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Spring at Revy is Revolutionary
updated: Apr 6, 2022
It’s a place that has always made me say WOW. Revy’s spring ski season is in full swing right now: with a 29cm dump on Tuesday, April 4, bringing the seven-day total to 71cm, the resort is pushing a record. This season has already cracked the mountain's top five snowiest on record, and the revolutionary experiences continue on the slopes of Revelstoke Mountain Resort through April 18, 2022.
Spring skiing and riding comes with a unique approach and should start with a look at the grooming board to see where the white carpet’s waiting. With temperatures going from freezing to sometimes plus double digits during the day, grooming can make or break your spring ski scene.
So who better to have as a guide to spring skiing tips in Revy than Stu Smith, who’s spent seven epic years stoking all our fires with his and his teams’ mountain grooming talents.
To make the most of it this spring, Revelstoke Mountain’s groomer Stu Smith has three tips for any snow seeker hitting the hill.
Revelstoke Spring Ski - three tips:
1. “You gotta hit the run Hot Sauce; it’s hot and fast”
(Hot Sauce is a black diamond off the top of the Stoke Chair- south bowl) – trail map here.
2. Hike Sub Peak on a sunny day.
“Your soul deserves those kinda’ heights.”
3. Have a beer on the patio and throw some props to the hill
“Shred the sauce, hike the peak and have a beer on the patio (Mt Begbie beer, the local’s choice),” explains Smith, Revy groomer and co-founder of Stoke the Fire, a Revelstoke based hot sauce company.
Photo:
Doc Pow
View from Stu Smith's seat, over his "Zen sandbox."
Set within the Monashee Mountain range, there is a reason Revy is gaining international attention. Smith has played a big role at Revelstoke since the hill’s opening in the winter season of 2007/08, taking two of his summers to set the lifts into place. He now rolls out the fluffy white carpet for us on the daily.
“The hill is a Zen sandbox to me,” he explains as he’s gathering fresh chicken eggs at his Track Street Growing operation (home to the hot sauce company), “You know when someone is painting, and they get that “flow state?” While working the hill, on task, carving up the mountain, it’s my own Zen sandbox.”
Every morning through April 18 we can all experience Stu and his crew’s Zen work.
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As a cat driver for over seven seasons at Revy, Smith knows this mountain. As he explains, the magnetism is in the fall lines, “this hill has the perfect combo of beauty fall lines with a steeper pitch than you will find at normal hills. Good flow with great fall lines, that is what Revy is.”
One of those epic Revy views.
This is perfect in the spring given where a good pitch will help you rip it, while an interrupted fall line can end up becoming a series of mushy bumps. You’ll know exactly what Smith is talking about as you’re about two-thirds of the way down the run Hot Sauce, as the legs are screaming, but your soul is singing from those quick glimpses of the stunning Monashee Mountain Range that you’re shreddin’ through.
“These relentless pitches and impeccable fall lines are also what makes it fun for grooming too,” explains Smith.
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Spring ski season is about great groomers in the sun with friends on the patio. The spring revolution is on at Revelstoke right now through April 18.
I’m thinking it’s about time we all add a bit more spice to life, so take up Smith’s advice and hit the Hot Sauce. I did and it got my cow bell ringing!
Let us know what you find featuring the hashtags #SnowSeekers and #Revelstoked in your spring Revy posts.
When you go
Access to the spring ski scene at Revy doesn’t get any easier with a stay on mountain at the Sutton Place Hotel. Set within the village, the Sutton Place offers condo living with options for a full kitchen, patios and with après swims that come standard (it’s the pool and hot tubs in the bottom right corner to this drone shot).
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Closing Weekend at Revy
Add the Hot Sauce and make closing weekend at Revy a memorable one – their 2021-22 Season Spring Melter happens Monday April 18.
Can’t make it to Revy this spring? No stress, Smith and his gal Sarah Harper’s Stoke the Fire Hot Sauce company lets you have a piece of Revelstoke in your kitchen (the garlic syrup will stoke a revolution in your mouth with whatever you use it on)
You’ll find Revelstoke’s April 18 closing date listed alongside all Alberta and BC’s closing dates as listed here.
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