The Greeks had a triad of goddesses responsible for human fate:
"
THE MOIRAI (Moirae) were the three goddesses of fate who personified the inescapable destiny of man. They assigned to every person his or her fate or share in the scheme of things. The central goddess named Lachesis oversaw our human "Alotted Portions."
theoi.com
However, fate did not mean absolute pre-ordained destiny, but rather a balance between free will and imposed outcomes.
"The Fates did not abruptly interfere in human affairs but availed themselves of intermediate causes, and determined the lot of mortals not absolutely, but only conditionally, even man himself, in his freedom was allowed to exercise a certain influence upon them."
ibid.
It is more than a bit of a stretch to suggest the gods had a say in my choosing to explore more ski areas, but eerily, they seem to have intervened not once but four times- through the winter weather god Boreas, in the form of sequentially closed mountain passes.
My original intention was to continue from where I had left off a month previous at Red Mountain (Rossland) and head east and south into Montana. But a mere two hours out from home I was halted by conditions on the Hope-Princeton Route 3. After waiting a couple of hours (it turned out the road would not open for several more hours), I retraced my tracks back to Hope, and headed over the Coquihalla to Kamloops.
From there it was an easy decision to stop at Sun Peaks Resort.
SUN PEAKS
I had been here a few times before, and always enjoyed the varied terrain, good accommodations and tightly designed small village. But this time, the snow god was smiling on me, with a fresh 5cm dusting, plus the happy bonus of the West Bowl t-bar having been closed. So there were whole areas basically untracked.
First, Mountain Host Thor (another god?) took me into Gil's Zone- under the ropes but not 'out of bounds', where we found our first stash.
Then I was lured by the Seirenes down Nose of the Chief, Kookamungas and Father Tom's. It reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan, and the suppression of free will by the pull of cosmic forces. I had entered my own chrono-synclastic infundibulum or the area where all kinds of truths fit together....
Truthfully, I was sequentially scared, and curious, and enticed, and subsequently exhilarated. I simply had to stay another day.
During the night it snowed, not the light amounts forecast, but a good 20 cm, followed by a yellow, then clearing and blue bird sky. It was dazzling.
As soon as it opened, I headed over to the T-bar. The first run was glorious, the ride up equally so:
I must have made half a dozen runs before others seemed to twig to the lift being open, and as the slopes and bowls became gradually more tracked out, I headed west to Harry's run, and continued down 7 Mile Road and Roller Coaster to the bottom of Burfield.
The sun was warming the south facing slopes, so soon I ventured over to the steeps on Mt. Morrisey. Tumble Dry leads to double black In Tatters, which was how I felt after navigating the bumps, but Lint Trap and Static Cling softened the body blows and Grand Return took me back to the Village base.
I looked across to Mt. Tod and took this picture:
And zooming into the alpine area where I had spent such a wonderful day and a half, took this:
I could have happily stopped just there, but felt a pull eastwards....
DINNER AT THE RANCH CAFE, FALKLAND
Breakfast Day 2 at Sun Peaks had been home made granola wolfed down with soy milk under the hatchback of my trusty Subaru, and lunch was left over adrenalin, so driving toward Vernon I was both tired and hungry, and again lured by bright lights at the side of the road. I was well rewarded by dinner at the Ranch Cafe. This is what I ate and what I wrote on Tripadvisor:
Reviewed 4 days agoNEW
I came to a screeching halt driving through Falkland, 'cuz this place screamed local eats to me.
Once inside I was completely unprepared for just how good dinner was going to be. (I want to be transported up there right now, for a repeat..)
Ranch Cafe serves its own beef (talk about locavore), and the prosaic sounding surf and turf was actually an 8 oz tenderloin with shrimp (prawns, actually), roasted potatoes (or mashed or fries) and bernaise, with a full medley of vegetables. $24.
This place could beat out Gotham's or Hy's in a heartbeat. For less than half the price and twice the atmosphere.
Do not, I repeat- Do not drive by without feasting.
