We were recently invited on a little trip with our friends at Green-label.com to check out Red Mountain Resort in Rossland, British Columbia. Tucked along the famous “Powder Highway” in a region of BC known as the Kootaneys, RED is one of Canada’s best kept ski and snowboarding secrets.
The throwback resort quietly resides on 4,200 acres and boasts 300″ of annual snowfall, wide-open groomers, 2,919 feet vertical, in-bounds cat-skiing, next-level tree runs, and 360 degree descents off select peaks. The A-Frame chalets, original wood lockers with hand-painted numbers, and back country huts warmed our hearts and reminded us of a time when it was encouraged to bring your lunch to the lodge in a brown paper bag.
With a recent expansion to include a third peak, Grey Mountain (6,719 feet), has added almost 1,000 acres of blues and greens, offering more accessible terrain for intermediate POW hounds that can’t commit to double blacks. We spent most of the two days exploring Granite Mountain (6807 feet) riding one of two lifts on repeat before backtracking over to RED for some epic tree runs. Other than the fact that our soft, American asses were FREEZING (thanks, Canada!) we had an absolute blast exploring the idyllic, often rugged terrain.
Celebrating 111 years of skiing, RED Mountain Resort is “Western Canada’s original ski resort.” RED’s roots in snowsports date all the way back to the 1890s when a group of Scandinavian miners, chasing dreams of gold-copper ore, organized the Rossland Ski Club, which held the first recorded ski competitions in Canada. There are not many contemporary resorts that boast that kind of snow cred.
Editor’s note: Getting there is a little tricky, but we made the best of it. We flew into Spokane, Washington, explored the micro city for a few hours — even found some thrift store gems — then picked up the rest of our crew and drove another 2.5 hours over the border into Canada. A few of us were “border virgins” so it was incredibly exciting. Once we arrived, we were greeted with beautiful views, fresh powder and “Beer Goggles,” a craft beer festival held right at the base of RED. Also nachos, there were heaps of excellent nachos.
A few weeks before our trip, the NY Times voted RED #8 on their “Best Place in the World to Visit in 2013” list and according to their website, they pride themselves on fresh turns that you don’t have to fight for. We totally confirm that all of those statements are true, and in fact we had such a good time at RED, we will be planning a trip back next season.
xx Jeanine