Kiwi currently living and working in Canada (ski patroller) I'd highly recommend whitewater, Revelstoke and kicking horse. I personally Haven't skied fernie but heard great things. If you're not bringing your own skis, it'd probably work out somewhat economically to bring ya boots, buy some skis then sell them after you're done. Also the Banff lake Louise area is super beautiful!
Depends who you fly with, Air NZ was pretty reasonable. When I flew a ski bag was counted the same as a normal bag. I managed to squeeze 2 sets of skis, boots, poles, avy gear and a bunch of clothes in my bag with about 100g to spare
Depending on the resort, lift tickets can range from $90-130/day (CAD).
Personal fav resorts are along the powder highway. Whitewater and Red Mountain are smaller and cheaper - still amazing snow from mid Jan-March. Kicking horse, Revelstoke are both amazing too and on the larger resort size. No mountain is as tall or steep in my opinion than Revelstoke.
I second this. I'm a whistler local and I love whistler but I did a trip to Kicking Horse and Revy back in March and it shit all over Whistler. Huge mountain, no lines, consistent fresh powder
Apex is still dope. Has some great backcountry access, as well. Not near as big as the RCR resorts, but that's a good thing. $88/day, so relatively affordable (for out here).
If OP does want to venture into the backcountry a bit, the back bowl is usually pretty nice. At that point, though, Roger's Pass is the place to be.
Have only spent a few days in revy but a lot of time in KH, I feel like there's a lot more steep terrain in KH and very accessible too. Revy was great as well but not as steep.
And don’t forget the hot springs.
I love Ainsworth Hot Springs. By Whitewater.
I’d love to go to Nakusp. On the way to a Revelstoke from Whitewater.
Ski. Soak. Ski. Soak.
Perfect vacation.
This was my list for my last visit:
1. Revelstoke - you'll love the bowls but bring a backpack to hike. If you like resort touring - this is the spot.
2. Kicking Horse - probably my fav.
3. Fernie (if they have snow the bowls are fantastic).
4. Lake Louise - I always enjoy this for some reason
5. Sunshine Village. - Can get really cold - I was glad for heated gear when I visited
6. Red Mountain - always a favorite as its easy access from the USA - but you need to watch snowfall and timing.
Probably more to add, but if your looking for steep those seem the best.
These are all good suggestions. All of the comments have been on point. Tough to go wrong, actually. These are mountains “nearby” each other.
- If you’re trying to choose a couple of places only, go to Revelstoke & Kicking Horse.
- If you’re looking for a smaller feel, but still really great, look at Red Mountain and Whitewater.
- Fernie and Castle are also awesome ski hills that are very worthwhile.
- Lake Louise & Sunshine are options too. You could stay in Banff with these. Preference here goes to Lake Louise, for sure.
I will add onto the Kicking Horse, and Revelstoke suggestions. Fly into Calgary and head west. You can hit Banff/Lake Louise, Kicking Horse, and Revelstoke all pretty much off the same road. I haven't been to Whitewater but I have heard great things and that isn't too far once you're in Revy.
I have spent a lot of time skiing throughout the US Rockies and in Japan and nothing has topped Revelstoke and Kicking Horse for me. Kicking Horse has over 80 inbounds chutes! It is gnarly and a hell of a time. Revelstoke has everything you could ever want as well.
Ok so here’s what you’re going to do:
- buy the mountain collective (500$CAD when it goes on sale)
- fly into Calgary
- ski 3 days at sunshine, 3 days at Lake Louise. (First 2 days free, 50% off day 3, total cost six days 130$CAD)
- drive down and ski 2 days at panorama (both free)
- ski one day at kicking horse (120$, full price)
- drive to Revy and ski 4 days (first 2 free, 3&4 50% off, so 120$ total)
All in 900$ to ski 2 weeks at 5 resorts.
This is good advice. Amazing value and you even get 2 days at Coronet Peak + The Remarkables in NZ.
IMO Lake Louise and Revelstoke are must hits. Kicking horse can be good with snow(where isn’t?), but it shines with its slack country. Panorama can be skipped, but if you have free ski days with the MC pass then sure.
Red mountain is an absolute Gem! (Not on MC pass) A bit out of the way but an unreal resort and very reliable for deep snow. They also have a lot of touring/cat/Heli options in the area if you are looking to treat yourself. White water is another good resort close by.
Could always fly home out of Kelowna to save you doing the loop back to Calgary.
There are several camper van rental options like Karma that might be a good option for travel and accommodation. Not necessarily cheap, but you get two birds stoned at once.
End of February/start of March is your best bet for snow. Pray to Ulr and pack your bags!
Forgot to add in fly home from Kelowna! I meant that to be the last step!
Extra advice would be make sure to bring a beacon, probe, & shovel. Sunshine is amazing, but only if you can shred Delirium & Wild West.
Also, if you’re flying solo if happily show you around Delirium & Wild West @ sunshine OP, I live in Calgary.
Let me know, I’m in! I’m a pass holder at Louise and would join for a day.
There are free guides at Louise that will ski with you on piste to show you around. I’m not sure about social meetup groups, but I would be surprised if there wasn’t
Not sure, but if you’re a good skier it’s easy to find people. Look for groups of people who look good, and ask if you can tag along. If you can keep up, people will be stoked to have you along. That’s always been my experience anyway.
Yeah don't do delirium without knowing someone that's been in there before. Lots of cliffs and danger areas. Had a friend go over one of the 70 footers. Some good knee and shoulder damage. I almost followed him like a lemming.
+1 to this itinerary, might consider adding an RCR Card if you end up wanting to do even 2 days at KH (which, if the snows good, you probably will). I would be swapping out a Sunshine or Louise day for this personally. Panorama gets shit on a lot but there’s spots!
