This ski paradise in Canada is one of the snowiest places on Earth
Located in a rare inland temperate rainforest known for epic snowfall, British Columbia’s Revelstoke is the perfect winter playground.
British Columbia’s inland temperate rainforest is one of the snowiest places on earth. Its premier ski town, Revelstoke, holds the Canadian record for most snow dropped in a single winter—a whopping 80 feet in 1971-1972. And Revelstoke Mountain Resort sees 400-500 inches of snow every season.
Inland temperate rainforests are rare, located primarily in southeastern B.C., Siberia, and eastern Russia. These unusual ecosystems stay wet all year (think lichen dripping from tree boughs and boulders covered in spongy moss). But unlike other types of rainforests, most of the moisture falls as snow.
“Snowforest is probably a better word for it,” says Christy Shaw, Revelstoke resident, ethnobotanist, and cocreator of the book and exhibit “Stories of the Forest: Reflections on an Inland Temperate Rainforest.”
For snow sports enthusiasts, there’s no place better to be in the winter than Revelstoke, perfectly positioned between the Monashee and Selkirk subranges of the Columbia Mountains. Here’s how to best experience this Canadian winter playground.
Skiing Revelstoke
In addition to record-breaking snowfall, Revelstoke Mountain Resort (RMR) is the most vertical in North America: 5,620 feet. The Last Spike is one of the longest ski runs on the planet, winding down the scenic southern flank of Mount Mackenzie for 9.5 miles. For expert powder hounds, the resort’s alpine bowls are the big draw, but don’t overlook the trees—spots like Glades of Glory and Conifers of Gnarnia also serve up seemingly bottomless powder.
New this season, RMR moved its ski school from the base to the top of the gondola and installed a surface lift called Cupcake Carpet to create a beginner zone there, drawing newcomers and families up the mountain so that everyone can experience the high-altitude vibes and views.
Last year, Revelstoke Outdoor Art Movement (ROAM) began quietly installing art among the cedar, spruce, and fir trees at the resort. Expect more this season, but the locations will continue to remain secret; leaving skiers and snowboarders to discover the installations on their own.
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Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing
At the base of Mount Macpherson, snow-covered trails weave through a majestic swath of inland temperate rainforest. Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club, one of Canada’s oldest (circa 1891), grooms 20 miles for cross-country skiing (both classic and skate) and maintains another four miles dedicated to snowshoeing.
“I come here for the silence and the solitude,” says Shaw of the cedar- and hemlock-lined trails. Look for witch’s hair, a photogenic yellow-green lichen that dangles from the snow-laden tree boughs like tinsel. Shaw says witch’s hair can’t survive in polluted environments—its abundance signals excellent air quality.
Visitors can rent cross-country skis and snowshoes at the Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club day lodge. Show your booking confirmation from a local hotel, for a stay of two nights or longer, and get a free rental and complimentary day pass.
(Strap on snowshoes for stellar views of this Colorado national park.)
Skiing the backcountry
Revelstoke is world-renowned for its backcountry skiing—perhaps most notably at Rogers Pass in Canada’s Glacier National Park, a natural gap between a series of 10,000-foot peaks in the Selkirk range that sees an average of 30 feet of snow per year. Locals attest it’s not only the quantity of snow that makes skiing at Rogers Pass exceptional, but also the quality.
Leah Evans, a professional skier based in Revelstoke and the founder of Girls Do Ski, an organization that leads freestyle skiing camps for female-identifying athletes, describes it as a magic mix between a continental and coastal snowpack. “The snow sticks, so you get this really solid foundation, but then also this beautiful champagne-powder sensation,” she says. “You feel like you’re riding in a dream, the way you can just move with the snow.”
Exploring the town
At its roots, Revelstoke is a railway town—a former transportation hub where steamboat traffic traveling up the Columbia River connected with the Canadian Pacific Railway. Kids of all ages appreciate the Revelstoke Railway Museum, which showcases how trains shaped life in the mountainous Canadian West. The Revelstoke Museum and Archives celebrates the town’s colorful history, including its ski culture, which dates to 1890. Don’t miss the permanent exhibit “Sinixt: People of the Place of the Bull Trout,” to learn about Revy’s Indigenous past and present.
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What to know
Where to stay Revelstoke’s sole ski-in ski-out accommodation is the luxurious Sutton Place Hotel, at the base of Mount Mackenzie. In town, Revelstoke continues to unveil new accommodations for a variety of budgets, including Eleven Lodge and Northwinds Hotel Revelstoke.
Where to eat La Baguette Artisanal Bakery and Cafe, or “La Bag,” as it’s known locally, is the de facto meeting point in town for all outdoor winter adventures, both before and after. The best lunch spot in Revelstoke is Terra Firma’s Kitchen, dishing up healthy gourmet fare from its own farm and others in the region. The Old School Eatery, named for its location in a hundred-year-old, red-brick schoolhouse, has excellent service and all your menu favorites—from avocado toast to winter harvest salads to double-decker burgers.
Essential tips Visitors to Rogers Pass must stop in at the Roger Pass Discovery Center to pick up a free winter permit, a safety requirement for accessing the Rogers Pass backcountry due to the highway avalanche control program using live explosives.
Revelstoke is home to some of the world’s top skiers and guides, like Greg Hill, who is perhaps best known for skiing two million vertical feet in a single year. 57 Hours, an online service, connects visitors with Hill and other local guides, for day trips and more.
