Conditions Report
Report from Monday, January 16th 2023
I woke this morning to bright light streaming through my window. The sun was shining.
The persistent clouds hovered over Rossland since the New Year were parting, and blue skies were visible.
RED Mountain Resort reported 3″ this morning, on top of the 19″ that had fallen the previous few days. The resort has a 65″ base and has seen 143″ of snowfall this season.
We headed out without a plan and ended up navigating towards the Paradise chair. Temperatures were relatively warm, about 30ºF, and there was zero wind. Come to think of it, in the two weeks we’ve been here temperatures have rarely dropped below 30ºF and we haven’t had a breath of wind.
The mountain was stunning. The snow-laden trees against the backdrop of a blue sky with the mist weaving in and out of RED’s peaks.
Southern Comfort and Ruby Tuesday were fun and fast, and the trees in Ruby Monday were deep and untracked. We stopped for a quick break and a coffee in the Paradise Lodge. We didn’t eat, but at $12CAD for a burger, you won’t need to sell a kidney to eat.
We then took a few laps off Motherlode. The snow was a little heavier here, and the mist was starting to descend, imapiring visibility a little. Jumbo was a great run, more deep untracked snow, with plenty of natural features for jumping off. Advertised as having ‘the most acres per skier in north America,’ it’s not hard to find untracked powder at RED days after a storm.
For the last couple of runs of the day, we headed up the Red Chair, the original chair at the resort. War Eagle offered more of the same; deep untracked snow and wide open trees. Sally’s Alley was a mistake, icy and skied off, but we’ll learn the more we ski RED. The time to catch our bus was approaching, but we squeezed in one more run, Back Trail all the way down. It was nice to finish on a groomer. The snow was quick with patches of ungroomed snow at the side to dip in and out of. Such fun!
The amount of terrain at RED is mind-blowing. With three main peaks (Red, Granite, and Grey), two of which have 360º skiing, we’re still struggling to navigate the area with any fluidity. We should probably take one of the free mountain tours at some point! After almost getting cliffed out in our first week, we downloaded the Boonmaps app which has proved invaluable.
The forecast is positive; more snow is on the way, the temperatures will drop, and we may even see the sun again. The Good Life is well and truly evident at RED Mountain Resort, BC.
Conditions:
Forecast:
Photos:
I understand the $10 cat skiing is non-operational this season? What’s the reason? Can you hike over to Mt Kirkup?