Hundreds lined up and cheered for the opening of Revelstoke Mountain Resort for the 2023/24 season last Saturday, Dec. 9.
The snowpack wasn’t quite what it’s been in years past, but locals and visitors still made it out in droves to ring in the winter and enjoy the slopes.
For the first time in resort history, opening day had to be delayed by a week. Thankfully, almost 60 centimetres fell last week allowing the ski hill to open Dec. 9, after the initital Dec. 2 opening day had to be pushed back.
Nearly 1,000 people had gathered at the resort base by the time the gondola opened to the public.
People in the crowd speculated it wasn’t as large a crowd as some snowier years have seen for opening day.
Two brave souls bared the elements and pitched their tents right at the gates the night before. They hadn’t expected the crowd to start to gather before 4 a.m. with the arrival of Dave Pearson and his crew.
Toting their propane fire pits and lawn chairs, the predawn arrivals set up for the wait in style, preparing themselves all sorts of tasty breakfast items and coffee before the gondola started spinning.
StokeFM arrived not long after 7 a.m. and heightened the mood with some music for the crowd.
In the seconds leading up to 8:30 a.m. (when the first riders were allowed on the gondola), a countdown sounded from the crowd and cheers erupted as the mass of people began to make their way through the gates and up the mountain.
There was a lot of snow in the alpine for opening day attendees to enjoy, but early season conditions prevailed in general, with rocks and trees close to the surface in some places, and variable base depths throughout the mountain. Still, people still enjoyed themselves, with one man on the chairlift even describing his laps as “tremendous.”
All of the food service, retail and rental outlets are open for the season, says Revelstoke Mountain Resort. As the winter progresses and the snow continues to accumulate, ski conditions will continue to improve.