When you see snow blanketing the top of Elephant Mountain (which lies across the lake from Nelson BC) like sprinkles on a double scoop DQ, you know it’s time to go investigate. Rumour had it that there was a two foot base atop the Glory Ridge at Whitewater Ski Resort, and this it seems is true. The idea that you can already ski, well, not so much.
We parked in the Summit lot and were surprised to see that we could put our skis on right away and start skinning. While the snow puked on us the entire way up we were not surprised to see alder and trees poking out on the Blast, Bonanza and every other ski run in sight. There may be a lot of snow for this time of yer but it ain’t no where near ready to ski below the 7,000’ mark.
After an enjoyable skin up and look around we peeled the skins and followed our up track back down. Given that the cat road had seen some sled traffic, the base was super solid and the sides full of coastal pow and untracked. Closer to the parking lot I did manage to find some nice pointy rocks to give me something to repair later that night but the exercise and October turns were worth it.
If this keeps up for another few weeks then we’re going to have a very early ski season this time around. If you’ve been out and about with planks under foot, leave a comment below and let us know where.
