|
November 14, 2008
A mountain of adventure
Revelstoke a perfect home for Canadian and Israeli skiers.
BAILA LAZARUS
From Mt. Hermon in Israel's Galilee to mountains in Colorado and New Zealand, Dan Sculnick has seen his fair share of skiing. So the fact that the 34-year-old ski instructor and snow school manager has decided to make Revelstoke his home, says something about the ski resort.
Sculnick has settled there with his wife, Nitzan, a ski instructor who cut her snow teeth on Mt. Hermon. Her family lives on Moshav Neve A'tiv in northern Israel and operates the Mt. Hermon resort.
Sculnick grew up in Montreal, learning to ski and becoming an instructor on the hills in the Laurentians, Eastern Townships and northeastern United States.
In a weird quirk of coincidences, Dan and Nitzan met briefly eight years ago in a synagogue in Christ Church, New Zealand, when they were both ski instructors in that country. They went their separate ways, with Sculnick coming to teach in Fort MacMurray, Alta.
"One day, sitting in Boston Pizza, in Fort Mac, one of ski instructors wrote his name in Hebrew in a pizza box," said Sculnick. "He asked me if I knew what that was. I said that was his name in Hebrew. The guy said, 'I've only met one other Jewish person in my life, and she was ski instructor in New Zealand.' One night, she called to speak to him, and I answered the phone and we ended up talking together."
Sculnick later went back to New Zealand to teach and reconnected with Nitzan. The couple is now making their home in Revelstoke, still working together.
"She's one of my instructors," Sculnick explained. "We train together and play together and have that married lifestyle outside of work. Sometimes it's a challenge but we get to go to work with our best friend."
What makes the "work" more enjoyable is that Revelstoke Resort has been on a growing streak, with no signs of stopping. And Sculnick is always excited to talk about what the mountain has to offer.
"It's the only mountain to offer lift, heli and [Sno-Cat] skiing all from one base," said Sculnick. "We have 3,000 acres of skiable terrain.... We have alpine and sub-alpine terrain. So you have the tree-free bowls and you have amazing tree-skiing." The mountain also has 500,000 acres of tenure, according to Sculnick, and a new high-speed quad chairlift will bring riders up to the 1,240-acre North Bowl area, which has been gladed and cut with new trails. That means a lot of space for winter-lovers to frolic and a wide choice on how to get to your preferred destination of white stuff. At almost 6,000 vertical feet of skiing, it has the longest lift-serviced vertical drop in North America.
To add to the resort's draw, the new Nelsen Lodge is set to open this season. It will offer ski rentals, a retail store, café, restaurant and 59 ski-in/ski-out suites.
Though Sculnick just recently settled in Revelstoke, he can see how the resort combines several characteristics of other area mountains.
"It has the fall-line of Sun Peaks; it's well designed – very consistent in terms of how the pitch is going to be skied. It has the steepness and pitches of a Silver Star. It has back country and bowls like Lake Louise and Kicking Horse," he said. "Our diversity really means we're not a mountain that's labelled one way or the other. The better you are [as a skier] the more it has to offer."
But Sculnick assures ski enthusiasts that you don't have to be anywhere near an expert to enjoy Revelstoke. It has a green (easy-rated) run that's more than 15 kilometres long, and offers beginners a nice 40-minute ride.
For those who want more of a variety of outdoor snow adventures, the Revelstoke Guides Bureau will be opening up in Nelsen Lodge, offering various mountain adventures, including private guided trips, multi-day group tours and backcountry educational programs. And more lifts, trails, on-hill restaurants and residential units are in the works.
For more information, call 250-837-9400 or visit www.revelstokemountainresort.com.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and illustrator living in Vancouver. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.
^TOP
|