Owner and chef Jay Bennett even replied to my post. He seemed pleased by what I had said...
Hello Peter
I just wanted to thank you personally for the great review on our Facebook. It's really great when people notice the local, fresh and sustainability we are striving towards and when people can taste the difference of real food.
Just a little information that I thought you would like to know about our products as well as myself: I have 14 bee hives that I care for myself and work hard to sustain the restaurant with our own honey. I am trying to cut down (eventually get rid of) refined sugar in all of our baking as well as use the honey in all of our homemade dressings and marinades. Refined sugar seems to be causing so many health issues these days that I thought I should try and make a difference this way for my family as well as my customers. We also raise our own beef that we fully sustain the restaraunt with. We do everything from our own brisket, burgers to our own craft cut steaks etc.. we make it all here. I also fealt as an owner and chef I am responsible for knowing what our customers are eating and am able to answer any questions people may have instead of running back and reading the label off of a box. Also, I can stand behind our products 100 % knowing we raise and feed our cows (and other products) in a higher standard than what is expected today.
The farm eggs we use are no more than 24 hours old that we make all of our mayonnaise and Caesar dressing with as well as our breakfasts every morning. All of our bread, buns etc..are handmade by my wife (Sarah) and occasionally my mom (that opened this restaraunt 26 years ago and has now semi-retired). We are now in into our 3rd year, baking every other day.
I am constantly thinking ahead of ways we can make a difference and know what my family as well as our great customers deserve. There are so many more things but I won't take up anymore of your time. Once again I wanted to thank you personally for your great review and making my family and my staff understand why we are striving for freshness and real food that we can stand behind and be proud to serve everyday!
Please keep in touch and look forward to your next visit.
Chef and owner
Jay Bennett
This is what the place looks like from the outside. For the inside, go see for yourself! By the way, they roast and package their own coffee too.
HIGHWAY SIX MONASHEE PASS
Heading East from Vernon, one passes through farm and ranch lands not unlike the Okanagan Valley, but gradually the elevation rises and farms give way to forest. Lumby is the main town, with a nmajor sawmill. Just down the road is Cherryville, and its locally famous roadhouse- The Cherryville Golf Course and Roadhouse Cafe.
I pulled in for breakfast, and ordered 'Big Al's'- a lot of everything from suasage and eggs to hashbrowns etc. A good logger's breakfast. Or skier's, in my case. The Roadhouse features regular touring musical gigs- coming up March 18th is legendary Bluesman and harmonica player Harpdog Brown. It is also the staging area for Monashee Powder Snowcats, one of the numerous top quality cat and heli operations in the BC Southern interior:
http://www.monasheepowder.com
Less than ten minutes away is yet another ski operation- Kingfisher Heli and the Gold Pan Cafe. Their claim is to be the most accessible operation anywhere; less than an hour to Kelowna airport and their choppers fly right from the property, their first dropoff is mere minutes flight time away.
While they don't want to over promote it, they also have another claim to fame- one of the least expensive day heli-ski rates to be found. $1548CAD is not cheap, but compared to other per diems, and coupled with the ability to cram in as many runs as possible into that one day makes it a rockin' deal. (By contrast, Whistler Heliskiing charges $1089CAD for 4 runs, plus $100 for each extra)
I tried to avail myself of it, but alas, a snow storm was gathering and the birds were grounded.
http://www.kingfisherheliskiing.com
At Monashee Summit, a road turns off for a wintry 15 kms drive to the shores of Keefer Lake. Keefer Lake Catskiing is known for its sumptuously chic contemporary lodge, and charges prices pushing up to heli rates. They have immense terrain- upwards of 85,000 acres in their tenure vs 17,000 for Monashee.
http://www.keeferlakelodge.com
I thought I'd just drive up to have a look around, as it was out of cell range. Just maybe there would be a last minute vacancy. Not to be. I got about 1km up the road, it the snow just piled deeper and deeper, so I thought the best solution was to back out downhill, slowly....
