Revelstoke is out. Golden is in. But before we move on, here are several things I noticed about Revelstoke compared to the last time I was there in 2015.
It is clear that the city and resort have gotten significantly more popular (mind you, when we came in 2015 the weather was suboptimal).
The city has been investing in great wayfinding signage (separate post here).
Monster luxury homes have been built around the resort and across the valley. I don't recall seeing these, or at least this many, on my last trip.
A modest single-family house in the city now lists for around $1 million.
Anecdotally, I can also say that I spoke to a number of people on the lifts who had moved from Toronto and other big cities in order to "retire" or "spend the winters" in Revelstoke.
The city and the resort were very busy over the weekend. The resort could probably use some more lifts and/or gondolas during these peak periods.
The après spots on the mountain were full. And there are fantastic restaurants downtown, a number of which are quite fancy. Think $50-60 entrées.
I noticed more Australians living/working in the city.
I'm sure that the locals would rather that Revelstoke remain more under the radar. But that's not what is happening. It's quickly becoming a global destination for skiing, snowboarding, and other outdoor activities.
I left feeling very bullish on its future.
For those of you who are long-time readers of this blog, you might remember that I do an annual ski and snowboard trip with a group of close friends from both Canada and the US. This year should technically be the 14th annual, but we took two years off during the pandemic (though some of us did meet up to ski), and so we're referring to this as the official 12th annual. The last one was in February 2020 in Fernie, BC, and this weekend we're off to Park City, Utah.
This annual trip is something that I look forward to all year. And it has really cemented my love of snowboarding and the mountains. For me, it's this wonderful combination of outdoor activity, beautiful landscapes, unplugging, and catching up with friends that I have known, in many cases, for over 20 years. In fact, I know that this trip is the reason that a few of us decided to get together to build Parkview Mountain House (our upcoming "creative mountain retreat" in Park City).
A big part of what we want to do with the house (when it's hopefully ready next winter) is share our love of the mountains with others. We want others to experience what we experience when we go on these trips. At the same time, we felt like there was a huge gap in the market. Park City is a world-renowned ski and snowboard destination, and yet it still feels hard to find modern and design-focused places to stay. So we decided to create our own.
There is, however, one small problem: my right knee. It has been bothering me for the last few years whenever I snowboard, and usually only when I snowboard, to the point where I have to get off the mountain. This obviously pisses me off. So I decided to spend the last 2 months training my tender knees with Noah Mandel. We'll see if that did anything this weekend. But I'm so committed to the mountains that, if it helps, I'm even prepared to switch to skiing!
We landed in Calgary last night, stopped for a bowl of pho noodle soup, and then did the three hour drive into the BC interior. This year's "annual" is in Fernie, British Columbia. It's my first time here and the snow is everything I was promised. And since I have been meaning to post more photos on this blog, here are a few that I took today on my iPhone (with only minor edits made in VSCO). More to come, here.
Revelstoke is out. Golden is in. But before we move on, here are several things I noticed about Revelstoke compared to the last time I was there in 2015.
It is clear that the city and resort have gotten significantly more popular (mind you, when we came in 2015 the weather was suboptimal).
The city has been investing in great wayfinding signage (separate post here).
Monster luxury homes have been built around the resort and across the valley. I don't recall seeing these, or at least this many, on my last trip.
A modest single-family house in the city now lists for around $1 million.
Anecdotally, I can also say that I spoke to a number of people on the lifts who had moved from Toronto and other big cities in order to "retire" or "spend the winters" in Revelstoke.
The city and the resort were very busy over the weekend. The resort could probably use some more lifts and/or gondolas during these peak periods.
The après spots on the mountain were full. And there are fantastic restaurants downtown, a number of which are quite fancy. Think $50-60 entrées.
I noticed more Australians living/working in the city.
I'm sure that the locals would rather that Revelstoke remain more under the radar. But that's not what is happening. It's quickly becoming a global destination for skiing, snowboarding, and other outdoor activities.
I left feeling very bullish on its future.
For those of you who are long-time readers of this blog, you might remember that I do an annual ski and snowboard trip with a group of close friends from both Canada and the US. This year should technically be the 14th annual, but we took two years off during the pandemic (though some of us did meet up to ski), and so we're referring to this as the official 12th annual. The last one was in February 2020 in Fernie, BC, and this weekend we're off to Park City, Utah.
This annual trip is something that I look forward to all year. And it has really cemented my love of snowboarding and the mountains. For me, it's this wonderful combination of outdoor activity, beautiful landscapes, unplugging, and catching up with friends that I have known, in many cases, for over 20 years. In fact, I know that this trip is the reason that a few of us decided to get together to build Parkview Mountain House (our upcoming "creative mountain retreat" in Park City).
A big part of what we want to do with the house (when it's hopefully ready next winter) is share our love of the mountains with others. We want others to experience what we experience when we go on these trips. At the same time, we felt like there was a huge gap in the market. Park City is a world-renowned ski and snowboard destination, and yet it still feels hard to find modern and design-focused places to stay. So we decided to create our own.
There is, however, one small problem: my right knee. It has been bothering me for the last few years whenever I snowboard, and usually only when I snowboard, to the point where I have to get off the mountain. This obviously pisses me off. So I decided to spend the last 2 months training my tender knees with Noah Mandel. We'll see if that did anything this weekend. But I'm so committed to the mountains that, if it helps, I'm even prepared to switch to skiing!
We landed in Calgary last night, stopped for a bowl of pho noodle soup, and then did the three hour drive into the BC interior. This year's "annual" is in Fernie, British Columbia. It's my first time here and the snow is everything I was promised. And since I have been meaning to post more photos on this blog, here are a few that I took today on my iPhone (with only minor edits made in VSCO). More to come, here.
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