I'm now in Revelstoke, BC staying in the youth hostel, a bit of a comedown from the Vagabond Lodge! The hostel is fine and like most others I've been to (i.e. full of Aussies) but it made me realise that actually the posh lodge I was staying at in Kicking Horse had a much more friendly and communal atmosphere. Everyone ate together and talked about their day and the hosts Ken and Lori really made you feel at home. Think I'd better head over to tripadvisor.com and big them up some more.

But anyway, what I'm really here for is to try out the new ski hill. Having been up there today I can safely say it's pretty awesome. Revelstoke is blessed by mother nature with massive amounts of snow annually and there is plenty to play with up on the hill right now. Viz:


Like at Kicking Horse there is really only a single gondola and chair lift you need to concern yourself with but the combination works better here. You can do laps on the chairlift, called "The Stoke", without having to go back down to the bottom. The lift is really fast and there were no line-ups so I really got a chance to explore. The top of the mountain is fantastic tree skiing, not too steep but steep enough to slide through the mountains of snow. The resort was advertising only 3cms over night (and last night Fernie got 44cm!!) but it seemed that was conservative. There were plenty of boot-deep, knee-deep powder turns and shots of snow in the face on the steep sections. It's been snowing all evening so far so I'm very excited about tomorrow. One more morning and then I think I'll point Big Trak (as I've christened my truck) back home and call an end to this roadtrip.