martin Hesse; Photos: Jessica Haupt