The result was this, the photo taken after I had walked a ways, scared the wits out of a back country skier with a nice big truck who became the Good Samaritan and pulled me out of the snow bank. It turned out Keefer Cats were booked out anyway, at least for a few days.
Many thanks to Cherryville resident Dave MacPherson...
On the road again, a little chastened but still game, I continued down to Needles and took the ferry across upper Arrows Lake, and drove up to Nakusp.
Nakusp is a sizable town and home to one of CMH Heliski's bases. Canadian Mountain Holidays is by far the biggest operator of its sort in the world. Their clientele appeared to be mostly German and Swiss, and judging by their giant grins, had had a superlative day. Again, no room- they were booked out for the season.
http://www.cmhski.com
https://www.canadianmountainholidays.com/our-lodges/cmh-k2/
I pushed on- to New Denver then with pretty treacherous conditions, up and over the pass to Kaslo. I stopped one last time, at Retallick lodge, close to the road but with massive snow tunnels getting in their driveway. Retallick is known for having the most gnarly terrain. Their own literature says don't come unless you are fit and want it steep and deep.
It was past dusk, but I got a picture of the lodge:
But inside the same story- full up, in fact overfilled, and like that till end of season. Only difference here was the folks were a lot younger. Lots of piercings and tattoos.
So- zero for four tries, I guess I have learned it is tough to show up at the door and hope to be let in. Still, it may be a good strategy to call around for short notice availability. Nakusp is an easy drive to Revelstoke or Nelson alike, and CMH alone has 12 lodges.
AINSWORTH HOT SPRINGS LODGE
I ended up at Ainsworth Hot Springs. Had a scrumptious Sablefish dinner, served by a lovely local woman named Lenora who knew everything about the area, followed by a soak in the hot springs pool and caves, then slept 10 hours, dead to the world.
Ainsworth is one of many hot springs in the area, but with the distinctions of having, in addition to the main pool, access to caves carved out of the rock in which one can wander with hotter water up to the torso. As well, it is owned and run by Kutnaxa First Nations, who have lived in the area for many millennia. I had not expect to see so many latter day millennial couples from nearby Nelson on a Sunday night- it appears to be an update on going to a drive-in movie but with a bit of that same 50's feel.
I was just so pleased to be able to experience what the Kootenai people call Nupika Wu'u (spirit waters).
Nicely redone bathroom...
KIMBERLEY MOUNTAIN RESORT
The next morning it was on to Kimberley after a ferry ride across the lake from Balfour. The road was a bit treacherous, because unlike the mountain passes with deep snow preventing vehicles from sliding off the road, along the lake there were mere inches of snow and patches of black ice. But- passing some lovely scenery along the way...
So arrival in Creston and the next leg to the ski hill ate into my slope time.
Nonetheless, I was pleased to get good visibility and a half-day pass at Kimberley, and the good fortune, again, of meeting a local retired mountain-man on the first chair up. Paul Holden (no relation to movie star William Holden, he said), used to live in Fernie, but moved to a smaller quieter, friendlier hill. He immediately took me out to the Purple Zone, or was it Purple Haze?- where powder was still to be found and no people to boot. We did a couple of runs there, then I got the fast overview of the whole mountain, and a chance to ski some thinned glades that were quite enjoyable if not overly challenging. The place is like that overall- family friendly, accessible, well serviced, without much hype or glamour. Worth a stop. And the adjacent town, with its Bavarian theme, is coming back to life after suffering with the Teck mine closure a decade ago. New restaurants, a supply of lower rent accommodations, looks like Rossland of decades past. For those wanting a base, this makes a good bet- with Panorama and Fernie within a couple of hours drive, and enough diversity on the mountain to keep the locals interested.
Paul Holden and views out to the Three Sisters and of the base facilities.
FERNIE MOUNTAIN RESORT
I had never visited Fernie before, and in fact did not visit the townsite this time, but headed straight for the hill. Having departed Cranbrook quite early, I was there just after opening, but was surprised how few cars there were parked in the lots.
