5 Days in Revelstoke

The resort village is a small cluster at the bottom of Mount Mackenzie: the Sutton Place Hotel, a few restaurants, a rental shop and the base of the Revelation Gondola. The eight-person gondola climbs 1,170 vertical metres in two sections, with a stop at the Revelation Lodge in the middle, and is the only lift out of the village. There's no second way up.

Be in line before 9am. On a normal day the wait is short, but on a powder morning it's the one queue in town.

The Last Spike is a green run, 15.2 km long, and the resort's longest. The name nods to the final spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway, driven at Craigellachie, about 50 km west of town, on 7 November 1885. It wanders across the mountain from the top of the Stoke chair to the village, and it's the best way to see what you've bought before the steeper stuff starts.

Don't dismiss it as a beginner run: it's long, and on a flat-light day it's the safe line down. It is also a fair test of the snow: if the Last Spike is skiing well to the village, the lower mountain is in good shape.

The Stoke is the high-speed quad that serves the upper mountain, a climb of 632 vertical metres, and almost everything good on the front side hangs off it. On the resort's own list the blues are Hollywood, Critical Path and Bread & Butter; the blacks are Snow Rodeo, Pitch Black, Devil's Club and Hot Sauce (Snow Rodeo and Devil's Club turn blue lower down). Warm up on the blues, then try one black to see whether you want more.

Honest verdict: this is where Revelstoke separates guests. If the blacks feel fine, the rest of the week is a good one. If they don't, stay on the groomers and the Stellar chair zone.

Revelation Lodge is the cafeteria at the middle station, a warm place for coffee, a hot meal or a beer, and it has a patio for sunny days. It's the practical lunch: you can walk in with ski boots on and be back on the snow in half an hour.

The run home. From the Revelation Lodge, blues such as Snow Rodeo, Devil's Club, Follow Me and Home Run drop to the village, with Tumbelina and Locomotion alongside. It's the lower third of the 1,713 m vertical, and by the end of Day 1 your thighs will have an opinion.

The village is at only 512 m, so in December or after a warm spell the bottom third can be thin or closed, and the gondola is the easier way down. Ask lift staff before you ski it late in the day, and stop at the Mackenzie Common Tavern at the bottom.

The Mackenzie Common Tavern, known as the Mac, is the base-area après spot: a casual room at the foot of the lifts, with board games on the tables and a menu built on street food, plus a food truck outside in season. It works well on a Monday night, when you just want one beer and a table.

Stay for one beer. Downtown is six kilometres away and the shuttle runs until 8:30pm, so decide before you drink where you're sleeping and how you're getting there.

La Petite Baguette is a few steps from the bottom of the gondola, with coffee, fresh baked goods and grab-and-go lunches. It also sells basic groceries, so you can pick up a sandwich for the hill and avoid the lodge lines.

Don't confuse it with La Baguette on Victoria Road in town, a separate bakery.

North Bowl and Greely Bowl are two of the resort's four named bowls, the steep, open terrain high on the mountain. The resort's pages name them but don't describe the routes in, so treat this as the usual local description: a traverse off the top of the Stoke and sometimes a short walk, with runs such as Meet the Neighbours, Sweet Spot and Drop In on the maps. These are advanced slopes, with real consequences when they're unprepared.

The honest truth is that these bowls are for experts or strong intermediates with a guide. Whether a gate is open is patrol's call on the day, and in a lean early season the bowls may not open at all, so check the trail status and ask patrol at the top of the Stoke before you traverse. Ski with a partner and stay inside the ropes.

Sub Peak, listed by the resort at 2,340 m, is above the top of the Stoke at 2,225 m. Local guides describe a boot pack up to it when conditions and patrol allow, but the resort doesn't publish the details, so ask patrol whether it's open. It adds vertical and takes you above the treeline, with views over the valley.

Take it only if you're fit, in a group and the weather is stable. Bring a shovel, probe and transceiver if you go beyond the marked terrain.

The Ripper chair is the second high-speed quad, a 500 m climb, and it opens the tree skiing on the north side: glades such as Big Woody, Snorkel Glades and Stop at the Road, with the blues Burn Down and Chopper and the greens Downtowner and Sally Alley as ways back. Revelstoke's reputation for trees is deserved, and this is the best of it.

