The Kootenays or Kootenay ( / ˈ k uː t n i / KOOT -nee ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia . It takes its name from the Kootenay River , which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people.
18-527: The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay Land District , though some variation exists in terms of what areas are or are not a part. The strictest definition of the region is the drainage basin of the lower Kootenay River from its re-entry into Canada near Creston , through to its confluence with the Columbia at Castlegar (illustrated by a , right) . In most interpretations, however,
36-533: A T-bar , and a magic carpet and its fourth summit, Mt Kirkup, is in-bounds cat ski accessible (for just $ 10/run), all adding up to access 3,850 acres (15.6 km ) of skiable terrain on 119 marked runs. RED Mountain is served by resort-owned shuttles from small airports in Trail and Castlegar . Shuttles also operate to the nearest international airports in Spokane , Washington (2.5 hrs.), and Kelowna (3.5 hrs.). In
54-721: A former gold mining town in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia . RED Mountain is one of the oldest ski hills in North America , with a history dating back to the creation of the Red Mountain Ski Club (RMSC) in the first decade of the 1900s. RED Mountain is located in the Monashee Mountains just north of the U.S. border. Like other ski hills in the British Columbia Interior , it has
72-463: A large network of outdoor activity operators, with the biggest facilities including lift, cat and heli-skiing. This includes some of the oldest resorts in North America such as Red Mountain , and largest Revelstoke Mountain . The highway that connects them all has been named the powder highway . With the emergence of fibre internet, digital nomads and technology developers are now a growing part of
90-540: A reputation for light, dry powder, with yearly snowfall of 750 cm (300 in). RED Mountain Resort is known for having a variety of challenging expert terrain and for being geared towards intermediate and expert level skiers and riders. The ski area's base elevation is 1,185 m (3,888 ft) above sea level and has 887 m (2,910 ft) of vertical. Its three main summits, Red Mountain , Granite Mountain, and Grey Mountain are serviced by six chairlifts ,
108-780: Is not generally considered part of the Kootenays, though part of the Kootenay Land District . Finally, the Boundary Country , a southern east–west corridor between the Okanagan and the Bonanza Pass and drained by the basins of the Kettle and Granby Rivers , is sometimes mentioned as being in the West Kootenay, and in other reckonings as being part of the Okanagan. In actuality, the settlement of
126-670: Is the Cariboo Land District . To the Kootenay Land District's west is the Yale Land District , which includes the Kamloops-Shuswap, Okanagan and Boundary Country regions of the province. While most land districts are primarily defined by lines of latitude and longitude and survey parcel boundaries, the boundaries of the Kootenay Land District are near-entirely the summit-line of the encasing mountain ranges, namely
144-537: The Kootenay River and Columbia River basins in the southeast corner of the province, excepting the drainages of the Okanagan , Granby , Sanpoil and Kettle Rivers , i.e. all those sub-basins of the Columbia on the west and south of the summit-line of the Monashee Mountains . Also not in the land district is the northernmost part of the Columbia's basin, north of Boat Encampment and Mica Creek , northwest of which
162-592: The Boundary Country predates development in either of the regions it is now attached to, as is also the case with the Similkameen Country to the west of the Okanagan. In some descriptions, the Boundary Country includes Osoyoos and Oliver in the South Okanagan (rather than the other way around). The Boundary Country is (illustrated by h ) In the event of its inclusion, the Kootenays could be described as
180-680: The Lands Act of the Colony of British Columbia in 1860. The British Columbia government's BC Names system, a subdivision of GeoBC , defines a land district as "a territorial division with legally defined boundaries for administrative purposes" All land titles and surveys use the Land District system as the primary point of reference, and entries in BC Names for placenames and geographical objects are so listed. The land district comprises all those parts of
198-601: The aforementioned Monashee Mountains on the west, and the border with Alberta along the line of the Rockies 50°30′00″N 116°30′00″W / 50.50000°N 116.50000°W / 50.50000; -116.50000 ( Kootenay Land District ) Red Mountain Resort RED Mountain Resort is a ski resort in western Canada , located on Granite , Grey, Kirkup, and Red Mountains in Rossland ,
SECTION 10
#1732837392540216-407: The bioregion together under one magazine. It covers a range of topics including outdoor adventure, environmental issues, arts and culture, local events, and profiles of people living in the region. Kootenay Land District The Kootenay Land District is a cadastral survey subdivision of the province of British Columbia , Canada , created with rest of those on Mainland British Columbia via
234-511: The complete Canadian portion of the Columbia Basin minus lands drained by the Okanagan River . Contingent on the above boundaries, the Kootenays are commonly split either into East and West, or East, Central and West. In general use amongst locals of the area, the "East/West" convention is more common as a descriptor of where someone is from or where a town is located (rather than splitting
252-605: The economy. Several coworking and innovation centres have sprouted including Kootenay Lake Innovation Centre . A number of Community Radio stations exist in the region, most notably CJLY-FM in Nelson, CIDO-FM in Creston and Stoke FM in Revelstoke. These stations usually operate either as Cooperatives or as non-profit Societies . Since 2001, The Kootenay Mountain Culture has brought
270-636: The other a legal boundary, the Kootenay Land District , which was identical with the original federal and provincial Kootenay ridings . Once settled by miners, loggers, and rail workers, the area experienced a silver rush in the 1890s. The district now contains important tourism, outdoor activity and fruit-growing regions ( Creston Valley ) and numerous commercial centres, including Grand Forks , Kaslo , Robson , Ymir , Warfield , Montrose , Fruitvale , Salmo , Trail , Nelson , Slocan , Playmor , Winlaw , Cranbrook , Kimberley , Fernie , Castlegar , Rossland , Erickson , and Creston . The region has
288-582: The region also includes: Some or all of the following areas to the north, which drain into the Columbia River, are also commonly included in the Kootenays: When the above regions are added, sometimes the region's name is morphed into Columbia-Kootenay or Kootenay-Columbia , although that terminology also includes the Big Bend Country and Kinbasket Lake, to the north of Golden and Revelstoke, which
306-461: The region into "East/Central/West" subregions). That being said: It remains unclear why both Kootenay and Kootenay s are used somewhat interchangeably to describe the area. The plural form is in reference to The Kootenays , both East and West; the singular is in reference to the Kootenay Region . In practice the two terms are used interchangeably, although one indicates a geographical region and
324-506: The summer of 1958, a new slalom slope was cleared by the RMSC for racing practice. Work was delayed until the fall due to threats of forest fires . At the time, Red Mountain had just one chairlift , the Red Chair, western Canada's first in 1947. During the 1958–59 season, daily lift tickets were $ 3.50 for the general public and $ 2.25 for RMSC members (or 40 cents for a single ride). In 1968
#539460