The Stoke

Who’s ready for some skiing?

Revelstoke Mountain Resort opens this weekend for a sneak peek on Saturday, November 26 and Sunday, November 27, and then opens for good on December 3. The early season touring has been great this year, though we’ve gone through several avalanche cycles already. The snow has been plentiful, and RMR looks to open with their biggest base since opening year (when they didn’t open until later December). 

Who’s ready for some skiing? 

Here’s a vid my friend Sean Cochrane put together detailing some of his early season highlights. It’s sure to get your stoke going: 

Do you tour in Rogers Pass?

If you ski tour or splitboard in Rogers Pass and you’re wondering what this whole permit system is all about, head on out to a 2011-12 Annual Winter Permit Orientation Session in Revy or Golden this week. Because Parks Canada and the Canadian Forces operate such a huge avalanche control program in Rogers Pass, be aware that many areas of Glacier National Park have restricted and prohibited access in the winter. As Parks Canada strives to improve the Winter Permit System, changes to boundaries, parking and administration have recently been made. 

Revelstoke: November 22 at 7:00 pm at the United Church

Golden: November 24 at 7:00 pm at the Seniors Centre

If you held an Annual Winter Permit last year, a link to an online renewal quiz has been send to you, so check your email. 

Visit http://parkscanada.gc.ca/skirogerspass for more information. 

If there’s enough snow to ride, there’s enough snow to slide

Hey folks, while we’re still in the early season, I want to take a moment to encourage everyone venturing out into the backcountry around Revelstoke and beyond to check avalanche bulletins, carry avalanche rescue gear, and use common sense. The Canadian Avalanche Centre will start posting public bulletins this week, so make sure to check the bulletin before you ride. 

A persistent problem at the moment is a layer of surface hoar now buried approximately 60cm deep under our newest round of storm snow. There has been significant avalanche activity around the area, with many slides running full path. Choose appropriate terrain for the conditions, carry a transceiver, shovel and probe (and, just as important, know how to use them), check the bulletins, limit exposure to slide paths, don’t group up in runout zones, and remember that we’ve got a long, snowy season ahead of us. 

There is great snow to be had, but make sure you do it safely. Get the gear and take an avalanche skills training course if you’ve never done it before. 

Photo taken by Brent Malysh on November 13 at The Gorge, a popular touring destination west of Revelstoke. 

Get Ready for Goosebumps: Salomon Freeski TV - The Freedom Chair

Check out this inspiring episode of Salomon Freeski TV. Vernon skier Josh Dueck was paralyzed in a ski accident several years ago, but that hasn’t stopped him one bit. There is a group of wonderful folks in Revelstoke working to bring adaptive skiing to RMR this winter.

A Kootenay Mountain Culture Shout out!

The Stoke is highlighted in the Stash section of the newest edition of Kootenay Mountain Culture, which many of you should already know and love. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, KMC is a free biannual magazine full of amazing photography, compelling, funny and interesting articles, and an all-around highlight of why life in the Koots and surrounding areas is the best in the world. 

Pick it up at your local ski shop - you won’t be able to put it down. Flip through the pages and you’ll no doubt recognize names and lines. The cover features a snowy downtown Revy scene complete with buried car, all-too-familiar last winter; local photographer Bruno Long has a spectacular shot on p. 27; there’s a pretty l’il full-page ad for Revelstoke’s own Trapper Snowboards; legendary skimo athlete Melanie Bernier gets a mention in a story on ski mountaineering sufferfests; Gord Spurgeon has a two-page spread shredding RMR slackcountry and local snowboarding legend Joey Vosburgh is shown slashing a big turn in Rogers Pass, both shot by Ryan Creary.

RMR is featured throughout for being generally awesome; there’s a great article on a recent trip to Chile by all-star good-time-haver Chris Rubens; Trapper Snowboards and Big Bend Skis are both in an article on home-grown sticks, and the Canadian Avalanche Centre (based in Revy) gets a few mentions as well. Awesome. We’re a small town with a big mountain and and even bigger heart!

Get your Farmers’ Market Fix Every Second Thursday!

The weekly Farmers’ Market in Grizzly Plaza recently drew to a close, but today marks the first winter Farmers’ Market at the Revelstoke Community Centre. Every second Thursday from 2 - 5, head over to the Farmers’ Market to pick up organic veggies and fruit, homemade goodies, Stoke Roasted coffee, handcrafted items and more. 

TONIGHT: All Candidates Forum at the RCC

The next municipal election looms: November 19 is the day we’ll go to the polls to decide who will sit on Revelstoke’s city council. 

The all candidates forum is tonight at the Revelstoke Community Centre. Bring concise questions and an open mind. This is your chance to learn about the issues, and about where all of the candidates stand. We’ve got a large group of candidates vying for a spot on Council, so get to know them. It’s your civic duty - the municipal elections are the ones that really count. 

[EDIT] The Revelstoke Chamber of Commerce All Candidates Forum will be aired on RCTV 6 at the following times (2 hours length):

Friday November 4th – 5:00pm
Saturday November 5th – 2:00pm
Sunday November 6th – 8:00pm
Monday November 7th – 9:00am
Tuesday November 8th – 12 noon
Wednesday November 9th – 5:00pm
Thursday November 10th – 8:00pm

Please feel free to share so people that could not make the event are able to see the candidates in action!

Counting down the days

The calendar clicked over to November yesterday, and with it comes a mounting anticipation for another winter season. Whether you ski, snowboard, sled, snowshoe or make angels in your front yard, as the rain turns to flakes it’s hard not to feel the stoke. 

Frosty windshields are the harbingers to the mid-season, 20-cennie dumps we’ve got in our future. It may be early, but folks are already out there getting amongst it. I’ve got one day under my belt at Mt. McCrae, just south of Revelstoke and it felt good to strap on skins and walk up hill for a while. Where have you been? How are you fuelling your early season stoke? 

This photo was taken by Leslie Hogg last week up at the Asulkan Hut in Rogers Pass. Not too shabby!