Fin was showing me some photos and things he took on his phone and he had three video clips of him doing a Lloyd Grossman style through the keyhole feature from when we were in Fernie, oh my gosh that was a long time ago.
I don't know why I bother skiing with a GoPro and trying to capture those epic powder shots, this is just by far the best video to come out of this trip. It's just brilliant. Mum and Grandma are gonna love this one and I bet you watch it at least 78 times.
We arrived here around 4pm on Wednesday. Check-in was reasonably smooth at the guest check in lodge at the base of resort. From there we got our keys and received directions to our place at room 409 in 1000 Peaks Summit, one of the many condo buildings in the Upper Village at Panorama.
The lady at check-in was quite keen to point out the separate 1000 Peaks Lodge building, right next door to the 1000 Peaks Summit building, and explained carefully on the map how to get to the Summit building and how not to mistake the two.
We pulled up to the carpark barrier, swiped the key card and the roller door slowly opened. We found a parking space near the lift lobby, then unpacked handfuls of bags and groceries for the first haul up to the room. After struggling with said bags we found room 409, not surprisingly on the 4th floor. Presented the key card in the door but uh oh it wouldn't work. OK OK you're ahead of me here, looking more closely at the room number revealed 409 1000 Peaks Lodge. Doh. Doh. Triple doh.
Back down to the car for a reroute into the correct building then eh ho we finally made it.
This place is different to the rest. Much more resort'y, with a good selection of bars, restaurants and shops pretty much on your doorstep. We have a fantastic open air (very) heated outdoor swimming pool, except it's not really a swimming pool, not deep enough, more of a leisure hot springs, but absolutely delightful all the same.
The ski area is literally a stone's throw away, would have to be a little stone though, unless you're Tessa Sanderson, but it is only a minutes walk, so we can live with that. Yesterday (Thursday) the pistes were very firm in the morning but softened up as the day went on. Up the top the snow was still fresh and some really good skiing in the Taynton Bowl area. One such run involved a good 15/20 minute hike, not something I want to repeat. The views were great but was it worth it, not really considering there's plenty of other similar offerings without that effort required. Today (Friday) was much better. Been a little bit warmer so we didn't get that freeze thaw and teeth juddering groom combed early start, was nice and soft and stayed in really good shape all day, even at the end at 4.30 right back to the village was lovely and skiable. The bumps were a little softer today and Karen is now getting the hang of them, although the gladed trees are still there to be conquered.
Fin is skiing really well again, now he can see where he's going and that we're not forever taking him into the deep stuff. His control is amazing, he has really great balance, he is really confident and capable in using all types of lift and his awareness of other people and the hidden dangers is increasing all the time. He is really enjoying skiing with Ellie and loves leading the way. To have a child who can do all of this makes us incredibly proud. When I first started teaching him way back in 2010 I could never have imagined the progress he could make. We should never under estimate what our children with learning difficulties can do, be it Downs Syndrome like Fin or otherwise. I certainly under estimated it and he has proved me and very many others so wrong. Good on you Fin. #superstar.
Overall this is a really nice place. I like it. It's much more European like than the other places we've visited. There is lots of gentle cruisy skiing but coupled with that there is a lot of really good off piste, tree and bump skiing. Like a lot of resorts over here there's a lot of skiing served by few lifts. Many of these runs are a bit same'y but if you play with them you can always find new features and unique spots in all of them. There's also more people here than we've experienced at the other places, today for example we had to wait over 18 seconds in the lift line (aka queue). Unacceptable and I think we'll be asking for a refund. This is a stellar place for families and those wanting confidence building, easy to navigate slopes.
Welcome to Panorama
Uninterrupted room view
Room view interrupted by window frame
Ellie makes it out and is straight back on it
Some chellenging skiing in the Taynton Bowl
Such as The Monster, I think it's named after the monster hike needed to reach it
This bucket lift links the Lower and Upper villages
Fin chooses to have some me time
Cheers Panorama !
In the pool last night
The pool is in the hotel next door but free for all resort guests to use.
