Spend a Ski Season in Red Mountain

I recently spent a few days in Red Montain, B.C and I can safely say I have never been to a mountain like it. I was on a road trip with my Nonstop colleagues in Canada; we were visiting the guys on our 11 week instructor course and to remind ourselves what Red Mountain has to offer.

After a long eventful journey we were delighted to be staying in the same ski in ski out condo complex as our clients; super spacious luxury apartments with a hot tub on the deck… it doesn’t come much better than this! Speaking to the clients, they told me they had to keep reminding themselves this was not the real world – usually it would take a lottery jackpot for this sort of living! As Red Mountain isn’t well known outside of Canada, accommodation is far more affordable than some of her more famous neighbours.

Another bonus of Red’s ‘underground’ status is empty slopes and no lift lines. The whole time I was there I didn’t have to wait once – we simply went straight up the lift. Even on our last day after some heavy snowfall we never had to compete with any crowds – I was expertly led around the mountain by our lead snowboard instructor Matt and treated to fresh lines every time. Knowing where to go is definitely helpful here, and having a legend like Matt as my guide I felt pretty lucky – the Nonstop participants seemed to share my appreciation as Matt gave them individual feedback and advice. The crew were already a bunch of really strong riders so I look forward to hearing of their feats by the end of the season.

The main thing that struck me about Red Mountain was how accessible super challenging terrain was – the options seemed pretty much limitless. Every skier or snowboarder’s aspirations can be met here; steep open terrain, tight tress, spaced out trees, cliffs of every conceivable size, gulleys, chutes, bumps and fun groomers; it has it all except maybe beginner runs! It’s no wonder that the Canadian Big Mountain Freeride Open was being held here. The really unique thing about Red is that it is ski-able 360 degrees around  – once you’re at the top you can pick any line down… it just helps to know where the cliffs are; just as my boss Rupert found out!

On our last evening in town we went for dinner in Rossland followed by a few beers. Chilled might be an understatement when describing the vibe here; you’d be forgiven to assume that this part of the world has become somewhat of a hippy haven! Having said that, one of the Nonstop crew was bringing the party to the mountain and secured himself a weekly D.J spot at Rafters, the apres destination on the mountain! Speaking to a local journalist on a chairlift, he told me it wasn’t uncommon to see riders wearing wool outfits on the slopes here… awesome. Whistler can keep its neon park rats… Red Mountain is the home of true mountain men and women! If you want to really take your skiing or riding to the next level then check out the details on our ski instructor courses in Red Mountain here and are snowboard instructor courses here.