Featured Picture: Courtesy of Whitewater Ski Resort
Whitewater Ski Resort has lengthy been often known as a haven for skiers in search of a superb resort expertise that’s off the overwhelmed path. Whereas they satisfaction themselves on selling an extremely welcoming and pleasant ambiance, the terrain is really what is going to put a smile on any pow-hunting skier’s face. Although it appeared like these terrain choices couldn’t get any higher, they only did. The resort not too long ago introduced a terrain enlargement that may add 60 acres of freeride inbounds terrain to the present choices.
The brand new space, known as Goat’s Slide terrain, has lengthy been a backcountry space of curiosity for locals, in addition to for guests with a eager eye. Goat’s Slide will likely be accessible through the brand new Raven Chairlift, which was added to the resort final winter. The expansions on this space have opened up a complete new facet of Whitewater, because the Raven Chairlift added 123 skiable acres and 14 new trails. Whereas many of the terrain close by stays skiable to a wide range of talents, this new Goat’s Slide terrain goes to be a superb zone for superior riders to discover a distinctive choice of strains that mix steep and deep with bouncy and playful.
Whitewater sits on Canada’s Powder Freeway, a route that runs by way of the Kootenay Rockies in British Columbia and passes by eight ski areas. The freeway’s title tells no lies, as Whitewater alone sees over 480 inches of snowfall in a mean 12 months. That’s over 40 ft, or 12.2 meters if we’re talking Canadian. The bountiful choices introduced down by Ullr remodel this resort into probably the greatest powder locations on this planet.
Over the a long time, a passionate following of skiers has amassed within the close by city of Nelson, BC. These rippers who name Whitewater dwelling have been groomed by its unbelievable terrain through the years, and it has produced some true freeride stallions, one in all which is none apart from Sam Kuch. Dubbed “Whitewater’s Renaissance Man” by a FREESKIER Athlete Profile again in 2019, Kuch’s mind-blowing driving can seemingly be attributed largely to his days spent snowboarding exterior of Nelson.
As creator and ski movie director, Scott Gaffney put it within the aforementioned article, “The phrase ‘resort’ appears a little bit of a misnomer, for Whitewater harkens again to less complicated occasions when ski areas had been all in regards to the snowboarding—not overpriced burgers and spa packages… Three buildings comprise the complete base space and the identical variety of chairlifts service the whole thing of Whitewater’s 1,184 acres. And what terrain it’s: tight timber, pillows, open fields with dongers and poppers in all places, a thousand and one tranny snipes and brief hikes or excursions that entry a bevy of steeps, cliff zones, distant bowls and excessive alpine faces.”
If that doesn’t sound like enjoyable, I simply don’t know what does. And with loads of poppers, tree strains and mini-golf-type cliffs and options abound, the brand new Goat’s Slide terrain will add much more high-caliber proving grounds to Whitewater’s inbounds choices.
There are certain to be backcountry fanatics who discover this information unsettling. It’s true; this enlargement does take a beloved touring zone and switch it into resort-operated territory. Nonetheless, when considered from a big-picture lens, the enlargement is sensible. As Whitewater defined, the brand new Raven Chairlift led to elevated site visitors on this zone, which had already been rising in recognition during the last 5 years. This quantity of snowboarding led to typically harmful circumstances. With resort-monitored avalanche mitigation work, skiers can get extra laps in with out the identical worry of backcountry avalanche situations.
“This formidable addition will improve visitors’ winter expertise by offering new alternatives for journey on the slopes,” stated the resort in a current press launch. “Providing thrilling new terrain that enhances the resort’s current runs, this addition not solely provides a brand new dimension to the mountain but additionally cements Whitewater’s place as a premiere vacation spot for winter sports activities fanatics.”
As we start to shut in on winter 2024/25, this new enlargement has us nothing in need of fired up. Change and progress is inevitable for any profitable ski space. The query turns into are you able to handle that change nicely? Whitewater has proven that they can do exactly that, and can proceed to develop with respect to the group and guests that decision this freeski haven their dwelling.
