The Stoke

Are you looking for some hiking inspiration? These pictures were taken by Matt Hogg this week on Mt. Begbie, looking east toward the Selkirks and Revelstoke Mountain Resort. If this isn’t enough to convince you to tackle some mountains, I don’t know what is.

Looking across the Columbia River at Revestoke Mountain Resort and Mt. MacKenzie

The alpine meadows are in full bloom

The Begbie summit trail is steep and beautiful - see waterfalls and alpine meadow as you ascend the 24 degree trail up to the toe of the glacier (approximately 5-7 hours with a pack). Once at the glacier, it gets much more technical - make sure you’re experienced at glacier travel and carry the appropriate gear, otherwise just enjoy the views before you camp out or head back down.
To get there, take Highway 23 South for about 10km until you pass the Begbie Falls parking lot to your left. A small wooden sign to your right about 500m beyond the parking lot marks a little road where the trail head is found. For a comprehensive listing of the hikes available in the area, check out the Ministry of Forests’ website.

Parks Canada: Help Guide our Future

Are you a backcountry user, or are interested in the management of these areas? If so, Parks Canada would like your ideas as they review and update the Park Management Plan for Mount Revelstoke and Glacier national parks, and the Rogers Pass National Historic Site.

You’re invited to a public workshop to provide input and ideas on how backcountry areas in our Parks should be managed. It is also an opportunity for Parks Canada to provide an update on the winter permit program.

Two Backcountry Workshops will be held as follows:

Revelstoke Community Centre
600 Campbell Ave
Monday, August 24, 2009
7-9 pm

Golden Senior’s Centre
1401 9th Street South
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
7-9 pm

Parks Canada wants to know what is important to you! Do you have a specific topic that you would like discussed at this workshop? If so, please send them to MRG.Planning@pc.gc.ca by Noon on Thursday, August 20.

Get involved!
• Send your comments and ideas to MRG.Planning@pc.gc.ca
• Review background information on the plan review and associated topics on the park website: http://www.pc.gc.ca.

For more information, call Parks Canada’s Revelstoke office: (250) 837-7500.

FYI, here is a copy of the plan - you could even take a peek through it before the meeting.

A beautiful, sunny day of touring in Rogers Pass

The Stoke is proud to announce The Stoke List - Revelstoke’s only free classifieds section, now up and running at http://thestoke.ca/list. The Stoke List is free and easy - post or search for housing, items for sale, services, and jobs in Revelstoke and the surrounding communities. We recognized a real need in the community for a free online classifieds site, so we decided to build one for you from scratch. Take a look at The Stoke List to peek through the ads, post your own listing, and then tell all of your friends about it.

Thanks go out to John Brodie and Simon Wex for making it a reality for Revelstoke.

Have you ever wanted to be a travel journalist? Give it a shot! The Stoke is interested in your memorable Revelstoke moments. Whether you were here in the Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall, send in your story. Were you skiing at Revelstoke Mountain Resort, swimming in the frigid Columbia river, sledding on Frisby Ridge, playing softball at Centennial Park, cruising on your bicycle, camping in your RV or admiring alpine meadows (and snapping countless pics along the way)? Email your story and pics and get published on TheStoke.ca.

Photo sent in by Jared Millard

This winter, Revelstoke Mountain Resort is the place to be if you’ve got the itch to increase your mountain skills or try some ski touring. The Revelstoke Outdoors Centre (ROC) will open its doors at the start of the 2009/2010 season on December 5, and those doors are conveniently located at the base of the Revelation Gondola in Nelsen Lodge. The ROC is a really interesting development - slated to open last year as the Revelstoke Guides Bureau, it’s been rebranded and expanded to include backcountry/slackcountry touring options, guided ski touring, avalanche awareness courses, snow school courses, cat skiing and heli skiing, all booked through the same location. RMR spokesperson Ashley Tait is excited for the opening, and hopes the ROC will help riders “gain some valuable skills - either locals or visitors.”

Programs include:

• Introduction to Ski Touring and Split Boarding
• Guided Day Ski Touring – A full day guided experience in the backcountry of Revelstoke.
• Avalanche Skills Training (AST-1)
• First Tracks Cat Skiing – Breakfast at Nelsen Lodge and then an early morning gondy ride to your snow cat

The ROC will also offer introductory snow science courses, and avalanche transceiver training. The AST-1 course is a definite must-do for anyone even slightly interested in touring - the skills you learn will humble you, but also get you excited about safely getting out to make your own tracks.

The Revelstoke slackcountry is second-to-none