At the top of Red Mountain, British Columbia, 2,900 feet above us, wind-driven snow sculpted trees into pure white creatures out of Dr. So, after years of promises, my wife and I — from Denver — together with old friends from Telluride, made the trip in January, flying to Spokane via Salt Lake City, and renting a car there. And we felt the warm, dark, low-ceiling day lodge — unchanged from 1947, hung with wooden skis and vintage racing bibs — was the perfect place for an apres-ski beer. All three serve a largely local clientele — so far — though more visitors from the States are finding their way north for the superb snow and nonexistent lift lines. While they were signing papers, another real estate agent in the office, Paula Gaul, who owns the Red Shutter Inn at the mountain, offered, out of the blue, a couple of seats the next day on her husband’s snow cat for some backcountry powder skiing. read more