The Ripper runs shorter hours than the Stoke, usually closing before the gondola, so ride it by early afternoon. Trees are lovely when the snow is soft and awkward when it's crusty, so choose your line to the conditions.

The Outpost is the small lodge at the top of the gondola, with a patio facing the Monashee mountains. Its burgers have a local following, but for many it's the view across the valley, with the town, the Columbia River and the valley floor 1,170 m below.

Treat it as a reset stop on the way to the Ripper.

Rumpus is the downtown craft brewery, a taproom at 208 First Street East a few minutes' walk from Mackenzie Avenue, with pints, flights and snacks in the house, tall cans and growler fills to go, and a food truck on site every day.

It opens at 3pm every day and at noon on Saturdays, so it fits the way home from the hill. Mt. Begbie, the town's older brewery, is a better stop on Thursday: its tasting room is open Thursday to Sunday only, so it is shut today.

Stellar is a fixed-grip quad at the top of the gondola, opened in December 2019, and it gives a short climb of 130 m to a learning pod and makes it possible to reach the Ripper without riding the Stoke. Greens like Big Bend, Over Easy and Bacon & Eggs run down from it, with the blues Fowlie's Lap and Practically Pro.

Off Big Bend, on the left, is the Avalanche Ranch: a roped-off transceiver practice basin where you can test your beacon skills for free. Ten minutes there pays off if you plan any touring.

Separate Reality and the South Bowl are the other two of the resort's four bowls, on the south and east side of the Stoke, with advanced lines such as Vertigo Ridge, Pyromania and Stay Hungry on the map. Expect steep, mostly black terrain that holds powder when the front side is tracked out, but the resort doesn't publish how and when it opens, so ask patrol.

Treat this as a day for watching the clock: some of it is exposed, and the traverse out can be long. Ski it in good visibility only, and don't start a line you can't see the end of.

The glades below the Stoke have names that tell you who named them: Stihl Life Glades, Clyde's Secret Glades and Tally-Ho Glades. The resort has about 13 areas of gladed terrain, and these are the ones to start with. They're rated advanced but they are well spaced and forgiving compared with the steep bowls.

Pick the day's best snow: in fresh powder these are some of the best turns in the Columbia Mountains, and after a thaw they harden. Keep your buddy in sight.

Sunshine is a green run on the lower mountain, and Tourism Revelstoke points to it for some of the best mid-mountain views and an easy groomer lap in the afternoon sun. Fast Fred's, Wooley Bully and Feller Buncher run in the same zone, and blacks such as Cannonball, Hickory Run and Short Shot are a short drop away.

If the top is closed or in cloud, this is Plan B: not the best skiing on the hill, but easy, groomed and fast, and the lower mountain stays open in wind when the upper lifts don't.

Emo's is a family-run restaurant that has fed Revelstoke for more than 30 years: pizzas, steaks, pasta and a Greek platter that skiers talk about. It's casual, it's reasonably priced, and the portions suit ski appetites.

Order the Greek platter to share, or take a pizza to your room. Opening days are listed as Tuesday to Saturday on map data, so confirm before you walk over.

The Taco Club on Mackenzie Avenue serves Latin street food: seasonal tacos, burritos, enchiladas and tequila drinks. It's the place locals recommend after a ski day, and the downtown strip means you can walk to another bar if the night continues.

After dinner, walk Mackenzie Avenue end to end: the old brick storefronts, the Roxy Theatre sign and the railway line a block away.

Parks Canada lists snowshoe-friendly trails on the lower mountain: the Mount Revelstoke Trail, which climbs 1.3 km from town into the park, the 23 Connector, the Soren Sorensen 2 km and 5 km loops, Inspiration Woods and the Meadows in the Sky Parkway up to the Monashee Viewpoint. The Parkway is closed to cars in winter. The trailhead is at the Tournament of Champions park, behind the Railway Museum, so you can walk from downtown.

Snow arrives in mid-November, and a park pass is required. Stay off the groomed ski tracks, and note that the Giant Cedars and Skunk Cabbage areas are closed in winter. Nels Nelsen's jump is in an avalanche area and not open to the public.

