TR Whitewater, BC aka We got Nelsonized

[Sutter]

Location:


Date:
21 February - 25 February

DaveP, Skiergirl, THE ULTIMATE LURKER aka Shelley, and I attended the Kootenay Coldsmoke Festival this past weekend. Whitewater Ski and Winter Resort stands 30 minutes from downtown Nelson, BC and is pretty much the antithesis of a resort. The modest 500 acre resort has 2 arthritic chairs that take you to either side of the mountain which has a decent ridge that is hike accessed for some fun smallish hucks, great tree skiing and some steep chutes.

The real pleasure of Whitewater is their open gate policy and the incredible amphitheater of sick side country terrain that is a quick skin away. Most of the days were spent in clinics, so there weren't a lot of great photo opps then, but we got some great shots of the mountain, some skintrack stoke and local Nelosn personalities that include a Don Juan Quebecois named Nic, and our friend Woodstock who loves his cheeba, good coffee, and calling people hosers (pronounced hew-sers, by him) in a totally non-ironic I-grew-up-in-rural-BC kind of way. On to the pics....


The resort in the front of the photo, the radness in the back.


They were really playing up the Canadian angle the whole weekend. We chose to raise the bar on the Buff-eh and make it the Buff-fkna, eh?


DaveP wants to get the party started right


Kelly and TUL may or may not have made friends with a guy who may or may not have been a groomer at Whitewater who in turn may or may not have taken them to the mountain one night for moonlight cat skiing after MANY beverages that may or may not have rhymed with bokanee.


On the left is our Quebecois friend Nic. That is not his real hair, but it was curiously similiar to TUL's hair, seen, in the shadows behind her wavy red veil.


Nic and his fake hair on the left and Woodstock (real name) on the right.


Skiergirl, some redneck, and Woody at the bar. Skiergirl is all smiles because she just found out she may or may not be going night cat skiing shortly.

The next day DaveP and I skinned to the summit of Whitewater. We had gone up there the day before with a large group of people, but there was zero vis, so we wanted to revisit the peak without the huge group and in better weather.

DaveP, skintrack, and Whitewater peak.


dblatto on the up and up with the Kootenays behind


The weather broke just as we were making our way to the top


On the summit, I still can't tell if DaveP is offering me food or subtlely giving me the finger.


That's 1 of 12 grolsches I downed before leaving the top.


DaveP entering our chute for the day, First Choice.

There was some of best snow of the whole weekend in the chute, a nice steep pitch that we skied quickly and got down to the base area as it was towards the end of the day. All in all, we didn't take enough pictures to really capture how big this mountain skis. Calling it a small wonder would be a massive understatement.


word to the wise, watch out for that Nelson beer, it can take it's toll in strange bodily functions.

The overall vibe of the festival is small, very mellow with some impressive instructors, although most of our sessions were just shredding around the mountain, but I highly recommend attending in the future. Nelson is a super chill town with great people, can't wait to go back!


DaveP likes Whitewater, too I guess.

more pics and stories at The Burlytown Gazette

[AKbruin]

Nice work! I've been dreaming about a trip to that part of BC for a while.

[PulverSchwein]

wicked TR dblatto, thanks. Skied WH20 as a kid many many moons ago. I remember staring at that terrain back then wishing I had a way to get up there. Gotta get back some time now that I know how to do it. Still looks great

[forma]

Picture 7
Skiergirl, some redneck, and Woody at the bar.

Interested to see if anyone recognizes "the redneck"

[fattwins]

WW is a sick place and the food is good too!

[4matic]

Lot's of beards in Canada eh?

[ill-advised strategy]

Johnny Upton?

[cab9]

That guy is such a redneck.....but has climbed and skied some of the sickest stuff on the planet.

Anyone else have a guess on who the infamous redneck is?

[shirk]

Anyone attending Gordy's camp this weekend will know who the redneck is.

[ratcliffe81]

HAHA some redneck! More like some skiing legend! Thats awesome you have no idea who he is.

[Sutter]

HAHA some redneck! More like some skiing legend! Thats awesome you have no idea who he is.

That's awesome you're sarcasm meter is totally busted. Being subtle is a good quality in life, my friend. This isn't some ski-star-fucking report. I tasted EPs homemade jerky and it's the tits. All you Whistler campers are going to have some fun for sure.

