Mt. Begbie and the Fingers

Two of the more popular backcountry areas close to Revelstoke are Mt. Begbie and the Fingers.

The Fingers area is about 9km from town, south on Hwy23 and is accessed off the Mt. MacPherson Cross Country ski area. Begbie is about 19km from town, or another 10km past the Mt MacPherson cross country ski area, and accessed from a logging road. It’s also off Hwy 23 and heads up to a clearcut and eventually to a ridge of the south flank of Mt. Begbie.

Our one sunny rest pow day we decided to check out Mt. Begbie. We drove to the access road to find many cars there, only a few were able to park off the road since it is unclear who is responsible for clearing this area. We followed the skin track up, past the clear cut and a bit up the trees where we decided to turn around for a quick run down. The ridge is at about 2100m, we got to 1430m and had a great run back down to the car which was parked at 600m. It would have taken us another 2-3 hours to gain the ridge.

 

Old Map from 112 Restaurant at the Regency showing the old CMH Town Pow that they no longer use since its become so popular with the Ski Tourers. 112 Chutes is the Begbie area we skied.

Parking, best to park off the road as logging trucks use this all year

Skinning up from the road

Willows were finally getting covered

View from the clearcut, you can see RMR on picture left just under the clouds

Not bad pow in cedar lane

Pow was acceptable

HUGE trees in this area

View of Mt. Cartier from Begbie

View of the lower south flank of Mt Begbie in the cloudes. We skinned up the clear cut picture right, up the trees to 1400m and skied back down.

Google Map image of our tracks

 

The Fingers.

The Fingers is the go to for Town Hits and when it’s on, town hits are the shiznit! With 50 then another 25 falling cold and dry off we went to ski blower Monashees pow

Trail breaking could be challenging today!

Yes

Made for good pow!

The next day the snow was not quite a blower but the sun was out

View of the Fingers from RMR

Google Map image of our tracks

PLACES TO STAY AND EAT

Being guests of Tourism Revelstoke on this trip we also stayed at the Best Western Plus Revelstoke.  Newly built in 2010 this hotel is relatively new and has contemporary facilities. With particular importance for ski tourers it has a huge delicious breakfast including choices of Eggs, Sausage/Bacon, Waffles and more. This hotel also has a hot tub and fitness center. It’s rooms are huge and 4 people could easily fit in a room. With its location adjacent the highway, a worthy breakfast for active skiers and a resort shuttle stop at its front door this is a fantastic choice for ski-tourers to stay at in Revy.

The Regent Hotel  is the Best Western’s sister hotel in downtown Revelstoke and has some fine dining options where we opted to indulge in fine food at the 112 Restaurant. You definitely won’t leave hungry and/or disappointed.

Breakfast … so much more than just cornflakes

Room and Hot Tub

Another fantastic place to eat is at the 112 Restaurant, at the Regency Hotel also owned by the Best Western. Just make sure get there before the heli skiers inundate the kitchen!

Prime Rib and Filet Mignon!

 

Our final few nights were at the Powder Pillow B&B. While a great suite to stay in with covered parking, storage space for the skis and bikes in summer, and a location close to RMR, the breakfast was minimal; perhaps adequate for anorexics on a diet; so be aware.

 

Awesome bathroom

Another good place for Hearty Pub dinners is Powder Springs, they are also a hotel that offers buffet breakfasts.

 

 

Revelstoke and Rogers Pass February 2014 from Lee Lau on Vimeo.