Tuesday, or at least this one, was not a popular day. Which was fine by me, but a shame for those who had come down for the weekend (often from Calgary), only to miss the new 20 cms that had fallen overnight after they had left.
The mountain rises gently, then fiercely, to a sharp massif- something seen throughout the Rockies. It is foreboding and unnerving to ride a chair looking up.
But below are bowls, five of them, some not easily interconnected, and once turned around and headed downhill, that visual memory gives way to the feast below. Fernie, they say, grows on you, and I could see why assorted ski bums and adventurers end up here winter after winter.
There is also a 'Polar Chair', and of course it drew me in, then up yet farther.
There were even fewer people up here, partially warned off by the signs of 'no easy way down', but more so by the cold and wind. In the other direction were vistas to the backcountry, with a gate actuated by transponders. Again, dire notices about unmaintained terrain, avalanche hazard.
However, after descending the high open terrain- which wasn't THAT scary, one enters the more civilized territory, and with it views East of the valley and other mountains.
The clouds were lifting as well. In fact, a warm front was moving in, and I wanted to get the most out of my day. So the mission was to ski out all bowls and pretty much all the representative runs. Which I did.
And saw a moose!
The verdict? Clearly Fernie is a winner. There is something for everyone here, in spades.
I would liked to have stayed another day or longer, but having been delayed by road closures and another snowfall in the forecast, I wanted to get to Whitefish, the original destination of the trip. So Fernie got short shrift, with the internal promise to come back.
WHITEFISH, MONTANA
It is a mere two and a half hour drive to Whitefish from Fernie through some lovely Ponderosa Pine forests, farmland and, once across the border, signs of American culture- big flags, saloons, gun shops.... Overnight, again it snowed!
Whitefish itself is a bit of a more cosmopolitan enclave, being primarily a tourist town and entry to Glacier National Park. Down the road a bit, the main regional small city is Kalispell. Whitefish has endless restaurants and gift shops and a cute downtown core/main street of the type that is quickly disappearing elsewhere.
And of course- the Mountain!
Whitefish Ski Resort is not huge, but it is substantial. It is not high, at 6800 feet, and a vertical drop of 2300 feet, and 3000 skiable acres. Being a deep interior mountain on the west side of the Rockies, it is quite cold in season, and receives a good amount of snow. The terrain is postcard perfect.
All this adds up to popularity, and I wasn't very surprised that on a Tuesday morning after an 8 inch snowfall and bluebird conditions, there would be a bit of a lineup. But did not expect this:
However, once on the mountain, everyone fanned out, and even unversed in the mountain secret stashes, I was able to make my own tracks for half the day. It was heavenly!
There were some nice small ski chalets being built in the village which really reflected the ambience- discreetly upscale, not overcrowded, and self-confident.
Schweitzer Basin is a few hours to the Northwest, and the much higher and bigger Big Sky a bit further than that to the Southeast, so "The Fish" has competition, but quite evidently succeeds quite well. I think a tour from Seattle or Portland would inevitably include this area, summer or winter. I certainly enjoyed the rougher Hell Roaring Basin and even the south facing slopes pictured above.
Several of the lifts open only on weekends, which suggests they are both a local and destination ski hill. There are the requisite resort add-ons, from snowcat, dog team and sleigh tours to moonlight ski and dine to just regular night skiing. Enough to keep entire families amused.
One thing very nice about Whitefish is that it stands alone, and weather systems dump their snow and pass on. This is typical of many, but not all interior mountains, resulting in less fog and lingering cloud than coastal mountains. It is a given that the snow is decidedly drier- probably the biggest attraction of all.
A drive through even a corner of Montana reveals a lot- the Big Sky, open spaces, the schlock culture, the unabashed friendliness of the locals, and listening to talk radio, the whacky conspiracy theories and isolationist mindset of America's heartland. I really did keep my political opinions to myself.
The open road and endless sky...
The really bad art and trinkets at a gas station...