[Tye 1on]

Great TR thanks. One of my best ski trips ever was to that exact little corner of the world. Props on the sticker placement too. [still crackin up about the ski gear leaning all over the snowcat, back when i was driving SOMETHING would have been backed/run over fo sho...]

[ratcliffe81]

That's awesome you're sarcasm meter is totally busted. Being subtle is a good quality in life, my friend. This isn't some ski-star-fucking report. I tasted EPs homemade jerky and it's the tits. All you Whistler campers are going to have some fun for sure.

Point duly taken. Sick TR by the way.

[skimoore]

NICE....

thanks for inviting me.

[dk_alaskan]

Johnny Upton?

OMG!!!! He STILL lives!!! EVEN after he flashed them in front of the cheap bastard!!!

Nice TR db, I am jealous, haven't been back to Nelson in over 2 years--GREAT place, er, the skiing sucks, the locals are assholes and the snow is even worse.

[Sutter]

thanks for inviting me.

We wouldn't have made it across the border with that much sickness in one truck.

[Dhelihiker]

Ymir is one of favorite places in the world. That was my weekend trip all through high school.
I almost got buried in an avy in Ymir bowl- Oh to be young and completely stupid

Ahhh the memories

[skiergirl]

Blatto I have no idea what you are talking about. Don't make me post up the YouTube of your and DavePs Take On Me duet, though this tr does need a good soundtrack...

Whitewater is a special place. Your mind is repeatedly blown by the bc options that are right in front of your face. It's all there, you just have to put one ski or foot in front of the other to get to it.

This was Shelhigh and I's 2nd year attending Coldsmoke, now known as Kootenay Coldsmoke Bluebird Festival b/c there wasn't a ton of pow. It's a really fun festival where you ski, drink, demo, drink, watch movies and cool slide shows (pyg I liked yours bestestest) and meet nifty people. It's a pretty killer deal for what's involved in the price and I will definitely go back next year.

Some highlights
-working on the turns
-still getting a couple quicky bc laps after getting intimidated out of the Redneck's clinic, and finding out my new ski partner lurks on tgr too (Sam you should start posting).
-Demos - they had a ton there and it was free for the weekend. BD (including the new boots which are hawt!), G3, Atomic, Scarpa, Garmont, K2 - the Soho? is a really fun ski!, and the list goes on.
-movies - probably too many in a row but they were all outstanding. Solio Chairlift Quest was freaking hilarious.
-new friends and 3 am shenanigans (we were sober)
-realizing one of the organizers was also our cat guide at Valhalla about 6 years ago for summit #2

Sadly I didn't take a single pic of skiing. Here are a few others though.

DaveP and Blatto showing the lady they've got skills






Shelhigh and I


Next year...

[skier666]

I'm with Skimoore. How come this secret trip with not even one gmail chat line of "I'm off to Nelson tomorrow." Its been 8 years or so since I've been there, and have always talked about going back.

[skiergirl]

Sorry. I'm a jerk. And my dad only has so many trucks we can steal and take across the border, gosh.

Same bat place and same bat time next year... 666 you're invited so we can get a proper tr that does that place justice!

[skimoore]

Sorry. I'm a jerk. And my dad only has so many trucks we can steal and take across the border, gosh.

Same bat place and same bat time next year... 666 you're invited so we can get a proper tr that does that place justice!

Oh, but I'm still not invited? That's it, you're on my shitlist. I'm totally gonna give you the evil eye the next time I see you.

[Beaver]

I'm with Skimoore. How come this secret trip with not even one gmail chat line of "I'm off to Nelson tomorrow." Its been 8 years or so since I've been there, and have always talked about going back.

Don't feel bad. Apparently they blew off the local maggots too.

[Sutter]

OK, gosh!

Next year the entire Kirkwoodian Krew of Wall Skiing Nastiness will rent a Ford van and drive to Nelson together, take over the White House backpacker's lodge and rule the Kootenay Coldsmoke Festival with, hopefully some Coldsmoke, because there certainly wasn't any this year.

Another side note, interior BC girls are HOT. And they're everywhere, I've never seen so many hot skiing girls in one place, let alone a place as secluded as Whitewater. Dudes, if you're single and looking for a hot skiing chick with most likely a nose ring and cool, short, pixie-esque haircut, move your ass over to Nelson.

[Sutter]

I could have met you Beaver!? For shame on my behalf.....

[Beaver]

I could have found you the coldsmoke. It's just up the highway then up a logging road on a sled. Not as cold as it was a month ago but northern faces/chutes are still pretty fucking good.