The Monashee Viewpoint is a lookout over the town on the Meadows in the Sky Parkway. In winter the day-use Monashee Cabin there is open as a shelter with a wood stove and limited firewood.

There are two ways up. The road is 8 km from the parking at the gate, which is a long day on snowshoes; the shorter way is about 2 km up the Summit Trail from the Nels Nelsen parking lot. Cross-country skiers use a volunteer-groomed track along the road, and snowshoers should keep off it.

Mackenzie Avenue is the old main street, and a good cluster of coffee shops sits on it. The Modern Bakeshop and Cafe does house-baked pastries, soups and sandwiches, and the Nanaimo bars are praised locally. Spilt Milk, formerly Dose, roasts its own coffee and serves breakfast and lunch, and Conversations Coffee House is also on the strip.

Cafe hours are short and often end mid-afternoon, so eat before 2pm.

The Revelstoke Museum and Archives, at 315 First Street West, covers local history over two floors, from the railway and the Norwegian ski jumpers to the avalanches that shaped the pass. It's small and local. The Art Alleries, the alley art around downtown, are a short walk away.

It's open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and closed on Sundays; adults pay about 8 CAD (5 EUR).

Revelstoke exists because of the railway, and the museum on Track Street West tells that story: the building of the Canadian Pacific line through the mountains, the people who worked it, a diesel locomotive simulator and a model railway showing the Revelstoke division, plus heritage railcars outside. It's the best single thing to do in town without skis.

Open Thursday 10am to 8pm and Friday to Sunday 10am to 6pm, closed Monday to Wednesday.

Mt. Begbie has brewed in Revelstoke since 1996, and its tasting room at 2155 Oak Drive is the town's best-known beer stop, with Tall Timber Ale the old favourite. The room has a cozy fireplace for the cold months and looks across to Mt. Begbie, the peak it is named after.

The tasting room is open Thursday to Sunday, 12 to 8pm, which is why it belongs on the day off. Flights and growler fills are on offer. It's about 2 km east of Mackenzie Avenue, so take the shuttle or a taxi, or walk if the roads are clear.

The Big Eddy Pub, at 2108 Big Eddy Road, is across the Columbia from downtown, a pub where locals go for a monstrous caesar, a burger, wings and a pitcher, with poutines on the menu. It's a neighbourhood room, not a tourist one, and that's the appeal. The pub's own site gives hours of 11am to 9pm, seven days.

Take a taxi, since it's a few kilometres from the Mackenzie Avenue strip, and ask what's on special. If you'd rather see a film, the Roxy Theatre on Mackenzie Avenue, an art deco cinema from the late 1930s, shows ski films and screenings; check the listings.

The resort's Mountain Sports School offers private lessons and lets you hire a guide for the day to show you the best terrain for your level. On a mountain with this much hike-to and traversing, it's the best money you can spend: a guide knows the open lines, the safe traverses and the lap that doesn't need to be repeated.

Book ahead in the high season. A half-day is enough to learn the way into North Bowl or the glades.

Local advice for the last day is to ski Snow Rodeo from the very top of the Stoke to the village base: nearly the full vertical in one go, black at the top and blue in the lower sections. It's the nearest thing to a victory lap, with the whole 1,713 m laid out below.

Take it slow and stop to rest at the mid-station. With tired legs the long, steep descent is the hardest part of the day, not the top.

The Rockford Bar and Grill at the Sutton Place Hotel has a patio looking at the lifts, with elevated bar food, wine and cocktails. The resort lists it as open from early morning to late evening, so it works as a late lunch, après or an early dinner.

The Village Idiot Bar and Grill at 306 Mackenzie Avenue is the town's long-standing ski bar, with retro ski decor, homemade pizzas, burgers and a patio, open daily from 11:30am to 11pm. Locals recommend it for groups, families and anyone who wants a no-fuss dinner.

A last night in town should be here or at the River City Pub, another downtown pub that Tourism Revelstoke lists.

Monashee Spirits is a craft distillery on Mackenzie Avenue, and a nightcap here is a different note from the usual beer. Ask what the distillery is pouring that week.

Opening hours on map data show Tuesday to Thursday afternoons and Friday and Saturday late, so check on the day. If it's closed, the Roxy Theatre sign and a walk along the railway are a quieter end to the week.