Revelstoke Rogers Pass Pow Fix
Feb 16-21 2022
With winter taking a holiday in Whistler we decided to go to Revelstoke and get reacquainted with Rogers Pass. As we were planning to go on the Family Day long weekend with short notice the only options for the weekend were the Coast Hillcrest Hotel or Sutton. Since we already stayed at the Sutton on the last trip, we felt the Coast Hillcrest would be a good option since it was also a closer drive to Rogers Pass. I’m glad we stayed here as it’s a nice hotel, with great breakfasts and dinners. It also has a nice ambiance, views, great staff and two hot tubs! They will also prepare breakfasts to go if you have to head into a hut.
We initially only booked from Tuesday until Saturday, then the forecast said STORM on Saturday, so we extended out booking until Monday, then SUN was forcasted until Monday so we extended our booking until Tuesday. The front desk was incredibly accomodating by keeping us in the same room despite using Booking.com to book our rooms.
This trip we checked out Stone Arch south of Rogers Pass, NRC Gullies, Illecillewaet, Balu Pass and Loop Brook. All in all a good re-intro to Rogers pass.
For Strava tracks check out;
Stone Arch south of Rogers Pass. Good for early season high snow years
Lapped on the classic NRC Gully as high as we could see.
Then our regular low vis Illecillewaet trees.
Then some white out skiing up Balu Pass as the masses stayed lower in the valley in the trees
Then our first time to Loop Brook in good vis and good cold smoke.
If you require a map of Rogers Pass get the Geobackcountry Maps by Doug Sproul!
We arrived at Coast Hillcrest Tuesday night.
Ate Dinner at Kawakubo – SO GOOD!
Wednesday we checked out Stone Arch since we’ve never been there before. A common exit from Tupper. Nice terrain, needs to be timed… It’s also a hike in the summer.
Since it was just a recon tour we got back early and had lunch at the Main St Cafe
Then we had dinner at the River City Pub attached to the Regent.
The next day another filling Coast Hillcrest breakfast got us ready to ski the NRC Gullies.
Nice thing about staying at the Coast is they also have great dinners!
Friday was stormy and cold, no winter permit areas were open so we went into the Illecillewaet and skied the practice slopes. We also checked out up Donald Creek. Interesting. We saw Simon Beland at Asulkan who was going into the Asulkan hut for a few pow filled days!
But first – Breakfast!
Then dinner at 112 Restaurant at the Regent
Saturday was storm day so we took the day off. Even the Heli Skiers didn’t fly. Now with this much snow the winter permit areas didn’t open so on Sunday we skied with the hoards up Balu Pass. Even the Asulkan parking lot was full at 8:15! We had to park well up the parking lot and when we got back to the car the number of cars probably doubled.
AND more filling breakfast at the Coast. So full.
Then we ate dinner at the Coast Hillcrest Hotel
Our last day was clear, cold and the winter permit areas opened up! So we headed to Loop Brook. An area we don’t often go to. We were one of the first 5 cars in the parking lot. By the time we got to the top of the run, we caught up to the two trailbreakers and we were ahead of another 20 people. Popular spot so get there when its fresh!
But first BREAKFAST!
Our last dinner was Mac and Cheese at the Craft Bier Haus. So good.
More photos of the Coast Hillcrest Hotel.
