Perhaps best known for maple syrup, hockey, and big trees, Canada is also a dream destination for anyone who loves powder skiing. British Columbia is the most western province, and it’s an enormous, strikingly mountainous place.
To arrive by road at its geographical centre requires a 10-hour drive from Vancouver across several mountain ranges and climatic zones. More telling, if you dropped B.C. over the western U.S., it would cover most of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. The scope of ski experiences represented by those states gives you an idea of the diversity of B.C.’s ski offerings, which share only two things: plenty of snow and plenty of space. The former makes skiing in British Columbia Instagram-worthy, but the latter defines it. With close to 90 smaller ski resorts, there is endless room for skiers to spread out, explore and get lost without being lost at all. Though B.C.’s calling card has always been deep powder — the world capital of both mechanized and non-mechanized backcountry skiing and Canada’s center for avalanche study are both in this province — it also hosts a myriad of ski towns that blend both mountain and regional cultures with a litany of winter activities to rival, well — anywhere.
1. Snow Job
With the stormy, moisture-laden Pacific raging against a 932-mile (1,500-kilometre) coastline, ten major mountain ranges and at least double the number of smaller sub-ranges, there’s a comprehensive continuum of snowfall amounts and types across the province. Annual snowfall amounts range from 20 to 50 feet, depending on the year and where you are. But 50 feet of light, fluffy powder in the landlocked Selkirks is very different than 50 feet of denser snow on the Coast. Mountains, with the former more susceptible to early-season avalanche cycles. Still, with varying freezing levels, coastal resorts like Mt. Washington on Vancouver Island and Whistler in the Lower Mainland will, throughout the season, experience everything from snow as heavy as elephant snot to powder made of fairy dust.
2. Trees, Please
Most of the movie-quality powder associated with B.C. comes liberally dotted with mountain spruce, fir and hemlock, a trio of evolutionarily adapted “snow trees” that hold onto the moisture and drip it to their roots. Whether giants or dwarfs, encased as snow-ghost spires or merely topped with massive snow-bombs that crash down without warning on sunny days (a bona fide hazard), these snowy sentinels bring solace and sanctuary to the winter landscape — the best place to ski in storms. Legendary stands that descend hundreds of vertical feet may be found at two dozen heli- and cat-skiing operations. Still, trademark B.C. glades exist everywhere, from Shames Mountain in the northwest to Revelstoke Mountain Resort in the Interior to the southern coastal colossus of Whistler Blackcomb. Big trees mean big tree wells (the hazardous, melted-out spaces around their trunks), so always ski within easy shouting distance with a friend.
3. Hidden Treasures
With its diversity, skiing in British Columbia instills a sense of discovery and exploration into the quotidian rhythms of people’s lives. Space may be the final frontier, but British Columbians are adventurers by design, and it’s a frontier they’re happy to share. Visitors can thank resource extraction for the many ski hills built as necessary distractions for those populating mining, logging and railroad towns. Many still retain that community vibe — whether far-flung northern outposts like Powder King near Prince George, Smither’s Hudson Bay Mountain or Shames Mountain in Terrace. The same goes for Vancouver’s unheralded North Shore troika of Cypress Bowl, Grouse Mountain and Mount Seymour, and the famous “Powder Highway,” which loops through the province’s southeast corner, including Fernie and Nelson. The last of the three is a serious undertaking as you follow a 620-mile asphalt belt linking countless funky, big-personality ski towns, each with its unique look, feel, customs and cuisine, topped off by world-class powder skiing both inside and outside resorts — a draw for ski bums who call this place home and an array of options for visitors.
4. Backcountry Bonanza
Home to some of North America’s most dramatic and remote mountains, from the summit of any resort in British Columbia, you can look over a sea of peaks and glaciers stretching to the horizon and virtually devoid of people. What’s out there? Unlike many ski areas in the western U.S., it’s surprisingly easy to find out, with backcountry access wide open from most ski areas. Of course, you’ll want to check local avalanche conditions, leave an itinerary with someone, and use any available beacon-check access gates. Hiring a local guide is also a good idea, and if you’re going that route, why not check out one of 30 commercial backcountry lodges ranging from the basic to the most luxurious — not to mention a world-leading cat- and heli-ski industry offering everything from heli-drop ski-touring to day- or week-long packages to boat-based adventures in the coast mountains with unnamed, yet-to-be-skied peaks.
5. Weird and Wonderful
Naturally, you’ll find a glut of standard B.C. winter activities, including dogsledding, horsedrawn sleigh rides, fat biking, ice fishing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing and thousands of miles of cross-country skiing. Still, B.C. also features the unique, from ice-skating a mile-long forest loop at Apex Mountain to the most Canadian thing ever — playing hockey on a frozen pond. Or how about riding Whistler’s engineering marvel, the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, to RED
Mountain Resort’s inbounds $10/ride cat-skiing? Or try the Hankin-Evelyn purpose-built backcountry touring area in Smithers and Troll Mountain’s Everest Challenge for 24 hours spent trying to log the same vertical as the Himalayan giant.
6. Getting Around
If you’re expecting trains or buses to help access B.C.’s ski resorts, you’re either from Europe, dreaming in technicolour or fondly remembering the ’90s. Resort-to-resort travel here requires a reliable vehicle, serious snow-driving skills and a healthy respect for logging trucks. If you’d rather someone else take on the stress of winter driving, jump into one of many mountain-to-mountain ski safaris operated by tour companies. If you’re flying into a central airport hub to ski a single resort, choose the shuttle option instead of going toe-to-toe with the weather and car rental cost. The only resort serviced at Vancouver airport is Whistler, while various resorts in the interior have shuttle service out of Kelowna, Kamloops and even Calgary, Alberta. Smaller airports in some interior towns have air links to Vancouver with 60–90 minutes of flying time, but the service can be highly weather-sensitive.
