Winter up top and Spring down below at Red Resort
As the 2015/16 ski season comes to a close, I was fortunate enough to squeeze in one last blue bird day at one of North America’s top rated ski resorts - Red Mountain in Rossland BC. As of late this unpretentious ski resort has been making some big waves in the ski world, so I decided to see what all the fuss was about. Maybe 7 lifts accessing 2877 acres and 890m of vertical had something to do with it.
Upon arriving I was greeted with a casual/friendly vibe and total lack of crowds. I found this refreshing compared to most other world-class ski destinations that can be cookie cutter in nature. Knowing that spring skiing conditions were in full swing I wasn’t really on a powder quest but just happy to be enjoying the scenery, sunshine and of course Red’s famous Slush Cup!
After sampling a handful of runs one of Red’s three mountains it became clear that while this mountain has pretty much everything one could ever want, it’s speciality is advanced treed runs. I skied mainly North and West aspects to try and find as much soft snow as possible and found killer lines sprinkled with cliffs, gullies and even old mine shafts. While is was definitely spring skiing in the valley it was still winter up top with soft groomers and fine turns to be had. Mid-morning I made my way over to Paradise lodge, a beautiful wood cabin on Granite Mountain where I refuelled and socialize on the deck with locals and old ski buds.
Over the course of the day I tried to sample a little of everything that Red Resort had to offer, but this proved to be easier said than done. The inclusion of Grey Mountain within Red’s boundaries adds almost another 1000 acres to the resort’s already impressive size. Add to this Mt. Kirkup cat-accessible skiing (for only $10/ride) and you get an additional 200 acres of skiing and riding. With stats like these I knew that I was going to have to come back again to get the full Red Resort experience.
As my ski day was coming to a close I headed back over to the base area where I was able to catch the new double “Slush Cup” event and enjoy a ‘cold one’ at Rafters Lounge. From the patio, fans were treated to a costumed spectacle consisting of a pool of ice cold water, then a jump and another pool of water. Double the challenge of your typical Slush Cup event and of course double the laughs and carnage. While some contestants were not so lucky at crossing both ponds, all were met with audience approval. While relaxing on the patio enjoying the last rays of sunshine, I couldn’t help thinking that this must be how part of the resort got the name “paradise”.
