January 15, 2018 Whitewater, BC

It has been a decade since we skied here. We have previvously downhill and backcountry skied in the ares. They replaced the Summit chair with a new 4 seat quad. They moved the old 3 seat chair so it comes off the Glory Ridge which they call the back side', plus they added a small lodge, Ski Patrol hut, and parking lot. The tree skiing at Whitewater is huge. We spent the night in our camper van parked in a park n 'ride lot in Nelson, and woke up surrounded by workers waiting for a lift to the lodge.

During the last week they had snow storms and powder. Our day was sunny and cold with packed powder conditions. Ymir Mt. is along the hiking ridge with steep chutes and tree skiing. I remember the days of powder and smiles along our route to Ymir. We used our Powder Alliance pass which comes with the Stevens Pass or Timberline season pass. There is a great feeling in the ski area. Steep terrain and powder.

And Nelson was (is?) super hip. Patagonia outlet store, nice restaurants, and Dancing Bear award winning hostel.

Coolest ski area in N. America IMHO. SSShhhh!!!

I'm headed SOMEWHERE the 26th through 28th, and Whitewater is on the radar (with a day at Red on the way back toward Spokane). Only issue I see now is that there currently isn't much of any new snow in the forecast next week. Certainly not going up there to ski groomers!