There are special places, and special places. Blanket Glacier Chalet is the latter. A blissful week enjoying the steep and deep in the Monashees. Our days were spent touring and skiing a range of spectacular zones, and our evenings relaxing in the sauna, being dished up incredible food, and enjoying excellent company.
Getting there
The chalet is just outside of Revelstoke, so the easiest way to get there for most people is either to fly into Kelowna or Calgary and then drive. While the drive from Calgary is more scenic, be aware that the highway over Rodgers Pass can be a bit hairier in the winter and prone to occassional closures.
We ended up flying into Kelowna, and driving up from there. Randomly, there's a fantastic Thai spot in Sicamous I'd recommend on the way.
We baked in an extra day to account for any weather/travel issues, so we headed up to ski Revelstoke. Big fan. No nonsense vibes, close to town, fun terrain and the best on-resort burger you're ever likely to eat. The goal was to explore and "have fun but not to the point where you maybe injure yourself just before a hut trip".
Blanket Glacier Chalet
Blanket Glacier is a fully stocked hut that includes two backcountry guides, a hut keeper, and a magnificent cook. The accomodations are comfortable but rustic – sleeping quarters are upstairs, and the kitchen/hang out area downstairs. As a bonus, next door there's another building with the guide bunks and a fantastic wood-burning sauna. It's basically mandatory to use after every day of skiing.
The skiing
Every morning we would rise to coffee and breakfast, pack a lunch, and hit the skin track early. The guides give an avalanche briefing and talk about the general plan for the day. For the next 6-8 hours, we'd traverse the surrounding mountains, searching for the safest and deepest lines. We generally stuck together, but toward the latter part of the day some of the group would peel off and head back to the chalet early, and the rest would grab an extra run or two. At the end of the day, we return to an apres snack, keg of beer, and some time in the sauna. And, repeat.
It was snowing heavily while we were there, which meant that we stuck to runs right at treeline for the first day or two. That didn't mean any shortage of fun, as every run was untracked and deep, with free refills all day. Toward the end we were treated to clearer skies and were able to get up high on the glacier for some of my favorite shots and turns of the trip. One to remember.
