Mount Washington Alpine Resort, Vancouver Island

Early yesterday morning my family packed up the car and by 5:30 am was on our way up island for a day of skiing at Mt. Washington. As we turned off the Island Highway and began to climb up the Strathcona Parkway, snow began to appear on the hills and increasingly large icicles glistened on rock faces in the morning light. We pulled into the rapidly filling Mt. Washington parking lot around 8:30 am.

After buying lift tickets ($78 adult and $63.25 student, plus tax) we got on our skis and gear (including helmets for the first time, safety first!) and made our way up the Hawk 6ix Pack chair on the west side of the resort. Our plan was to start there and work our way east towards the Sunrise Quad. As the chair ascended we looked out at the stunning view. The morning sun was rising in a cloudless blue sky, illuminating the slopes in a beautiful orange glow. It was not too cold, around -8°C, with no wind. We couldn't have asked for better weather. 

The day was perfectly clear and the views from the slopes were the best I'd ever seen. Looking eastward, Courtenay and Comox were visible, as well as Denman, Hornby, Texada, and Lasqueti Islands. Across the Strait of Georgia we could see Powell River and the snow-covered Coast Mountain range. The southward view over Vancouver Island's rugged mountainous terrain was fantastic. That we couldn't see the west coast of the Island attests to its size. Skiing facing these views reminded me of how beautiful a place Vancouver Island is. It's easy to see beauty in other places, but sometimes we forget the gems closer to home.

After enjoying some freshly groomed corduroy runs from the Hawk, we traversed over to the Eagle Express chair to make our way to the summit. Though we hadn't been skiing for four or five years, it fortunately didn't take long to become comfortable again (that is, comfortable enough for green and blue runs -- we're no ski experts!). Although Mt. Washington has a 1-m base, it hasn't had fresh snowfall in a while, meaning that the slopes were pretty icy with the occasional rock or twigs poking through. We got a few gouges in our skis, but such is skiing on the Island. At least (unlike last year) Mt. Washington has enough snow to be open!

After some nice runs from the Eagle we took a fun access trail through the trees to the Sunrise Quad. Although this chair is a little slower and doesn't have foot rests, it never has a line and provides access to a less busy side of the mountain, with some nice wide groomed blue runs.

Despite it being icier here we got some decent runs in before making our way back to the car for lunch. After a big lunch of leftover turkey sandwiches, oranges, bananas, pumpkin cake, and cookies we headed back over to Sunrise for a couple more hours of skiing.

Our legs were pretty tired by the time day skiing ended at 3:30 pm. We made our last run down from Sunrise and were ready to call it a day; however, when we saw that it was only 3:28 pm and the Eagle was closing up, but still running, we decided to hop on for one last run from the summit.

By 4 pm we were back in the car, snacking on cookies and Crispers as we joined a long line of vehicles riding their brakes back down to the Island Highway. Thanks to the 120 km/h speed limit, we were back home by 7 pm, enjoying a cosy fire and hearty bowls of turkey stew.

Though Mt. Washington doesn't have the long runs or powder of Whistler, it's a fun hill with plenty of varied runs and minimal crowds that is readily accessible by day trip from Victoria. We're lucky to have such a nice ski resort on the Island and hopefully will have sufficient snow to sustain its operation for years to come!