23/24 Cdn Rockies and related thread

[TAFKALVS]

I live down south of you guys in North Idaho… we have basically 10 - 20% of normal snowpack.

I’ve got family coming in to town wanting to ski.

Pondering driving north to Panorama (4hrs), Kicking Horse (5hrs), or Revelstoke (6hrs).

What makes the most sense? Not needing deep but would like skiable conditions and more than a single run with dirt exposed like we have at Schweitzer at the moment. Leaning towards Kicking Horse but would love it if anyone has any first hand accounts of conditions. Pano is showing nearly 100% open but a very thin snowpack, not sure how to interpret that. Kicking Horse webcams look solid… but Revelstoke is showing the most new snow.

2 expert skiers, 1 advanced skier who likes long groomers, 1 terminal intermediate who likes views.

[crashidy]

Panorama will have many groomers open of various ability. Good fun fast skiing. They have smooth ground, snowmaking and had a load of elephant snot. should be good . Taynton bowl likely not great but that's what might be closed.
Revy and kicking horse also lacking .
Louise and sunshine will be crazy busy with not much open.
I wouldn't normally say it but I bet pano is where it's at right now
Pretty weak up here in Banff Canmore so far too

[DanoT]

Panorama will have many groomers open of various ability. Good fun fast skiing. They have smooth ground, snowmaking and had a load of elephant snot. should be good . Taynton bowl likely not great but that's what might be closed.
Revy and kicking horse also lacking .
Louise and sunshine will be crazy busy with not much open.
I wouldn't normally say it but I bet pano is where it's at right now
Pretty weak up here so far too

I would agree Panorama has the most snowmaking and most runs open in B.C.
Sun Peaks just opened upper Mount Tod and went from 44 runs to 90 out of 140 runs open. They are doing very limited grooming due to thin snow coverage, their summer grooming program means rock skis are not needed. The ungroomed runs in the Alpine were crusty and inconsistent with no compacted base. It was not powder skiing but at least it was below freezing. And it was foggy. I quit early.

[ski_it]

I would agree Panorama has the most snowmaking and most runs open in B.C.
Sun Peaks just opened upper Mount Tod and went from 44 runs to 90 out of 140 runs open. They are doing very limited grooming due to thin snow coverage, their summer grooming program means rock skis are not needed. The ungroomed runs in the Alpine were crusty and inconsistent with no compacted base. It was not powder skiing but at least it was below freezing. And it was foggy. I quit early.

Skied Pano today and the long groomers and views were good. Skied some steep off groomed which was OK but care was needed.

[SnakeMagnet]

"Busy" Louise is having to take the singles line if you don't want to wait 5 or 6 chairs. Like today. Parking lot full, mountain felt empty.

Coverage is much better than it should be. 8 feet is usually unusable off groomers, but all that's fallen has been high moisture and it's stayed put for a solid base.

And once you got to the far West Bowl the sub-alpine was really good and snow only got manked right before the cat. The catch being getting there in the first place. Absolutely the worst i've seen the hell-traverse; picking through the stairs shark-field was actually the better call.

[crashidy]

"Busy" Louise is having to take the singles line if you don't want to wait 5 or 6 chairs. Like today. Parking lot full, mountain felt empty.

Coverage is much better than it should be. 8 feet is usually unusable off groomers, but all that's fallen has been high moisture and it's stayed put for a solid base.

And once you got to the far West Bowl the sub-alpine was really good and snow only got manked right before the cat. The catch being getting there in the first place. Absolutely the worst i've seen the hell-traverse; picking through the stairs shark-field was actually the better call.

Given today is a travel day and the 26 the to 29 are the busiest days of the year.. Dealing with the traffic will be the worst part.. Trying to do anything in Canmore today was a fucking headache. I'm all stocked up. I won't leave the house except work for the next 4 days

[TAFKALVS]

Headed up to Pano today, thanks all for the suggestions. Lodging is super super cheap right now.

[mntlion]

ER7 opened yesterday, MUCH better then I expected.

WH1, and outer/middle limits all skiing great. VERY low lineups on 27th,

Clear blue sky, OK coverage, chaulky grippy snow,
Overall very good shape

[TAFKALVS]

Pano skied awesome, chalky skiing everywhere as long as you kept your expectations low.

[tintin5]

Right on. Happy to hear you had a good time

[sillybunt2]

Wow panorama looks deserted!

[TAFKALVS]

Couple more action shots. Panorama seems like a great mountain in a corn spring corn cycle, am I wrong in thinking that? My perception is that it’s not a “deep snow” mountain. Am I right in thinking that?

[Shorty_J]

^^^ nailed it.

Spring skiing is great there.

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[teamdirt]

Panorama doughnut….

[TAFKALVS]

It seemed like further up the valley towards the Jumbo glacier area might get a lot more snow and offer year-around skiing?

[SnakeMagnet]

It seemed like further up the valley towards the Jumbo glacier area might get a lot more snow and offer year-around skiing?

Slow down there, you're sounding an awful lot like those failed Jumbo ski resort fellas.

But yes, the ski teams actually use the glacier from time to time in summer for practice.

[yeahman]

ER7 opened yesterday, MUCH better then I expected.

WH1, and outer/middle limits all skiing great. VERY low lineups on 27th,

Clear blue sky, OK coverage, chaulky grippy snow,
Overall very good shape

This is interesting, seems like LL has a fair amount of terrain open. I'm considering a trip up there next week if things don't improve down here. Just wish there were a little more snow in the forecast.

[mntlion]

This is interesting, seems like LL has a fair amount of terrain open. I'm considering a trip up there next week if things don't improve down here. Just wish there were a little more snow in the forecast.

Its skiing very well. Often doesn't get huge snow, but almost never looses snow to temps or rain.

[DougW]

Got KH ski lift ticket vouchers for sale. Use any time, no blackouts. Minimum 2 for $110 each.

[eastcoasttreehugger]

Hey Canadian mags - I'm going to be at RMR next week for a few days in route to Mustang Powder. Anyone around want to meet up and ski? Looking to explore the trees, chutes, bowls of Revy - Jan 9 and morning of Jan 10.
Thanks

[TOLOCOMan]

Might want to check in on the Kootenays thread about Revy. Think there are more Revy folks on there. This one is more KH, and the actual Rockies.

[eastcoasttreehugger]

Might want to check in on the Kootenays thread about Revy. Think there are more Revy folks on there. This one is more KH, and the actual Rockies.

Thanks - thats the BC southern interior thread right? wasnt sure what the dividing line was

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[TOLOCOMan]

Correct

[tintin5]

High speed quad coming for Castle: They’ve reached an agreement to buy the Angel lift from Sunshine. I wonder if Castle will replace the old triple? Hopefully it doesn’t change Castle too much.

https://www.skicastle.ca/angel-expre...ft-acqusition/

[SnakeMagnet]

Quietly telling that Sunshine will be putting something else in that spot, 6 pack?