Whitewater Mountain Resort is 22 kilometres south of Nelson, in the Selkirk Mountains below Ymir Peak. The base is 1,630 metres (5,348 feet), and the highest lift, the Raven / Yutlx / Qukin chair, tops out at 2,063 metres (6,768 feet). The resort gives 614 metres (2,014 feet) of vertical, 1,442 acres in bounds and 3,247 acres of skiable terrain in all. Five lifts serve 119 runs, and 63 percent of them are black or double black. Whitewater averages 1,200 centimetres (40 feet) of snow a year, and the season usually runs from December to early April.
There is no snowmaking, cell service or wifi at the resort. The Glory Ridge chair, bought from Vail in 2010, opened 749 acres on what used to be the backside. The Raven chair opened for the 2023/24 season and runs 163 metres higher than the Silver King chair. Lift-accessed backcountry starts at the resort’s backcountry information board.
Whitewater has four cams, all stills. The Lodge cam looks up from the base lodge deck, and a snow ruler in front of it shows new snow at the base. The other three sit at the tops of the Summit, Glory and Raven chairs, between 2,002 and 2,063 metres. Compare the Lodge cam with the three upper cams to see the difference between the base and the top. The resort’s webcam page also has a time-lapse for each cam.
From Nelson, drive south on Highway 6 for about 12 kilometres to the Whitewater sign, then 10 kilometres up the mountain road. West Kootenay Regional Airport (YCG) in Castlegar is 35 minutes from Nelson, with direct flights to Vancouver. Spokane is about 3 hours by car and Kelowna about 4 hours. A resort shuttle runs from Nelson in the season.
BC requires winter tires or chains on Highway 6 south of Nelson and on Highway 3A between Castlegar and Nelson from October 1 to March 31. A legal winter tire has the M+S or mountain snowflake mark and at least 3.5 millimetres of tread. DriveBC shows road conditions.
Whitewater isn’t on the Epic, Ikon or Indy Pass, or the Mountain Collective.