Travel on the Fly: A slushy good time spring skiing; Mountain-top beer festivities+ more!

From a Kootenay Beer Festival to a slushy end to a long, snowy spring ski season, here’s a look at what’s happening around the West Coast this month…

Late-season snow means spring skiing awaits

An abundance of snow has many of B.C.’s ski resorts celebrating spring with special events and extended seasons.

Baldy Mountain Resort near Oliver has had so much snow fall they’re extending their season for an extra weekend. Around 400 centimetres has fallen on Baldy this ski season with snow still coming down – check out the amazing snow conditions until Easter weekend, April 7 to 9.

Whistler Blackcomb’s Whistler Ski & Snowboard Festival, April 10 to 16, features ski and snowboard competitions and the Slush Cup, a costumed race through snow and a slushy ice pond.

A Slush Cup also salutes the season at Whitewater Ski Resort in Nelson April 2, while at Sun Peaks Resort, near Kamloops, a Slush Cup promises plenty of fun during its season-closing Wonder Weekend, April 8 to 10.

RED Mountain Resort in Rossland hosts a Retro Day Deck Party April 2 fuelled by live bands, cold beers and local mountain legends, and at Panorama Mountain Resort, Red Bull Slopesoakers sends off the season with a splash April 8. At Fernie Alpine Resort, the April 15 and 16 Fernival commemorates the resort’s final weekend of skiing and riding with rock concerts, wacky contests and silly costumes, plus the Raging Elk Powder Pedal Paddle Relay Race.

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Sip and savour at the Revy Beer Festival

Take in the Revy Beer Festival March 31 to April 1 for the chance to sample selections from 30+ breweries, distilleries and others, savoured alongside live entertainment and the stunning views from Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s mid-mountain lodge.

Ride the Revelation Gondola to the festival or, if you’re hitting the hill that day, ski or board right up to the door. Soak in the views of the valley below, sample a wide selection from breweries, distilleries, meaderies and ready-to-drink beverage purveyors, along with a fantastic selection of food to sample, prepared by the resort chefs. Stick around for the official after party in the RMR village at the Mac and Rockford and keep the festivities going!

Learn more and get your tickets at albertabeerfestivals.com/festivals/revelstoke-beerfest

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Multi-use path to connect Ucluelet and Pacific Rim National Park Reserve

Ucluelet is celebrating funding to fill the gap between the west coast community and the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve ʔapsčiik tašii trail.̓ Trail.

The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District “has been working on this project for more than five years, through many grant applications, and we are pleased the missing link will finally be closed,” Ucluelet mayor and ACRD Director Marilyn McEwen said in announcing the funding. “With the completion of the ʔapsčiik tašii trail in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, traversing the trail through Ucluelet, Tofino, ACRD and the Park has become another popular tourist activity.”

Tofino wrapped up a 2.8-kilometre, $3.9-million extension from its border to the Park Reserve’s 25-kilometre path in 2021, but the other end currently ends abruptly near the West Coast junction, leaving a treacherous 1.2-kilometre gap from Ucluelet’s multi-use-path.

Design work is nearly complete and the ACRD expects to have the path’s construction complete by March 31, 2024, addressing safety concerns raised by those who bike, walk or skate between the neighbouring West Coast communities.

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Nanaimo’s new downtown hotel will start receiving guests this spring

The nine-storey, 172-room Courtyard by Marriott, across from the Vancouver Island Conference Centre in downtown Nanaimo, is set to open for bookings.

While a date for an official grand opening event hasn’t yet been announced, people can start making their bookings as of March 17, with the anticipated opening in late April or early May.

Featuring local Snuneymuxw carvings and murals throughout, the hotel also boasts a bistro, a restaurant and lounge area, fitness room, pool and hot tub, two meeting rooms and in-house laundry facilities for guests. The bistro is fitted with booths the hotel calls media pods – three larger boothed areas with flat-screen TVs suitable for a mini meeting.

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