I visited Whitewater, near Nelson, as part of a ski-drive tour of the Powder Highway in Canada. Accommodation was The Adventure Hotel, Nelson.
Whitewater is located just outside of the vibrant town of Nelson. It’s a friendly and authentic resort with some 12m of snowfall on average each winter. The groomed slopes are family friendly and relatively uncrowded. There are plenty of bumps, tree skiing and fantastic back country skiing.
Whitewater Resort stats, pros & cons
Whitewater stats
- Top: 2045m
- Main base: 1646m (Glory Base 1400m)
- Drop: 623m
- Area: 2367 acres
- Number of runs: 82
- Green: 10%
- Blue: 32%
- Black Diamond/Double Diamond: 58%
- Longest run: 3km
- 3 uplifts:
- Snow making: No.
- Average annual snowfall: 12m
Pros of Whitewater
- The snow is light, powdery and deep
- The food is fantastic (Ski Magazine rated the resort #2 in the “Top 10 Best Ski Resort Cafeterias”)
- The community vibe – this is not a big and developed resorts, it is a community ski centre
- No cell service or wifi (many people like this)
- The town of Nelson is 20 minutes away and well worth a visit
Cons of Whitewater
- If you like to be constantly updating your social media this is not the place for you (there is no cell service of wifi)
- It is a back to the roots sort of ski centre that most will love but some might find too old fashioned.
What we discovered about Whitewater
- Authentic, community feel and very friendly
- Brilliant ski hosts to show you around
- Superb gladed runs with open trees
- Plenty of steeps
- Good for in-bound back country
- Brilliant café/restaurant food (there is even a series of Whitewater cookbooks)
- 20 minutes from the quirky town of Nelson
- New high-speed four quad chairlift
- We wished we had stayed for more than a day
- It will always be a special place for us because we got engaged at Whitewater Mountain.