We woke on Wednesday morning to glorious sunshine, a sight we hadn't seen for a few days and a bonus for our four hour journey to Panorama.
After throwing all the suff back into the bags and then throwing the bags into the back of the Highlander, we left Revelstoke and set on our way.
Don't forget my skis daddy
Loads'a room
And thank you for having us!
This was not my favourite journey, in fact it was my least favourite. Difficult to say why because there was always something to look at, something to keep you captivated at all times, the roads were clear and easy and the miles seemed to tick by. I think maybe it's that mid holiday lull, we are now over half way through and although we are having an incredible time, seeing some incredible sights, skiing some incredible slopes, eating well and generally taking it all in, it does come at a cost. We always seem to be on the go and despite having all this time away we have not really had much time to relax (the photos might suggest otherwise, uh?). I think we are at that turning point now and having got to Panorama where we are staying for five nights we are going to really try to find time to chill out a little more and recharge before out final chapter at Lake Louise from Monday onwards. We also had Ellie flying out on Wednesday and thankfully everything went exactly to plan, she travelled out all by herself, from Manchester to Calgary via change of planes at Heathrow, then onward to Panorama using the Calgary-Panorama shuttle bus. Once we knew she was on that bus safe and well we could all relax and, for me at least, that was the last stress point of the holiday over and done with. There was a minor scare when at 3 minutes to 5 she had still not found the bus, which which due to depart in, err, 3 minutes. This had me running around the resort, on the phone trying to get them to call the driver and tell him to wait etc etc but in the end she sorted it all out, sent me a message and I could get back to the room for a well earn't beer. Make that two.
Leaving Revelstoke and going over the Rogers Pass had been a journey I'd been both looking forward to but also apprehensive about. It's often closed due to snow for hours on end and also for avalanche clearing, but we were fortunate to time it right and hit it on a day where the roads were clear. Some spectacular views going over the pass and down into Donald. Then we stopped at Mountain View Cabins before continuing the journey through Golden, did some shopping in Invermere then got to Panorama around 4pm.
When we arrived at Panorama the sun was in full swing, the slopes looked mighty impressive and the resort feels much more like a ski resort than anywhere else we've been. The room we have is great, nice and airy, great views, so now it's time I put this computer down and get on with that chilling thing ...
Karen, beer please ...
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Mountains in Canada
From Rogers Pass to Donald
From Rogers Pass to Donald
Somewhere
Near Radium Hot Springs
The Purcell mountain range
Toby Creek, on the road up to Panorama
View of Panorama slopes from 1000 Peaks Summit, room 409
Another view from the room, just as Ellie was about to arrive
Just three lifts. Strictly speaking four lifts. Could even argue six lifts. But I think Revelstoke likes this claim of having so much skiable terrain serviced by only three lifts. And it really is truly amazing the extent of skiing they provide from just these three lifts. Or four. Or six.
So, three, four or six. Well it depends how you count, or rather what you count.
From the base station bang outside the Sutton Place Hotel (did I mention that place already), there is a modern gondola lift which takes you more than half way up the mountain. Except it doesn't. The gondola from base takes you only a short distance to a mid-station, but at this "mid-station" you need to get out and get on the next lift, so strictly speaking it's two separate lifts and not one.
Then from the top of the "second" gondola it's a short ski down to lift number two/three, the Stoke 4-man chairlift, which takes you to the highpoint of lift served terrain.
From here the options are huge, an easy green run winding it's way down the entire mountain, constantly criss crossing the blues and blacks, making it easy to mix and match as the fancy takes you, dropping off for a quick blast down something steeper or heading into the boundless options through the trees, safe in the knowledge it's all part of the inbound patrolled ski area and you'll easily find a way out back onto one of the marked runs. Everywhere is so quiet, much like everywhere else we've been, not a single lift queue and certainly no competition for spaces on the slopes, or off the slopes in the trees if that's what takes your fancy. And it certainly does mine. Karen and Fin also had a good dabble in the off piste and really liked it, helped a lot by nice soft fresh snow everywhere. At this time of year it's inevitable to have spring conditions on the lower half of the mountain and while this was true and the snow really softened there was still plenty of it and the runs back to base were in decent shape.
