OUR BIG PHAT CANADA

Family Roadie

PACKING TWO ADULT ‘KIDS’, PARENTS & 4 SNOWBOARDS IN A 27-FOOT RV WITH A MONTH TO EXLPORE THE BEST OF BC & ALBERTA RIDING SOUNDS LIKE A PHAT PLAN TO US. JOEL OWERS REPORTS ON THEIR ‘BIG BERTHA’ EXPERIENCE.

In the early hours of a warm, picturesque summer morning, my sister and I were on edge with a mix of nervous excitement, dread and a profound sense of awe. Months of meticulous planning (mostly from our parents) and long hours at work had coalesced to this one morning, and this one month which lay ahead of us.

It was our first time flying by ourselves overseas and also the furtherest we’d be away from our home in Australia. Had we packed everything we needed?

Were our bags under the weight limit? What awaits us in this infamous, but to us as yet unseen land called Canada?

On the 10th of January 2023 we embarked from Sydney Airport and were bound for Vancouver and the entrance to some of the most impressive terrain we as a family have ever witnessed, and had the pleasure of riding down. (Check snowaction.com.au for the ‘Meet the Japowers’ feature from the families’ 2019 Japan motorhome trip).

We met our parents at the Vancouver Airport and they introduced us to the latest member of the family, Big Bertha. A 27 foot long Ford F450 RV that would laboriously trek through the numerous high mountain passes and classic North American farmlands in search of the deep and steep terrain the Pacific North West is known for.

The first leg of the journey saw us hug the Canadian American border and head further inland. A below average snowfall in the past few weeks had Dad and I obsessively analysing any snow reports that we could get our hands on. They often revealed an unfortunate truth. Masses of snow storms from the Pacific were smashing California and all but missing BC. We often joked about crossing the border to get down to the States to chase the pow, but we quickly extinguished these ideas as we had to keep our sights on Canada. We couldn’t get too greedy.

So we made our start on the Powder Highway in the Kootenay Rockies. Just as well. This collection of resorts and landscapes quickly became our favourite. Red Mountain we instantly fell in love with. Our first chair lift up (aptly named the Motherlode), took us above the Kootenay Sea and set the tone for the snowboarding we were about to do. Steep.

Easily the most intimidating chairlift we had ridden, it took us to an amphitheatre of powder-laden terrain that had me drooling at the possibilities. To our left was a vast wall of tight, snow covered trees that towered over us. Below us, a steep rock garden bomb line right in view of the powder hounds riding the chair up.Big, open tree lines were also to our right, but they were overlooked by a series of cliff lines and drops further along the bowl that I had my eye on. You could spend a week here and still find fun lines down this one small part of the resort.

While only getting small top ups of snow (below 10cm), Red made up for that in terrain variety. The morning we would spend getting our first pow laps in, then we’d session whatever groomers we could find out the backside of the resort, then cruise the cat track that lapped around the resort in the afternoon. It was a hard place to leave, especially so early on.

Not far over yonder however was a small town called Nelson where we set our sights next. We definitely felt deep in the Canadian country now. This small but vibrant town nestled in a valley had a seemingly small resort to its name, White Water.

While only really packing three lifts and a few classic Canadian log cabins at its base, the terrain is impressive. Bad weather and small snow falls cut our days on the mountain short. However, it didn't stop our appreciation for this resort.

One morning the clouds lifted and revealed stunning and intimidating mountain faces that only the most experienced and gutsy riders (mostly the locals) could go down. It seemed the further we moved towards the Rockies, the more awe inspiring the mountains became.

Our first sight of the Rockies was truly memorable. The mountains so far were beautiful, and had a somewhat peaceful look about them. They were like rolling waves capped in dark green pines with heavy frosted snow on their branches. While still miles above Australian standards, they weren’t the tall rocky peaks that we had seen in the movies.

Until one long arching bend in the road revealed the majesty of the Rockies. Still a fair way off, we could see just how tall and how, rocky these faces were. We had a sense that the two resorts we had ridden before was just Canada’s way of testing the waters with us.

Dad took us to his former home of Fernie. A place he used to work in the 90s. The town is a classic ski town, but also offered a lot of art and local culture on the down days that we didn't spend riding.

The days we did spend riding were in Fernie’s famous Five Bowls.

