The air smells like smoke and it’s pushing 70 degrees as I wind along interior British Columbia’s rustic southern route, Highway 3. The sun warms my bare arm hanging out the window. Pack ice remains on the banks of the fast-flowing Similkameen River. It’s April 9. 

Approaching Keremeos, farmers are doing controlled burns to prep their land before they sow crops. I roll through town, my snowmobile in tow. There’s a skinny, middle-aged dude with dreadlocks balancing on one foot on a fence and juggling multicolored balls. He’s not wearing a shirt. Could there be snow in the mountains?

I’ve still got four hours east and another hour north to go before I reach the hamlet of New Denver. Riders Blair Habenicht and Mary Rand will meet me there. Blair’s been in Revelstoke for the past couple of weeks and says it’s still good up high. Filmers Liam Gallagher and Jake Price are also on their way, and Smartwool’s Alex Pashley and his friend Matt Bievenour are driving 18 hours from Colorado on a last-minute powder pilgrimage…

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