RYAN CRISP
MY TOP FIVE
Ski Club rep and Whistler regular Ryan Crisp picks his favourite runs in the world – every one of them off-piste
1 Christmas Trees, Whistler Blackcomb, Canada
Officially known as Whistler’s Everglades, the locally dubbed Christmas Trees can be found by heading down Whistler Bowl, before cutting out half way into an easily missed traverse – Sneaky Pete’s. We’re talking powder-tastic and steep, with festive foliage coming at you thick and fast. I love this run so much I’ve become precious about it and will only head here when conditions are just right. Like Christmas, it typically only comes around once a year, but the gifts you’ll be unwrapping are massive grins and shouts of ‘best ever!’
2 Giant, Rusutsu, Japan
Picture this: an untouched field of fluffy powder, freshly fallen snow weighing down postcard-perfect Japanese birch. The only thing breaking the idyllic scene? A giant fairground at the bottom of the run. Giant is usually a piste in quirky Rusutsu on the northern island of Hokkaido, but if you catch it at the right time, you can ski knee-deep powder into a theme park. Talk about surreal. Of course, the fair is closed for winter, which is a shame, as breaking trail through deep snow, surrounded by roller coasters, would be greatly improved by a stick of candy floss. As they say, ‘Only in Japan’.
3 Schwarzkogel (Itinerary 56), Kitzbühel, Austria
I was blessed with ‘best snow in 30 years’ conditions while leading in Kitzbühel last February. Schwarzkogel offers incredible bang for your buck. The route is long, ticks many boxes and you could ski it a hundred times, a hundred different ways. Signing your snowy signatures through farmers’ fields, zigging and zagging out of trees, hopping fences… there’s something for everyone, including groups of mixed ability. Better still, the high ridge you need to navigate to access 56 keeps away fair-weather skiers. I recall the initial fear in some of my group's eyes as whiteout and wind lashed at them upon one visit, but relax – you’re soon in the tree-line for a great run. The cosy chalet awaiting you at the bottom serving up delicious strudel and schnapps doesn’t hurt either. Prost!
4 Tomamu’s abandoned neighbour, Hokkaido, Japan
It’s a little known fact that there are more ski areas in Japan than anywhere else in the world. It’s even lesser known that they have just as many now defunct, withering monuments to the 1980s ski boom. One of these now sits silently in the shadow of the brilliant Tomamu, about an hour’s drive from Furano. By slipping out of the Tomamu boundary, and with a great deal of climb and traverse, you can access this former resort. My particular favourite ‘run’ is skiing bouncy pillows down an abandoned lift line, pulling to a powdery stop at the now rusty ticket office and a busy road. You’ve heard of heli drops, but this requires a ‘car drop’. I pulled my skis off as a lorry came whizzing by, but it was so good we headed right back for more. As a coach of mine regularly used to say: “Never leave good snow in pursuit of good snow.”
5 Highlander, Crescent Spur Heliskiing, British Columbia, Canada
The best skiing of my life (so far). Crescent Spur’s boutique heli operation can be found in the Northern Cariboos and Rockies of British Columbia and is a truly magical experience. One morning saw cries of a storm day: ‘The heli can’t fly too far, but fear not, we’re heading to MacLeod Creek for the best tree skiing of your life!’
The guides weren’t kidding. Runs like The Quickening, Excalibur and Highlander pay homage to the classic 1980s fantasy flick. The runs were so good they’ve morphed into an almost mythical memory. It goes without saying it was steep, bottomless and leg-zapping – the full white-room experience. All with a shiny blue bird waiting to whisk you back up for seconds. Like the movie, stick a sword in me, I’m done. I probably should have retired after this.
PHOTO rd crisp photography
Rusutsu, Japan, is home to a run named Giant: a playground in more ways than one
Ryan Crisp factfile
Ryan made his first turns… at the tender age of 11. Like many Brits, it was on a school trip (Voss, Norway).
He is… a photographer, and is a qualified Canadian ski instructor as well as a self-proclaimed Whistler ski bum.
He passed the SCGB Leaders course… in 2012 and will be repping in Whistler in March and April 2020.
His favourite après spot is… Merlin’s at the base of Blackcomb Mountain, especially when local band The Hairfarmers are rocking.
His après tipple of choice is… a Bloody Caesar followed by a visit with Burt Reynolds! Don’t ask.
His top tip is… to watch or revisit the 1990s classic film Aspen Extreme this winter. Pure ski perfection!