Yet another big snowfall and attendant closed highway, but a welcoming rest stop pictured below
And the welcoming motel in Saltese, miraculously with one room left, the stereotypical front desk and its owner. She had a mat on the floor featured images of two crossed rifles, with the caption:
"We're short on ammo. here, so there are no warning shots"
But she had tins of beans and other emergency supplies, plus a microwave in the room and a large library of VHS format movies. I ate and slept quite well, and forwent the movies.
LOOKOUT PASS
In the morning, cleaning off yet another 6 inches of snow from the car, the fellow from the next unit was doing the same, and came out with his and hers skis. They were headed to Lookout Pass, which was where I had gotten turned back the night before, and said because the local ski hill it had closed for a few days, the snow had piled up- 32 inches!!, and with the road closure the night before, there would not be too many people. They were right! Turned out I was able to have breakfast with them waiting for the lifts to open, and saw them at the end of the day as well.
This time, the lineup was 5 minutes, and I counted 110 cars. There is only one lift up the hill (about 1200 foot vertical), but another two from different sides of the mountain- so the Montana side, Idaho side and south side access meant the few people become even more sparse after the first ride up.
In ordinary conditions, the skiing would not rate that high; this is not a big mountain, and all below tree line. But with close to three feet it was a treat, especially on the steeper slopes where one could
actually get going a bit.
Lovely tree skiing
Deeper snow on the lee side
Again the weather warmed and most of the skiers/boarders quit by about 1:30pm- which was fine, as by then I had pretty much skied out the entire mountain. Back at the base, I ran into the folks from breakfast. They had dispelled my notions about cultural homogeneity in Montana, being urbane, left-leaning, well travelled, but like all other people I had met in the state, unabashedly friendly.
The Goldsmiths and their two dogs!
The unpretentious base and facilities...
Lookout was a serendipitous stop, and by no means a destination. But like Snoqualmie or Stevens Pass, right on the road, and if in the area and the conditions are good, a genuine treat.
From there it was homeward bound, along Highway 90. A quick stop in Kellogg, Idaho gave a glimpse of Silver Mountain, but it was by then raining even up the mountain as the warm front moved in. Silver Mtn. is very much 'corporate', with the mountain almost secondary to the condo development and family-friendly amenities like the indoor water park. No expense was spared any of this, with the longest gondola in America leaving right from the town's centre to the mountain tops, and very deluxe accommodations which were all pre-sold and are rented out when not in use by owners.
Silver is a creditable mountain with two peaks and many of the usual attributes- from tubing to biking trails in the warmer months.
It attracts the Spokane, Couer d'Alene weekend crowd, and not so much the locals. A scout about the town (an old mining centre) betrays a decided disconnect with the tourist facilities. The museum was closed, there were no civic infrastructure improvements like period lamp posts or widened sidewalks. The discordancies were sort of photogenic.
The gondola above the town
The closed museum, again with gondola above
Remnants of the ore processing machinery, with the gondola and mid-rise condos.
Driving through Spokane there were flashing yellow lights on a highway sign, directing drivers to tune into the road conditions report.
Yet again, a pass was closed, this time for avalanche control, so I shifted course to Wenatchee instead of staying on the highway to Ellensberg and Seattle. The route takes the high prairie near Coulee Dam, and the landscape was quite featureless and bleak in the limited visibility. Powerlines across the prairie...
After a night in Wenatchee and good food at a Mexican restaurant (Wenatchee has a large Hispanic population of originally farm workers, now very much part of the fabric), I set off, planning to stop for a few hours at Stevens Pass- the weather now cleared. However, that pass was now closed, and I was diverted back down over the Snoqualmie Pass, now open.
But not before shooting one last pic of the Okanogan Valley and eastern Cascade Mountains near Leavenworth:
A new day with new promise, and the reminder that closer to the coast, more mountain opportunities await. But that will be next time!
Just a bit of self-promotion here... CruisePlus is far more than just cruises. I have visited and critically appraised over 30 ski areas, and can help you with travel plans. Please call (800) 550-3622 for more information, Pacific Time. Or email pfrinton@shaw.ca
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