Dropping in to Never Never Land went as you might expect. The powder was light and fluffy, yet sticky enough to provide the requisite snow beard on each heelside turn. There were no people or tracks, even though the last time it snowed was over eight days ago. The pitch was steep enough to be fun but not intimidating, and where we found trees, they were kindly-spaced, inviting us to dart between their number.
Except, in this instance Never Never Land is not just some snowy paradise playing out inside my brain, it’s an actual piste, albeit a non-groomed one, in Panorama, British Columbia. A resort you probably haven’t heard of, living as it does in the shadow of big hitters such as Revelstoke, Fernie, and Kicking Horse, along the amazingly-named Powder Highway in the Kootenay Rockies.
“A resort you probably haven’t heard of, living as it does in the shadow of big hitters such as Revelstoke, Fernie, and Kicking Horse”
Even the marketing poster for the resort, which I gaze at with ambivalence during check-in, provides no clue as to the terrain Panorama has to offer. The picture suggests a sweet and gentle beginner-friendly resort. Which it really can be, if that’s what you’re here for; we, however, are not.