Fernie was one of the bigger resorts we visited and comfortably sat in our Top 3. It offered steep, long and sometimes technical terrain. And, for the first time this trip, deep snow.

Some runs had me chasing my own sluff as it hurtled down the mountain, while others I lazily meandered through tall pines trees that eventually would have me end up on a nice groomed run to open into some carves before heading back up for more. This mountain offered a lot of variety, from local culture and night life to heart pounding adrenaline runs. It was a mountain I can definitely see myself following in my Dad’s footsteps to for longer in the future.

But the road beckoned us north, following the long arm of the Rockies. A quick day at Lake Louise had our jaws almost to our bindings as we couldn’t believe the views while we hurtled down some firm, hard packed groomers in the morning light. We didnt spend a lot of time here, but the views were like being trapped in a screensaver.

By now we had spent two weeks on the road. Two weeks in a van with temperatures sometimes getting to -16C (which isn’t that cold for Canada, as a taxi driver told us one night, so we were lucky). We craved some form of civilisation and mostly I craved to interact with someone other than my sister, and I’m sure she felt the same way about me.

This craving took us to Revelstoke where we met up with some family friends who happily shared their hospitality with us.

My dads’s long time friend showed us the local resort which we subsequently got a bit lost in as it was a white out day.

The two gondola rides plus a chairlift did imply we were very high up from the valley floor. The next day these assumptions were proved correct as a picture perfect, blue sky day unfolded. And man did we feel high up.

The lifts just kept going up and up and it felt insane to us that after two runs we needed to go in and have a coffee and some food.

Revelstoke offered up a unique blend of everything we had just experienced. The gnarly terrain of Red and White Water, the variety of Fernie and the beauty from Lake Louise.

But it didnt just stop at the top chair. No, a short 45 minute hike to the Sub Peak for the experienced riders added around 100m of vertical (to what is already North America’s biggest at 1,710m), and breathtaking views of the backcountry.

We hesitantly watched the locals drop the backside bowl as we strapped ourselves in for some untouched windblown but deep powder. The next part of the descent felt like a marathon for my legs.

A 15km cat track that dropped almost all the way to the valley floor. When Dad and I first did this run we promptly ordered a large steak and washed it down with some beer until our legs regained some sort of feeling. This whole time my mind was spinning with ideas of the backcountry that I caught glimpses of as we rode down.

Not too far away from the view from the Sub Peak one of the most devastating avalanches in Canadian history claimed the lives of seven people, including legendary snowboarder Craig Kelly. His influence was felt as we rode down some of these mountains. Even though we were still in bounds, the ever looming presence of these backcountry faces left an impression on me and my family. Future trips to this amazing town and incredible resort are definitely on the cards.

Revelstoke marked a halfway point in our journey, but it didn't let us out easily. A storm was setting in and dad was stopped on one of the mountain passes by a highway patrol lady. She mentioned that a few cars and trucks have had some accidents on the pass up ahead. Dozens of cars and ice truckers now qeued up behind Big Bertha. All behind a bunch of crazy Australians who didn't know the road like the Canadians do.

Once the highway patrol let us through, dad’s true prowess in handling a wide 6 ton vehicle were put to the test. While Canadians might of called us slow or safe, dad called it “not breaking our bond.”

We got through unscathed.

With the Rockies behind us, we headed back towards the coast, stopping briefly at a few resorts like Sun Peaks, but unfortunately the snow storms didn’t follow us.

On Friday, 10th of February 2023, we awoke from one final sleep in Big Bertha, somewhere on the outskirts of Vancouver near an industrial area. It was cold, but we were used to that. It was cramped, but we were used to that. My clothes were laying around a lot of the van, but we were used to that.

Dad had driven long hours to get to many places, mum somehow managed to cook brilliant meals even when temperatures plummeted. We had all grown accustomed to the slow pace van life offered us and the somewhat nomadic powder infused lifestyle that we were living. Soon enough work would return and we’d be busy planning our next trip somewhere. It was an upsetting goodbye to hand Big Bertha’s keys back to the RV rental.

I spent the long flight home marinating memories of the epic journey that we embarked on exactly one month before. And looking forward to a warmer life back home.

A trip to British Columbia is filled with life-a rming moments. Deep, consistent snowfall and vast mountain ranges create a playground of endless possibilities.

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