Revelstoke Mountain Resort

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Revelstoke Mountain Resort
Location:	Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada
Nearest city:	Revelstoke, British Columbia
Coordinates:	50°57′15″N, 118°9′15″W
Vertical:	1845 m
Lift system:	2 total (1 High Speed Gondola ski lifts, 1 High Speed Quad Chairlift)
Snowfall:	12.00 m/year
Web site:	discoverrevelstoke.com

Revelstoke Mountain Resort is a major ski resort currently under construction on Mount MacKenzie, just outside Revelstoke, British Columbia in Canada. When complete, the resort will offer about 2,000 hectares of skiable terrain and a vertical drop of 1,845 metres (6,100 feet), with 25 lifts and 100 ski and snowboard trails. Revelstoke will offer the highest "vertical drop", by far, of any resort in North America, as well as having the fourth highest drop in the world. In terms of size, it will be about the same as other major resorts like Vail or Panorama, and about one-third the size of Whistler-Blackcomb. On its peak the mountain receives an average of 1,200 cm of snow a year, about double that of Whistler, and its higher overall altitude should also offer better quality "lighter" snow as well. On January 16, 2007, RMR announced its purchase of local heli-ski operation Selkirk Tangiers Helicopter Skiing Ltd. With this addition, the resort will boast over half a million acres of heli-ski terrain with access from the resort base.

A single two-seat lift has been operating on the hill since the late 1960s, known as Powder Springs. More recently a cat-ski operation has offered "lifts" to higher elevations. In order to build the local economy, the City started the process of finding outside investors to dramatically expand the ski area and build a large resource complex at the base of the mountain. Funding was eventually secured from a group of private investors that appear to have since organized as Revelstoke Mountain Resort. The Government of Canada and Government of British Columbia are also involved, but it is not clear if they have a financial stake – BC is reported to have sold them some crown land but is apparently otherwise uninvolved. The development was priced at $1 billion CAD in total, and an agreement among the major parties was signed on 10 March 2005. The complete project is expected to take fifteen years to complete.

Construction began in late 2005 with the construction of a road allowing access to most of the mountain, and the construction of the first five ski trails up to 1350 m elevation, starting at the upper end of the existing lift at 1100 m (3520 ft). Construction on higher-altitude trails was to begin during the summer of 2006, covering the area from 1350m (4320 ft) to 2300m (7360 ft).

Revelstoke is one of several new resorts under construction based on the same general development plan. The others include Jumbo Glacier Resort, Canoe Mountain Resort, Cayoosh Ski Resort, Garibaldi at Squamish Resort and a major development of Mount Baldy, British Columbia which currently hosts a small resort similar to the one that started Revelstoke.