Revelstoke & Whistler - Jan/Feb 2016

Hi all,

Finalising the plans for my wife and I to do our Jan/Feb trip to BC in 2016.

Flights from Melb-Vancouver (via Syd) are already booked - 19th Jan - 5th Feb.  We have a total of 18 days away, but factoring 3 days lost to commuting & rest between Vancouver - Kelowna - Whistler, we get 15 days of on snow time.

Looking to spend 5-6 days in Revelstoke, 9-10 days in Whistler.  We are solid intermediates - groomers, mellow off piste, trees etc - not really any park stuff.

Revelstoke, the focus will be on maximizing snow time.  Looking for a solid 5-6 days of getting to know the mountain really well.

Whistler, we will probably have a rest day or two, grabbing a day spa or just relaxing over drinks - you know, more of a split of R&R and boarding.  Probably out of the 9-10 days here, we might spend 7-8 on the slopes.

So my questions are:

- Would you do Whistler first & then Revelstoke?
- Or get the serious boarding out of the way first and then chill at Whistler?
- My understanding is that Revelstoke is steeper than Whistler (I may be wrong) so perhaps warming up at Whistler may be the ticket?
- In Revelstoke do you stay on mountain or in the town? Pros/Cons?

We are budgeting around $150/night for accommodation.

Keen to get your thoughts!

Hey Hugh,

I haven’t actually boarded at Whistler yet but from my day at Revelstoke I can guarantee you that it’s pretty damn steep.

If you’re hiring a car for your time overseas, then I’d stay in the town of Revelstoke. There is however a bus service that runs up and down the mountain too. Since you’ll be saving money by not staying on the hill you can then use that somewhere else… Maybe Cat skiing?

One thing to note with Revvie is that you don’t really ride the groomers. They are always moguls since it’s so steep they can’t really groom it. So you’ll learn to love the tree runs. And they are some really freaking awesome tree runs. Top to bottom can take you over an hour alone (for advanced riders) so there is the positive that you won’t really need to sit on lifts all day. But plan your lunch etc so you don’t kill yourself by getting hungry and then needing to spend an hour to get to a restaurant.

Now, 5-6 days straight at a resort that steep is likely going to be suicide for your legs (and likely the rest of your body), which is why I say drive up each day. Take 4-5 days of riding and use a day in the middle for rest. The town is pretty big and quite nice so you should be able to find something fun to do .

I think Whistler is the same, so factor in riding a few days then take a break if possible. However it might be wiser to buy 9 day pass and just have some half days when the weather isn’t the best. I’m sure some of the Whis kids can chime in here and help.

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Some photos from Revvie:

Steep enough?

Riding the chairs

Tree runs

Proof we hiked to the top

Thanks for the feedback TJ!  Would you say Revelstoke would be steep like Treble Cone, or even steeper? That’s probably about as steep as I’m bothered with, any more and it’s just hard work for my style of riding (pretty slack haha).

Starting to think Whistler has more than enough terrain to keep us busy, maybe we just hang there.  Last season we barely even scratched the surface in the week we were there.

It’s definitely steeper than TC but it’s a different kind of ride. It’s the most amazing mountain and I’d definitely recommend going over settling with Whistler your whole time (especially if you’ve been there before.)

Another option would be to go to Big White which is closer and more like Whistler but with a more family friendly type of terrain.

Yes good point.  Kind of torn at this stage as I don’t know how my wife would handle Revelstoke, I didn’t realize it was that full-on but the more I read up on it, maybe I’ll save it for a trip on my own. Big White looks ok from what I’ve seen - which would you recommend between there or Sun Peaks & Silver Star?  Really after some good blue runs, mellow off-piste & trees….

Big White is fun, we did 3 days the this past season, nothing super steep to be had (Actually its pretty crazy coming from Whis where there are mountains all around to Big White where there is no mountains around it) but the groomers where fun to bomb around on. But at that stage we just needed to get out of the Whis bubble and anything would have been good.

Whis has all the terrain you will need so if the wife isnt up to steeps maybe Revy isnt for her. I have yet to go there but will next season for sure. Maybe even go check out Lake Louise/Banff. It has ridiculously amazing scenery.

Sun Peaks is all groomers which annoyed me and if you’re not a local or don’t know a local you can miss a lot of the trees / cool stuff!

I’ve heard nothing but good things about Big White.

Silverstar is apparantly like a big gingerbread house with colourful buildings and some tree runs.

From what I’ve heard, I’d do Big White out of the 3 for a short trip.