Whitewater BC
We ended up going to Whitewater and Nelson to buy a car but we are delighted that we did. Both are awesome and should really be on anyone’s list of Canadian ski adventures. We went as much by chance as anything.
Nelson BC is the best ski town we’ve ever been too. It’s got a kitsch hippy feel with lots of cool places to stay and eat and a very laid back vibe, It’s a really picturesque wee town set in a valley between beautiful mountains. There is so much going on and everything in downtown was easily within walking distance. I would happily live there.
We ended up going to Whitewater and Nelson to buy a car but we are delighted that we did. Both are awesome and should really be on anyone’s list of Canadian ski adventures. We went as much by chance as anything.
Nelson BC is the best ski town we’ve ever been too. It’s got a kitsch hippy feel with lots of cool places to stay and eat and a very laid back vibe, It’s a really picturesque wee town set in a valley between beautiful mountains. There is so much going on and everything in downtown was easily within walking distance. I would happily live there.
Whitewater's ski lifts
The lifts felt fast after being at Red Mountain but are not fast in comparison to European resorts, they are quite antiquated. Don't expect to go anywhere in a hurry! We didn’t have to que at any point at all. They add to the vibe of the place.
Whitewater's best runs
The resort is laid out over three mountain faces. There is a smaller face on the left hand side when you arrive. It is accessed from the Silver King chair which is pretty old but fast enough. This accesses a range of blue and single black runs. The snow was fantastic on these and there are some challenging lines through the trees.
The bigger part of the resort is accessible by the Summit chair. This face has lots of easier long blues and some nice single black tree runs. You can traverse from the summit to lots of lines just by the resort boundary. If you head over the back of this face you will reach the Glory Ridge chair which accesses single blacks and blues on one side of the chair and some gnarly double black chutes and tree line on the other. Some of the double black runs would probably be on the more extreme end of categorisation.
Whitewater's snow
Whitewater is quite like Red Mountain in its steepness but its much higher up so had much better snow (drier and lighter). The snow was fantastic when we were there, having had 15cm the night before. It’s probably about two thirds of the size of Red but seems to have more varied terrain. Maybe we were lucky but it was some of the best snow we had in Canada.
The lifts felt fast after being at Red Mountain but are not fast in comparison to European resorts, they are quite antiquated. Don't expect to go anywhere in a hurry! We didn’t have to que at any point at all. They add to the vibe of the place.
Whitewater's best runs
The resort is laid out over three mountain faces. There is a smaller face on the left hand side when you arrive. It is accessed from the Silver King chair which is pretty old but fast enough. This accesses a range of blue and single black runs. The snow was fantastic on these and there are some challenging lines through the trees.
The bigger part of the resort is accessible by the Summit chair. This face has lots of easier long blues and some nice single black tree runs. You can traverse from the summit to lots of lines just by the resort boundary. If you head over the back of this face you will reach the Glory Ridge chair which accesses single blacks and blues on one side of the chair and some gnarly double black chutes and tree line on the other. Some of the double black runs would probably be on the more extreme end of categorisation.
Whitewater's snow
Whitewater is quite like Red Mountain in its steepness but its much higher up so had much better snow (drier and lighter). The snow was fantastic when we were there, having had 15cm the night before. It’s probably about two thirds of the size of Red but seems to have more varied terrain. Maybe we were lucky but it was some of the best snow we had in Canada.
Whitewater's Food
The food on the hill was affordable and in big portions. At night we went for a curry at Babbas on Baker Street, Nelson. Which, as a curry connoisseur, was very good. We would love to have had more time to explore Nelson further but we had already booked accommodation at Silverstar. We will definitely go back.
Whitewater (budget) accommodation
We stayed at the Mountain Hound Inn that is on the main street- Baker street. It had great ski storage, was very inexpensive ($80 a night- £40) and was a really pleasant stay after being in hostels for the last few weeks. Website- Mountain Hound
The food on the hill was affordable and in big portions. At night we went for a curry at Babbas on Baker Street, Nelson. Which, as a curry connoisseur, was very good. We would love to have had more time to explore Nelson further but we had already booked accommodation at Silverstar. We will definitely go back.
Whitewater (budget) accommodation
We stayed at the Mountain Hound Inn that is on the main street- Baker street. It had great ski storage, was very inexpensive ($80 a night- £40) and was a really pleasant stay after being in hostels for the last few weeks. Website- Mountain Hound
Whitewater Review
Our only disappointment with Whitewater was that we couldn’t spend more time there. It's got a really cool laid back vibe. We had already booked accommodation in Silverstar so only managed one days skiing, we would have stayed longer if we could have. It was one of the most memorable days skiing in the whole 3 months. It should really be on everyone’s list when going to ski in Canada. It’s slogan is WH20= the formula for powder and we would tend to agree! We would definitely go back.
Nelson is worth visiting even without the skiing. It is beyond charming.
Our only disappointment with Whitewater was that we couldn’t spend more time there. It's got a really cool laid back vibe. We had already booked accommodation in Silverstar so only managed one days skiing, we would have stayed longer if we could have. It was one of the most memorable days skiing in the whole 3 months. It should really be on everyone’s list when going to ski in Canada. It’s slogan is WH20= the formula for powder and we would tend to agree! We would definitely go back.
Nelson is worth visiting even without the skiing. It is beyond charming.
