The Shames Mountain Ski Resort is just a small little ski hill in northern BC, but it receives big snowfalls, and it is a gateway to some big sidecountry and backcountry skiing. Shames Mountain is ideal for a couple of warm up days prior to heli skiing with
Northern Escape,
Last Frontier or
Skeena Heli Skiing or you could use it to come down from your ecstatic heli skiing experience! Or Terrace BC skiing is worthwhile as part of a road trip of the
northern BC Powder Highway.
The nearby town of Terrace BC has a very small population, and considering it’s a huge jaunt for out-of-towners to head that far north, it comes as no great surprise that Shames Mountain doesn’t get crowds. It’s also no revelation that Shames Ski Resort has experienced some economic viability issues considering barely anyone goes there. Thankfully the Terrace locals came to the rescue and Shames is now funded under a non-profit co-op model.
Pros and Cons of Shames Mountain
Pros
- Shames Ski Resort scores a lot of snowfall.
- Shames Mountain is a lift accessed backcountry mecca.
- The staff are sooooo friendly and the locals are not precious about others skiing or snowboarding in their backyard.
Cons
- The in-bounds terrain is rather small and if there’s been no fresh snow, the in-bounds terrain would get boring rather quickly.
- The lift infrastructure is very limited.
- There is no accommodation on-mountain so a daily commute from Terrace is required.
Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective
- The ski resort isn’t open every day, which may make it a little difficult to fit Shames into your itinerary. It’s open Friday to Monday for December, January and March, and during February it’s also open on Thursdays.
Shames Mountain Ski and Snowboard Terrain
The Shames Mountain Ski Resort is below the treeline and is reasonably petite with only 28 runs, 102 hectares of skiable terrain, and 3 lifts: a slow double chair; a T-bar (which has short handles so it’s a bit hard to ride by yourself compared to most T-bars); and a tiny handle tow. The 488 metres of lift serviced vertical spreads from 1,189m at the top down to 700 metres at the base.
In addition to the handle tow at the base for novices, beginners have a few trails off the chair lift on which to learn. Several blue runs are generally groomed for intermediates, including a couple of trails with decent pitch that drop down the fall line. There is also generally a small terrain park.
For advanced riders, there are a handful of cut runs that typically don’t mogul up much considering the negligible skier traffic. Between the trails is some nice tree skiing for when the snow is reasonably fresh.
The main attraction of Shames Mountain Terrace is the terrain beyond the resort boundaries. The Dome is accessed from the T-bar with a 45 minute hike to the top, and then there are a huge number of steep lines to skiers’ left of the resort that all have egress into the drainage back into the resort. Out the other side of the ski area is a backcountry smorgasbord, with a combination of treed terrain and grand alpine slopes that offer some nice challenges. And if you’re mega fit, Super Bowl is considered the ultimate in Shames BC touring.
Shames Mountain Snow
Don’t expect lots of fine weather in the height of winter because it snows a lot at Shames, with an average of 12 metres (475 inches) of snow per season. Snowpack depth is usually not a problem!
The snow quality is very coastal so fresh is best and then the snow generally sets up hard. And the south to southeast aspect of many of the runs doesn’t help with the snow quality either.
Where is Shames Mountain Terrace?
The Terrace ski area of Shames Mountain is located 37km west of Terrace in northern British Columbia. The Shames Mountain Rd off Highway 16 (Trans-Canada/Yellowhead Highway) is about 13.5km long, and despite it being unpaved, the road is well maintained and the drive very pretty.
Terrace is about 1,360km northwest of Vancouver by road or a 2 hour flight. Direct flights from Vancouver to Terrace BC can be arranged with Air Canada or Westjet. You can look at flight options here.
The Shames Express runs between Terrace and Shames Mountain on weekends and holidays but you’ll probably want to have a rental car (especially if you’re on a road trip of the
Northern Powder Highway).
Terrace Accommodation
There are a couple of Terrace hotels in “downtown” Terrace, whilst most of the lodgings are located on the outskirts of Terrace on Highway 16. The Terrace hotels provide very good value for money and there are also various motels if you want to save some more dough.
The Powderhounds stayed at the
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Terrace, which offered a high standard of accommodation.
The Sandman Inn is also a popular choice for decent quality accommodation.
Terrace Hotel Listings
Ski Resort Facilities
It’s all reasonably no frills at Shames Mountain but very adequate considering it’s a day trippers ski area. The ski resort facilities and services are housed in two building at the base, and mostly inside the day lodge. Galloway’s Mountain Bar is a really friendly pub for some après ski festivities, or the deck is also a nice perching spot. The Panhandler Café offers reasonably typical self-service cafeteria fare at rock bottom prices. There are also amenities for brown baggers including a microwave.
Other facilities include ski and snowboard rentals, equipment repairs and tuning, a small ski school, and a family room.