Skiing in Canada

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 Chris the Tall 25 Aug 2016
The nights are drawing in, the weather is starting to turn, time to start think thinking about winter

Advice wanted on Canadian ski resorts
Whistler is obviously the most famous, by my wife has been put off by tales of it being really busy
And we're not sure about Lake Louise due to the hassle of the daily transfers

So Fernie, Big White, Panorama....

Convenience for skiing is very important, nightlife isn't, in fact we're quite happy with places where everyone is in bed by 10pm

Reasonably good skiiers, want some off-piste, and we have a couple of boarders in tow
 dsh 25 Aug 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:
Well you don't fancy the best two so Sunshine Village or Revelstoke. Also don't know how much you know about North American skiing but everything inbounds is patrolled to an extent and avalanche controlled, not just groomed and marked runs/trails like I'm the alps, and then you have lift accessed side country and backcountry which are full off piste, which are you looking for?
Post edited at 12:44
 hang_about 25 Aug 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:

Panorama was fun but I'd skiied it all in a few days (went years ago before it got popular). Very convenient for skiing.
 La benya 25 Aug 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:

I lived in Fernie a couple of winters ago. The Terrain is excellent if you want to do mainly back/ slack country. The pistes are OK but realistically you're not using the mountain properly if you're there for the pistes.
The town is away from the mountain, so the resort is very quiet, but does have stuff going on in the restaurants etc.
Its quite low lying so it rains a lot if its not that cold, which can make conditions difficult. On the flip side powder days are amazing. Its not very busy and any day other than national holidays/ powder days you could feel quite alone on the hill.
it very much depends on the season, but if you book, and it turns out to be a warm/ low snow year a trip to Fernie will be wasted. Most of the mountain needs a good couple of metres to be opened/ the lower mountain can be trashed from rain.
whistler is always busy but there is a reason for that, and its high enough to have pretty good connies no matter what.
Anything around Banff is a bit higher/ colder which generally means more consistent snow, but it is miserable when it hits minus 30c.


Have you skied in north america before Chris?
In reply to Chris the Tall:
Went to Whistler mid/late December 2 years ago, which seems like an excellent time to go. It was quiet and it's a whole lot cheaper because its considered off seasons. A lot of people we spoke to didn't consider it good conditions because the base was less than 5 meters or something completely stupid! The entire mountain was open, everything was quiet, the town was WAY quieter than it is at peak season and the skiing was much better than I had in Val d'isere this yea in February.
Post edited at 15:05
 La benya 25 Aug 2016
In reply to dsh:

> Well you don't fancy the best two so Sunshine Village or Revelstoke. Also don't know how much you know about North American skiing but everything inbounds is patrolled to an extent and avalanche controlled, not just groomed and marked runs/trails like I'm the alps, and then you have lift accessed side country and backcountry which are full off piste, which are you looking for?

yeah, what he said.
The runs aren't sanitised the same way they are in Europe. A lot of the best stuff you have to boot pack for, A lot of the inbound stuff would be totally out of bounds in Europe. It generally feels more 'extreme', most of the best runs in Fernie are unmarked, DD black tree runs. all they do is thin the trees in summer and put a sign post out for you.
Revi is a great place.
if you choose one of the smaller resorts you could get a little bored quite quickly if you are just sticking to the runs.

Also, dont be fooled by Fernies map, 'polar peak' which adds to the vertical and several runs is open maybe 1/3 of the time and the conditions are rarely good (i know, I was the liftie on it).
In reply to Chris the Tall:
Thanks for the replies - should have said we are going mid-Feb

And going for 2 weeks, so thinking 2 resorts and a week in each
Post edited at 15:20
 La benya 25 Aug 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:

I'd do whistler and then Sunshine or Revi (the transfer between the two will take a while, either driving or flying)
 Alan Bates 25 Aug 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:

I've been Mount Washington on Vancouver Island, mainly because of convenience as we have family on the Island and can catch the ski bus any day which stops along the main highway.

Loved every day I've spent there (skiing and boarding), it's so quiet compared with my experiences in Europe. If you do stay in accommodation on the mountain, it is also quiet. The pdfs here will give you an idea of what it has to offer.
https://www.mountwashington.ca/resort/maps-guides.html

In reply to La benya:

> Have you skied in north america before Chris?

One trip to Breckinridge, about 20 years ago - thought the skiing was pretty good, but was getting bored after a week by the fact that the runs were so similar - straight line through the trees. So all that distinguished most of the runs (with a couple of excellent exceptions) was the angle. Much prefer somewhere where you get a feeling you are really "skiing the mountain" - a line with a few curves on it, not to mention proper mountain scenery (e.g. The Dolomites). That said if I find a decent couloir I can spend all day on it !

