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Best mountain on the Powder Highway? Been Whitewater and Fernie. Looking to go to RED or Kicking Horse this year but open to all options. What's everyone's favorite?
Of those I've been to Revy, Kicking Horse, and RED. They're all amazing for different reasons.
Revelstoke- I would say this mountain is best for the "backcountry freestyle" style of skiing- there's plenty of gnarly stuff too, but overall the terrain is just fun, natural jumps and cliffs everywhere, and plenty of spots in-bounds and out to build booters. Here's a clip from last year for an example of the terrain that just really lends itself to tricks: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnk37w9oG6U/ They get a ton of snow, and at the top of mountain its pretty high quality (not so much at the base). Sorta crowded (by interior BC standards) but the flipside is that there are a ton of great skiers there at any given time.
Kicking Horse- Just insanely gnarly and steep, I mean look at this slope shading map of the top 2/3rd's of the mountain: Not as much snow as Revy, but its lighter and better quality. Longtime FWT venue for good reason, if you want to full-throttle big lines and send the biggest airs you've ever hit, this is the place IMO. Haven't been there since 2019, it was pretty uncrowded when I was there, not sure if that's still true or not.
RED- Overall the easiest of the three, but also the least crowded and most lowkey small resort vibes. There are a few isolated runs that get pretty gnar (like the liftline off granite peak) but overall I'd say the best for keeping it a little bit chiller and skiing as much pow as possible. Snow quality is okay, it can get a little wet and heavy but on the flipside that means it can have some super interesting skiing when the snow is sticking to near-vertical rocks well.
My favorite of the three is Revy, the playful terrain and amount of snow is just too fun and it contrasts the type of skiing at my home mountain (Taos) nicely, but I think it really comes down to preference. Definitely all worth visiting
imo this is the ranking (I've never been to KH so I haven't included it, but definitely go there):
1. Whitewater- Really fun, playful terrain with very little of anything else in between. Crazy amount of very accessible slackcountry with more of the most fun terrain ever. Great snow, and it has dumped every time I've been there. The food at the lodge is amazing.
2. Castle- Idk if it's included in the powder highway marketing but it's an hour from Fernie so it's in there. Best snow of any on the list. It's almost never busy, there's rarely a lift line. Amazing mix of alpine terrain and tree skiing. Cat skiing is an option too. I'm biased because I worked there and learned the mountain but some of the best ski days I've had were there. It's easy to feel like you're the only person on the Mountain.
3. Revy- Amazing terrain and snow. It will make you a better skier. Except in a good year, only the top half of the mountain is very good. Long traverses to get in and out of many zones. Revy has more of a big send kind of vibe and less chill, playful terrain than WW. Revy has the best park of any of these mountains imo. not a very big park but everything is well built with good variety of features and the run to and from the park is fun.
4. Fernie- I love Fernie, wish I'd had more time to ski there. So much fun terrain and great snow. There just isn't the lift accessed gnar factor of Revy, the playful fun terrain of WW, or the wide open spaces and lack of crowds of Castle.
5. Red- It is for sure a fun mountain and I had a great time there but the weather was atrocious when I skiied it, much of the mountain was closed and most of the park was torn out.
My problem with kicking whores is the fact that you pretty much have to ski all the way down to ski like 100m of steep. Unless you skip lunch, luck out with no lines at the gondy, start skiing at opening and go all the way to closing and bomb every single groomer. You’re getting max 10 runs in on the ridges
