Red Mountain

A Legendary Resort

For those in the know, Red Mountain Resort is the place to go for unrivalled snow conditions and terrain to really push your skiing or boarding abilities. Despite the amazing conditions for winter sports enthusiasts it doesn't suffer from overcrowding and extensive lift queues. With the town of Rossland nearby, visitors can enjoy the laid back atmosphere of the town with phenomenal skiing conditions so close. Red Mountain is Western Canada's oldest resort which also boats an abundance of backcourntry and cat skiing opportunities. During the summer months mountain biking, hiking, white water rafting and golf are all on offer meaning there's something to float anybody's boat.

Red Mountain Facts

Vertical Drop: 880m (2,900 ft.)
Resort Area: 4,200 acres (1,701 hectares)
Skiable Terrain: 1,686 acres (682 hectares)
Number of Runs: 87+
Terrain:
45% Expert
45% Intermediate
10% Beginner
Number of Mountains: 2 - Granite and Red
Longest Run: 7 km (4.5 mi.)

Awards & Accolades

Rated 9/10 as a resort. World Snowboard Guide
Red has produced more members of the Canadian Ski team than anywhere else
Rated as one of North America's "10 Great Adventure Towns to Live and Play". National Geographic Adventure Magazine

Location

Red mountain is located right on the US Canadian border between Vancouver and Calgary. The resort is located near to Rossland, which is a small former gold mining town in the southern Monashee Mountains. The town lies in the West Kootenay region of the southeastern area of British Columbia.

Getting to Red Mountain

By Air:
Red Mountain is located in quite a tricky spot. It has several national airports close by with Spokane International Airport being serviced by a range of American airlines and a few international flights. Castlegar Municipal airport is closer to Red Mountain and receives flights from Calgary and Vancouver airport. The closest airport is Trail Regional Airport with flights from Vancouver only. Vancouver Airport is the closest large international airport but has a substantial transfer time into resort so leave a day either side of your holiday if planning to fly out of Vancouver.

By Road:
From Spokane Int’l Airport: This is an easy 2.5 hours drive from the States into Canada with no tricky mountain passes to overcome. From Spokane take US 395 (N) towards Newport/Colville before turning right onto the WA-25 around the Kettle Falls area. Take this highway across the border into where it turns into Highway #22. This will then take you all the way to Rossland.

From Vancouver Airport: A slightly arduous journey around 7.5 to 8 hours drive. From the airport follow signs for Highway #1 (Trans-Canada highway) and take this highway out of Vancouver. Continue on this highway as it turns into Highway #3 (Crowsnest Highway) until signs for Rossland and Highway 3B.

Climate

The city of Rossland (1023m altitude) receives approximately 421cm of snow per year whereas the actual resort of Red Mountain receives a much higher 760cm of snow per year. Although there is snow in Rossland and Red Mountain area a month longer than in nearby valleys, the climate is gentle. Average summer temperatures are 25C high and 11C low. Rarely are winter days colder than –10 C and the average high is 3 C. Often above the clouds, Rossland receives about 2,000 hours of sunshine per year and windy days are rare.

History

There was Gold in them ‘ere hills

The city of Rossland is nestled in an ancient volcano at an elevation of 3420 feet. Rich minerals were discovered in 1890 on the south side of Red Mountain in the Monashee’s range. This led to a huge influx of workers to the area who had heard about the areas fabulous gold deposits. Within these groups of workers came numerous Scandinavians who brought with them knowledge and a strong passion of skiing. The area became extremely prosperous, during the peak of mineral mining a total of 165 million dollars worth of produce was being exported from the area. At the time the LeRoi mine, the areas most famous mine, was the most productive.

1890’s freestyle-skiing?

The Scandinavians in the area organised the Rossland Ski Club and recorded the first Ski race in 1896. The winner of this race Olaus Jeldness, a Scandinavian miner, was a pioneer of skiing within the area and was some what of a local hero. Legend has it that he jumped a train in Rossland, a hefty stunt even by today’s standards.

Red Mountain was also the site for the first chairlift in Western Canada in 1947. The heritage of Red Mountain’s skiing is reflected in the standard of skiers it produces. The resort has produced more Canadian National ski team members than any other, which is some record. Other activities in the area include mountain biking, with hundreds of trails in the area it is a haven for riders. Rossland is a great place to visit no matter what time of year with a laid back 1890’s style atmosphere, reflected in the restaurants and shops that hug the main street.

Red Mountain Today

The resort incorporates two mountain peaks, Red and Granite, both skiable 360 degrees around, offering an awesome variety of lines down gladed tree meadows, wide open groomed pistes and award-winning steeps. The skiing and snowboarding here is fun – there are banks, gullies, trees and cliff drops all over the resort as well as a terrain park and a friendly laid back mountain restaurant. In full view from the mountain summit extensive backcountry options offer easily assessable fresh powder when the resort has finally been tracked.

Although renowned for its steeps, Red also has a mellow side with half of its terrain ranked as intermediate and has plenty of open bowls ideal for perfecting your powder technique. Because of Red's location in central British Columbia the mountain is renowned for its crowd-free slopes, which means there are plenty of fresh lines to enjoy. Red Mountain hosts a range of competitions including the Molson Canadian Freeskiing Championships when extreme skiers and telemarkers battle it out on the steeps and cliff drops of Granite Mountain. For a truly amazing skiing experience make sure you check out Red, you won't regret it