One other thing - for Europe we rarely do package trips - usually it's book flights, hire a car, rent an apartment. Is that a viable/reasonable approach ?
 dsh 25 Aug 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:
> One trip to Breckinridge, about 20 years ago - thought the skiing was pretty good, but was getting bored after a week by the fact that the runs were so similar - straight line through the trees. So all that distinguished most of the runs (with a couple of excellent exceptions) was the angle.

Well yeh, you're supposed to ski IN the trees not the runs cut through them

> Much prefer somewhere where you get a feeling you are really "skiing the mountain" - a line with a few curves on it, not to mention proper mountain scenery (e.g. The Dolomites).

Well then I would really recommend Whistler, it's the biggest skiing in North America. And has all the variety of terrain that you can think of: bowls, chutes, trees, groomers, and even a glacier. But also consider Big Sky Montana as it's a really mountain-ey looking mountain, but it will be harder to get to and more expensive.

> That said if I find a decent couloir I can spend all day on it !

Jackson Hole or Squaw Valley maybe?
Post edited at 16:35
In reply to dsh:

> Well yeh, you're supposed to ski IN the trees not the runs cut through them

I said there were 2 memorable routes at Breck - one was a bowl well above the trees, the other was an area known as the Glades, which was through the trees. And spent ages skiing in the trees in small french resorts (e.g. Val Cenis) this year - but it can get tricky when your taller than average, and your skis are longer than most.

> Well then I would really recommend Whistler, it's the biggest skiing in North America.

I think someone told my wife Whistler was the Val d'Isere of North America, which put her right off ! And there may have been a time when I could have convinced myself I was good enough to ski Jackson Hole, but not now ! Plus it's not in Canada

 dsh 25 Aug 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:
> I think someone told my wife Whistler was the Val d'Isere of North America, which put her right off!

I've never been to Val d'Isere so not sure what you mean by that, but if you're talking about lift lines Just remember that a bad Canadian lift line is not like a bad European lift line. Very rare to get really bad queues, usually the worst you'll get is 10 minutes in a busy period at a weekend. Most of the time I was there the queues were non existent.

> And there may have been a time when I could have convinced myself I was good enough to ski Jackson Hole, but not now ! Plus it's not in Canada

I was just giving some other options I know since you didn't seem too keen on the Canadian ones that I know. What's the difference between going to Canada and USA when coming from the UK?
Post edited at 17:46
 Trangia 25 Aug 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:

Chris do you mind if I hijack a lift on your thread, and ask if anyone knows of Canadian ski resorts offering single room accommodation? Thanks in advance.
In reply to dsh:

The main problem with Val d'Isere was rowdy Brits fighting each other !

And the main difference between Canada and USA - less merkins, obviously ! It's just various people have various reasons why they want to go to Canada.
baron 25 Aug 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:
Lake Louise is only a long bus journey if you stay in Banff. You can stay in Lake Louise itself.
 Doug 25 Aug 2016
In reply to baron:

Its still a bus ride away though, maybe 20 minutes ?

Lake Louise is the only N American resort I've skied in (prior to touring on the Wapta Icefields) and it seemed quite small compared to European resorts of similar reputation (Verbier, Val d'Isère, etc).
baron 25 Aug 2016
In reply to Doug: Lake Louise village is across the highway from the resort. Then there's the other Lake Louise bit with the Chateau type hotel which is indeed a short bus journey away. The skiing is a bit limited, size wise, to the largest French resorts but offers a different ski experience.

 Doug 25 Aug 2016
In reply to baron:

Was several years ago and towards the end of the season but I'm sure I remember having to drive or take a bus from the Alpine Club Lodge (in the village) up to the ski area. Have they added some extra lifts ?
baron 25 Aug 2016
In reply to Doug:
It's been a good few years since I've been to Lake Louise so I could be mistaken about the closeness of the village to the lifts but the main reason for staying there was that previous holidays had involved staying in Banff and I hated the 45 minute journey! If you have to jump a bus to the lifts - 3.5 km according to google - it can't be more than five minutes - can it?
 thermal_t 25 Aug 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:

I've been to Whistler twice, both times in late December. Both times I didn't find it anywhere near as busy as resorts in Europe such as the 3 valleys.
 La benya 25 Aug 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:

> One trip to Breckinridge, about 20 years ago - thought the skiing was pretty good, but was getting bored after a week by the fact that the runs were so similar - straight line through the trees. So all that distinguished most of the runs (with a couple of excellent exceptions) was the angle. Much prefer somewhere where you get a feeling you are really "skiing the mountain" - a line with a few curves on it, not to mention proper mountain scenery (e.g. The Dolomites). That said if I find a decent couloir I can spend all day on it !

