Other activities

The Rossland Arena has hockey games, curling matches and public ice skating. Book a sheet at the curling club (minimum two sheets or 16 people); call The Hub at the mountain (ext. 233). High Mountain Adventures (362-5342) has snowmobile tours and rentals.

Snowwater Heli-Skiing and Snowcat-Skiing (866-722-7669), with 80,000 acres just outside of Nelson, specializes in multiday heli- and cat-skiing packages in a custom-built mountain lodge with fabulous gourmet meals. Single-day trips also are available. Heli-skiing for overnight guests is backed up by snowcat skiing if weather prevents flying. Big Red Cats (877-969-7669), a cat service ski area ten minutes from Red Resort led by ex-Australian ski team member Kieren Gaul, offers intermediate, advanced and expert skiers access to some 18,000 acres of backcountry cat skiing terrain.

The guides at Rossland Mountain Adventures (877-550-6677) provide backcountry tours and clinics. They have a variety of tours to choose from: single day, yurt and lodge touring, women only, and custom packages, to name a few. They also teach courses in orienteering, avalanche awareness and wilderness first aid.

For on-mountain renting and shopping, Red Sports, formerly LeRois Sports, provides rental, retail and customer service at the base of Red.

Rossland has a small collection of shops. Browse through Mainstage Gallery for local art, Gold Rush Books & Espresso for reading and sipping, The Cellar for Canadian-made gifts and both the Legacy Gift Room and Feather Your Nest for unique home products.

The biggest party of the year is the Winter Carnival for three days near the end of January with a snow sculpture contest, dances and other festivities. For details, call 362-5399.

If you have a car, take a day trip to Nelson, about an hour away. Another town ripe with mining history, Nelson is the central administrative center for the Kootenays with an artsy aura. It's packed with colorful Victorian homes and magnificent stone administrative buildings. Spend a day here walking along the main and side streets exploring shops, cafes and restaurants.