Red Mountain

Red and the town of Rossland, which is a cool little town, go back in history to the days of the Canadian goldrush of 1896. Founded by Scandinavians looking for gold, Red is one of the oldest resorts in Canada. It’s been operating as a ski resort since 1947 when its first chairlift was installed. As time has passed, so has Red’s reputation. Known for its powder and some of the best extreme riding in Canada, Red has earned its newfound fame.
Freeriders will be stoked when they see what awaits them. Although this may not be in the Super League of resorts, it has a lot going for it with excellent, crowd-free runs and early powder untrashed by morning masses. This could change as the resort’s growing off the slope annually, with the new owners planning to build 1,400 dwellings and 70,000 sq feet of commercial space in the next 15 years. Having said that, it’s one of the only resorts in Canada to develop with style, taking full advantage of the abundant natural building materials - let’s hope they keep to that philosophy.
Granite Mountain and Red make up 1,585 acres of terrain, but are serviced by only three very slow chairlifts and a short drag which at weekends can lead to a bit of a wait. There are plans over the next two years to install new lifts and open up more terrain. Both mountains offer a variety of runs that mainly suit snowboarders who can ride well. First timers are going to have their work cut out for themselves, though. The trail map lists many of its runs with a star to mean extreme, and that’s exactly what you should expect.

Granite is the bigger of the two areas and is easily accessed from the base lodge. Once at the top, you can head off in a variety of directions, but note that most of the runs at the top are for advanced riders, although Ridge Road will take novices off to easier slopes.