Ah, so you know what it's all about and aren't expecting euro style mountain. That's all I was getting at. It was a big culture shock for me getting out there and took a while to understand the mountain.

> One other thing - for Europe we rarely do package trips - usually it's book flights, hire a car, rent an apartment. Is that a viable/reasonable approach ?

Erm. There aren't massive apartment blocks only hotels really (Fernie anyway). It would probably be easier to do package. Although you could rent a car in Calgary and drive down. Fernie didn't do week passes only day ones unless bought with your accommodation, and it made it quite expensive.

 cat22 26 Aug 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:

If you do go for Whistler (which you should, because it's awesome), you'll get a quieter experience staying in Creekside rather than Whistler Village itself. There are lots of AirBnB apartments you can rent for a sensible price and walk to the lifts. And most people are in bed by 10pm.

Whistler does get really busy on weekends but it's fine during the week, so maybe try and travel on the weekends. I think Whistler's in a different league to Fernie because of the variety of terrain there, but those are the only 2 Canadian resorts I've skiied at.
 SiWood 26 Aug 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:

I have skied at Big White and enjoyed the experience. Its quite a family orientated resort and is right on the slopes. The off piste off the back is good and there are plenty of opportunities between the marked runs on the front side.

Don't be swayed by the name though - it gets its name from the big white cloud that likes to sit on the mountain rather than from the depth of powder snow !
 Harry Cook 01 Sep 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:

Sun peaks, near kamploops, it's brilliant, second largest ski resort in BC but one of the least visited
 Edradour 01 Sep 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:

I've skied in all of these resorts and did a season in Fernie.

Firstly, I'd echo the sentiments of others, N America skiing is very different to Europe as it is much less sanitised and the ski areas are tiny in comparison. It's also fricking amazing and I would pick it over Europe everytime.

For the resorts you mention:

Whistler is famous and the most European in style (big, good infrastructure, accommodation at the base). I was there last year when they had record snowfall. It was good but not amazing IMO. Worth a visit.

Lake Louise is not as big as Whistler, nor as steep as Fernie. It's got some great bowls off the back of the moutain and good variety.

(nb: If you're going to Lake Louise you can ski Sunshine and Norquay on the same lift ticket. Sunshine is great and pretty big by Canadian standards. Norquay is tiny and only worth a day (plus a trip for the floodlit night skiing).

Fernie is as someone else said, not really for the pistes (which are ok) but the backcountry is incredible. It's a very steep resort and you'll get the most of it if you're half decent at skiing. Weather should be ok mid feb. Powder is awesome in Fernie. You can also cat ski in Fernie which is a cheaper way of doing heli skiing and worth a day if the snow is good (but not too good because the avalanche hazard gets too great).

Big White is quite big by Canadian standards (but not as big as Whistler). I only had a day here and I thought it was very flat. Didn't see much potential off the pistes. Very family friendly resort.

You'll ski everything in Panorama in 2 days tops but it's a good location for doing other wintery things like snowmobiling and heliskiing (v expensive).

My suggestion, if you don't mind a bit of travelling would be to do something of a ski safari. If you fly to Calgary and hire a car you could do a few days in Banff (Lake Louise, Norquay and Sunshine, perhaps also drive over to Kicking Horse for the day) then down to Panorama, then down to Fernie. You could also tag on days at some of the smaller hills like Kimberley, all are accessible. Then back to Calgary to fly home. Fernie to Calgary is 4 hours to put travelling times in perspective.

From my experience the approach is pretty different in Canada so don't be put off by the fact that the ski hill isn't tagged on to the town. Longer distances are par for the course in Canada.

You could put together an amazing trip for 2 weeks flying in and out of Calgary.
 Frank4short 02 Sep 2016
In reply to Chris the Tall:

Kinking Horse?
 John2 02 Sep 2016
In reply to Frank4short:

I'd agree with that. I've skied most of the resorts mentioned, and Kicking Horse was my favourite. Red Mountain also gets good reviews, though I've never been there.
In reply to Chris the Tall:

The latest thinking is the first week in Whistler and the second somewhere else - preferably somewhere that would have some appeal for someone who doesn't want to ski all day (I know, but apparently there are such people)

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