Revelstoke was a real pleasant surprise. It was the only stop on our itinerary that we knew almost nothing about. It got into our itinerary because it was too far to drive from Victoria to Banff in one day so we needed an interim stop. Revelstoke turned out to be one of my favorite stops so far on the trip.
The town of Revelstoke itself is especially famous for its spectacular helicopter skiing in the winter. Several different operators run heli-skiing operations out of Revelstoke, but one of the best ones, Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH), operated directly out of our hotel, the Regent Inn. We inquired about how the helicopter skiing works and they told us that they take 44 people each week in the winter, picking them up at the Calgary airport on Saturday afternoons and then dropping them off again the following Saturday. You are responsible for getting yourself to Calgary, but after that, CMH handles everything. The cost for the week is about $3000 (US) and includes everything: all meals, lodging, transportation, helicopter service to the mountain, etc. is all included. They guarantee that you will ski a certain amount of vertical feet during your week. Anyhow, this has absolutely nothing to do with our trip to Revelstoke, but I found it interesting because I always wondered how heli-skiing worked so I thought I would share this information in case others were also interested. If you were ever going to do heli-skiing, I think Revelstoke would be the ultimate place to do it.
Now, let's talk about our trip to Revelstoke. This is a really neat little walking town where you can park your car when you arrive and not use it again until you leave. I really like that kind of town, so I liked Revelstoke from the moment we arrived. The town is really quite small and not completely immersed in tourism (they have a healthy logging trade and a hydroelectric plant as well). The people were exceptionally friendly everywhere we went.
The scenery was also quite impressive. Snow capped peaks towered around the town on all sides. Even though we were in the middle of the Selkirk mountain range, the weather was quite warm with high temperatures in the 80's. We were also very lucky with the weather as it was sunny and warm for the two days we were there. This is not exactly characteristic of this area as they normally get lots of snow in the winter and lots of rain in the summer.
One other notable item about Revelstoke is its railroad history. The town in along the path of the famous Canadian Pacific Railway that stretches from Calgary to Vancouver. The railway's route through the Canadian Rockies is quite famous, especially among railroad buffs. Revelstoke is a key stop for the railroad and is home to the Revelstoke Railway Museum which houses lots of photos and memorabilia.
Overall, I really enjoyed Revelstoke. It was a great place to stop over on our way to Banff.
