Revel In It

Opening day; a time of celebration for lovers of the cold stuff. For those who could not resist the siren’s song a few weekends past, Revelstoke was Mecca for all things cold. Friday night was brimming with not-so-quiet anticipation, and while some cold things fell to the ground outside, other cold things filled glassware inside. As the snow stacked up, many libations were shared amongst the faithful worshippers of Ullr.


A view of the snowy trees and mountains surrounding Revelstoke. PC: Bradley Moore

The stoke was high, the pints were many, and plans for the morning finalized.

Our strategy was simple: 9:30 at the café, on the gondola by 10.  While others camped in line overnight, awoke at ungodly hours, or arrived just in time to wait, we would let the line subside. By the time we rolled up, the ticket line was only two people deep, and we walked right onto the gondola with no line to wait in. It was clear Ullr had heard all the praise from the previous night, and had accepted our hangovers as sacrifice. 18cm of fresh snow had fallen on top of the previous storm snow- to put it simply, “it was on”.


We weren’t stopping to take pictures, but here’s one curtesy of revelstokemountainresort.com.

With the white room at max capacity, high fives were free all day. It was the kind of day where the only deep pockets we cared about were the ones after each turn, and while these were abundant, early season conditions were a friendly (kind of…) reminder that it was definitely the first day of lifts spinning.

Once the powder clouds had settled, the gondola shuttled tired smiles down to a nearly snowless base. Celebrations continued and core shots were cured with whiskey shots. Restaurants, pubs, and bars were spilling with good music, good people, and good times. New friends were made, and old ones found. It’s a shame that good things must come to an end.


Feeling fresh as morning dew. PC: Bradley Moore.

Sunday morning happened slowly to say the least, but swapping stories and cracking jokes at each other’s expense carried us through an early-afternoon breakfast. After more high fives we piled into our respective vehicles for the drive back to Nelson. The combination of exhaustion and intense satisfaction made for a peaceful drive home. It’s strange to have so much on the mind, yet feel no need to talk about it. Maybe it’s that we couldn’t find the right words, or maybe it’s just that we were tired. Well… we were definitely tired, but I like to think that the reason it was so quiet was because everyone in the car knew how content the other passengers felt. Why beat a dead horse when you can sit quietly and revel in its glory?

Perhaps making reference to a dead horse takes away some of the magic, but make no mistake, opening day is a special thing. It’s enough to make any one wish that opening day happened more than once a year. And hey, to be frank, opening day is the first day of many, and it’s only getting better. The snow will keep falling, and if I know “ski folk”, we can always find a good excuse to drink beer.  So strap in, click in, or do whatever it is you do to get out there; this season is going to be a good one.