It’s mid-April and the lifts just stopped spinning. You look up at the blanket of white stuck from tip to toe to the mountain you love so, wearing moguls like spring goosebumps under a perfect sun and two and a half metres of snow, “How could this be over?” you ask yourself. Someone passing by whispers that it doesn’t have to be, winking coyly at the touring skis in their car.

The most important things to bring while snowboarding with a snowmobile in Golden, BC

Or skiing, if you’re into that kinda thing.

Going snowboarding with a sled in the backcountry requires a little more preparation than heading to the ski hill. It might be a good idea to make a list of things to bring with you.

Things you won’t find in the backcountry:

A journey to powder through mountainous terrain complete with adventure, views, fresh air, ideally good company and finished with face shots – this is why backcountry skiing is trending. Golden, BC is home to some of the best backcountry skiing/snowboarding opportunities in North America, and we’re keen to share it with you, but first make sure you’re ready for what awaits.

Generally, the further west down the Columbia valley one travels, the more snow you will find; the further east down the valley, there are more sunny days. Golden is smack dab in the middle of the delicate balance between sun and snow. The cold weather blowing from the Rockies in the Yoho Valley keeps temps cold, the sun out, and the snow light and dry throughout the season. Golden is all about having the best of both worlds.

When winter comes knocking at the door the only sensible thing to do is to head to the Rocky Mountains, where adventure is waiting for you around every curve of the skin track. The snow is sugary powder, the ice is blue and the mountains are beautiful, big and in your face. The area surrounding Golden is the perfect winter playground where you can ice climb one day, ski big backcountry mountain lines the next and then head for a fun day at the ski resort.

Gazing out the windows of the Bluebird Café in Golden BC always seems to inspire an adventure regardless of the season. The ski runs craved into the mountainside of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort stare back at me, and next to them lay the untouched goods of the seemly endless Dogtooth Mountain Range. Both bekcon me to ski them, but today the backcountry wins.

With the truck rumbling and coffee steaming at 4am it was time to hit the road. We said audios to the coastal mountains with high hopes of dryer snow, wilder chutes and a town with a different kind of heartbeat. It’s no cruise of a drive to Golden BC, from Whistler, but it sure is beautiful. It’s the kind of drive where you are constantly torn between stopping to enjoy the views and just pinning it to your final destination because you know it’s going to be just as epic.

Wie die meisten anderen Sportarten hat auch der Skilanglauf seinen eigenen Dialekt der allgemeinen englischen Sprache. Einer der ersten Begriffe, mit denen sich neue Langläufer vertraut machen müssen, ist "loppet".

Wenn Sie loppet in ein beliebiges Textverarbeitungsprogramm eingeben, werden Sie feststellen, dass auch die Rechtschreibprüfung keine Ahnung hat, dass es diesen Begriff gibt. Aber sie weiß es. 

Golden, British Columbia, has long been one of my favourite winter destinations. I call the Alberta Rockies home and every time I jump across the divide, I seem to find plenty of snow waiting in the Purcell Mountains. 

My most recent visit, in early January, gave me four days to discover new ways to spend an adventurous winter weekend in Golden.

We are lucky to live in an area where we are free to explore our mountains at will, only the valley bottoms and areas close to the roads are private property. The Rocky and Purcell Mountains around Golden don’t care about what the Canadian dollar is doing, or what the price of oil is; time stands still and the only thing that matters is the mountain in front of you. The logging and mining industry not only brings employment to the province of British Columbia but they also build roads for resource extraction that we can use to access the backcountry