Then there's a flatt'ish stretch of piste which links to the North bowl, a bit of a pain for Fin to get to as he doesn't carry much speed, but worthy of the effort all the same. It's flat on the way back too, but by then you're smiling too much to care. In the North bowl there is one other 4-man chairlift, the Ripper chair. This is probably supposed to be the 3rd lift, but we know it's the 4th. They're not kidding us.
Then lower down the mountain there are two kiddie winkle travelator's. One at the nursery area at base camp and one at gondola mid station, that's between gondola lift one and gondola lift two, this travelator acts for another nursery slope as well as linking the Revelation Lodge back up to the gondola (mid) station. These are lifts designed for skiers so I think should be included in the lift count, so in total I make it six lifts. Even so, remarkable lift to ski ratio compared to some mega resorts of Europe with dozens and dozens of lifts.
This brings me neatly to what for me is the only drawback of the mountain. It's a common fault with a lot of these N.A. ski areas, in so much as the on mountain eating and drinking options are really limited and in all honesty not much cop. Functional would best describe them. There's only a couple of places, none of which have much ambience and although the food was OK it was all rather fast food'y and not like the food we get spoilt with in Europe. Think large school canteens but with the clanking of ski boots and the all too frequent "awesome maaaan" boasts and you'll not be too far wrong.
Having said that it is a small price to pay for the quality of the skiing on offer. By some margin the best we've experienced on this trip, arguably partly helped by the terrific conditions, and I'd go so far as to say my best 2 days of skiing in North America. And that includes a few good ones in Vail, Breckenridge and Whistler, so that's some accolade. Love Revelstoke I do. Love it. It's good. Want to revisit to do some of the more serious stuff, like the hike up at the top of the Stoke chair, looks amazing.
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Going to start with a video clip showing just why I love this place. I know you can get this type of stuff elsewhere, but this is by far the best I've seen and experienced. It goes on a little bit and I think gets better and better, great stuff.
Next we have a little video compilation of a few clips from skiing at Revelstoke on Tuesday
And then this next clip is from the Glades of Glory trees where I fell (not literally) upon a sort of cave, only about 2 feet high at it's lowest point. It looked like a tight squeeze and indeed it was. Shorter skis would have been a bonus. There was an alternate route round to the side, but this looked way more fun.
Just a few more video clips while we're at it ...
Video clip of Tally Ho Glades, Revelstoke
It's all about teamwork
Another clip of me skiing Revelstoke
Fin grabs the cam
Boarding the Ripper chair
And here are a few snaps from skiing at Revelstoke 26 and 27 March 2018. Didn't;t capture many stills, just too busy skiing and enjoying it.
Putting this trip together took a fair bit of time and effort, Karen will tell you only too well of all the hours of research I put in to planning the route, the resorts, the hotels, number of days skiing, etc etc.
One of the most challenging tasks was deciding where to stay and for how long. As we looked at various options we just wanted to go everywhere and do everything, it all looked so appealing. But of course we only had just under three weeks so we had to make some compromises and some of the options on the short list ended up getting the chop.
One of those that we couldn't squeeze in was a short stay, maybe for only one night or two at most, at the Mountain View Cabins, close to Golden B.C. home to Kicking Horse Mountain resort. As a result we didn't get to ski at Kicking Horse, but on our drive to Revelstoke to Panorama today we virtually drove past the place, so made a short detour to check it out. Planning ahead, if you like.
Wowzers. It's an isolated collection of around 20 small cabins, completely remote from anything else, no wifi, no shopping. The cabins are rustic and basic but clean, spacious and warm. There's an open campfire which guests meet up around every day, yes, even throughout the winter. Snow shoe walks and views to die for.
This really would have added an extra dimension to this trip. Instead we decided to play it safe, go for the more comfortable end of the market, but we think we may have missed a trick here. It would have been the perfect way to completely wind down for a day or two.
