2027 Salomon Boot Camp with Ski Essentials at Revelstoke Mountain Resort
Revelstoke has always been on my list as a must-go resort, but recently it has been at the top of my list. The allure of deep snow, steep terrain, and an infinite number of things to jump off invaded my headspace for the past few years. Fortunately, I was invited by Salomon to go with them to Revelstoke this past February for 2 days of skiing as well as some extensive insight into their new 2027 S/Pro Apha C 130 BOA boot. As my flight was out of Montreal, I drove up the night before in –20 degree temps and flew out early the next morning. After landing in Kelowna, we then had another 2+ hour van ride to the resort. Exhausted and victim to jet lag, I met Joe and Dakota from Salomon at a resort watering hole where a bunch of other dealers and Salomon staff were for some food and beverage. There was a moment where everyone had to introduce themselves and say what their favorite Salomon product of all time was. I got nervous and said the QST 106 as it is a staple in my personal quiver and has been a big part of my skiing. However, as soon as it came out of my mouth, I had wished I had a more niche and “cool” product to share, but it was too late. I could not believe that I had the perfect product to mention and didn’t even think to say it. My first pair of twin tips were the Salomon Suspect from a year that escapes my memory. That would have been perfect, to show that I was a “real one”, but alas the QST 106 is still a solid choice. Funny enough, most of the products mentioned during this event were before I was even born, so half the time I had no idea what anyone was talking about. Either way, it was super fun to get to know all these people that share a similar love for skiing.
The next morning, we geared up and picked out our skis, my choice being the Blank in 186 cm as they did not have a 192 cm. Revelstoke is a wild mountain, 8,000 feet of vert serviced by 5 lifts with a seemingly endless expanse of terrain to explore. We loaded up on the gondola and headed up to the mid-mountain lodge for some breakfast and a presentation about the S/Pro Apha C 130 BOA. The presentation gave incredible insight into the complete overhaul of the boot and how they made it from the ground up. Lots of graphs and comparisons to other boots showing how it separates itself from other boots in its category.
Little did I know how much boot packing and traversing I was in for. There was a decent dump of snow a few days before our arrival, so we were hunting for leftovers with some success. The mountain was coated in bumps and moguls, lucky somewhat soft though. The main issue I had was the clag (fog/cloud) that kept rolling in that made the light so flat that it felt like skiing by braille. We had some great local Salomon Athletes that took us far out to the goods, and we quickly found some pow. The whole time, I was imagining what it would be like on a pow day here and that is what dreams are made of for a freeride skier. Lap after lap, we’d boot pack, put on the skis, traverse, boot pack again, then descend. The legs were cooked. The group met back at the mid-mountain lodge for a bit of a debrief and feedback about the boots. It was interesting to hear everyone’s take on it and to see what characteristics were common as well as completely different. It truly showed how subjective skiing and equipment is. Later on, we came back to the same lodge for dinner, which was a wicked cool experience.
The next day, the sun made more of an appearance, but the snow had settled quite a bit, so we had to get creative to find the goods. Dakota and I decided to boot up the peak above the highest lift to see what we could get into. We ended up finding a steep, fairly untouched pitch that dropped us on top of one of the main traverses. After that we met up with Joe and ripped some groomers and tried to find some softer snow on the opposite side of the mountain. After skiing all day, I went to the base and it was time for a date with the hot tub. Later on, we all shuttled into town for dinner and some bowling. Bowling was a blast and easily made a fool of myself as bowling is not a talent of mine.
The next day was a long travel day with a delay that forced a flight change and then a twilight drive home for a 4 am arrival. All-in-all, such an amazing experience and I cannot thank Salomon enough for having me along.