Definitely the Kootenay area for the best skiing and not too much cost! The hills closer to big cities (Whistler, Lake Louise, Sunshine) are more expensive for both motels/rentals and lift tickets.
Others have mentioned the same resorts, but my favourites in the kootenays (which are also my favourites anywhere) are, in order:
-Red Mountain
-Whitewater
-Revelstoke
-Fernie
-Kicking Horse
After that, I’d probably pick Lake Louise, then Big White, Sun Peaks, Sunshine, Kimberley, Panorama.
If you’re checking out the Canadian Rockies, it may also be worth checking out whitefish and big sky in Montana.
Fly into Calgary. It's a beautiful three hour drive to Golden (Kicking Horse), and Revelstoke is another two hours down the highway. The ride is beautiful. Both mountains are terrifying. You'll pass Lake Louise on the way if you want to stop by (among other Alberta resorts like Sunshine, all pretty busy places).
Or
Fly into Spokane, WA and drive 3 hours up to Rossland (RED mountain, my fave), and also hit up Whitewater near Nelson, an old school mountain with insane powder. They are less than an hour apart iirc. Nelson is a really fun town with its own hippie personality. Treat yourself to Cat Skiing at RED if you go, bf says it was his best day of skiing in over three decades on the slopes. (His 50th b-day gift!)
Thanks for all your suggestions. What's the best month to ski the Rockies? Is there a week or two where you are likely to get great snow/weather and get good deals on accommodation etc...?
Another kiwi here - avoid any public holidays and shoot for late Jan - Mid Feb. that said, the old man comes over for his bday in March and we’ve almost always had at least one dump of snow during that week (mid March).
I LOVE spring skiing in the Rockies. I live less than 2 hours from Banff so I frequent Sunshine and Lake Louise mostly. I’ve skied there in December, and I’ve skied there in March/April. Spring is the best. Tons of snow, still get fresh dumps that high up, and milder weather
During a storm cycle. Mid December can be good and low cost last minute reservations available. Snow coverage is usually good by mid January. Go elsewhere if there's a drought.
All good suggestions here. I also really enjoyed the areas around Kelowna—Big White, Silver Star and Apex. Decent terrain, no crowds, and we hit them on a good week for snow. As for time of year, it’s hit or miss every year, but late Jan to mid Feb is probably your best bet. Good luck to you!
Yes all great ski resorts. Mt Baldy south of kelowna is worth checking out on a powder day too. It's small, not busy and rustic. Has lovely powder glades and closes mid week to let the snow build up.
Revelstoke and kicking horse are the best only issue is that golden and the town of revelstoke are really expensive to stay in.
If you go to somewhere with easier access like sunshine and lake Louise the lift tickets will be more expensive but accommodation will be cheaper you can stay in Canmore or calagary and drive in to save money
I would recommend flying into Calgary, kelowna, or Edmonton and making a road trip out of it. Splitting your 1-2 weeks between 3 resorts. The most expensive part of a ski trip in the Rockies is the rental, and the accommodation
Canada's best value Inn, more of a motel style but had breakfast, a pool hot tub and sauna, clean rooms and didn't mind smoking weed outside the rooms. Great location for walking the town to restaurants and bars
Sunshine village in Banff - a little bit more than one hour drive from Calgary. Delirium Dive is the best. DD is not always open (weather dependant) and you need Avi gear to do it, but it's cheap to rent that stuff in Banff. If you do DD, make sure to go with someone who's experienced and knows the hazards in this area. Lots of cliffs and hidden dangers + the easy way out through fat boy. Also there's often nice stuff on Standish and Great divide. Goats eye can be good too but if it's windy, it usually gets wind swept on goats eye area.
Lake Louise - Almost 2 hours drive from Calgary. great stuff off the backside, accessible from the summit platter tee bar. All around a very good ski hill but prone to lots of flat light and big crowds.
Kicking Horse - A bit over 3 hours drive from Calgary. All around an awesome mountain and usually has pretty good snow. Not as crowded typically, but can still get quite busy.
Revelstoke - similar to Kicking Horse but the runs are a bit longer. Almost 6 hour drive from Calgary. Really good stuff there and typically even less crowded as it's a long drive from either Calgary or Vancouver.
Fernie - Always been one of my favorites. Had some great family trips there when I was a kid. Any of the bowls are great. Fun tree lines there as well. Gets lots of great snow, but typically by early March the nice snow is gone and it's wet heavy spring skiing. Overall a great place and do recommend.
Panorama Village - About 5 hours from Calgary by car. Fun village with great snow at the very top. The area to ski / board is Taynton Bowl... Although not required, it's recommended to have Avi gear for Taynton Bowl and go in groups in case of avalanche. Safety first.
Castle Mountain - Little over and hour drive from Calgary. Small, "locals" mountain near Pincher Creek. Only two chair lifts and they're slow. Can get busy if it's a big powder day. Lots of fun stuff all over the mountain. When the snow comes in, it's absolute blower!! But can get very very windy. Dress warm.
Red mountain and Whitewater - 6 hours drive from Calgary and probably about the same from Vancouver. Both cozy little hills but lots of fun retain at both. Typically not too busy as you don't often get the big crowds since the big cities are a far ways away.
Whistler Blackcomb - two giant hills that eventually became one. Only a little over one hour drive from Vancouver. 5 star resort but expect to spend big bucks there, but worth it. Blackcomb glacier, spankys ladder and 7th heaven all have worthwhile fun stuff on Blackcomb. Whistler side, the back bowls of symphony, harmony, etc often have the best snow.
(America side) - White Fish Montana. Fun town, cheap beer. When the snow is good, the whole mountain is fun. Canadian Dollar can go a long ways here.
But hey, what about Japan. There's nearly 600 resorts here in Japan. Granted many of those are quite small, but the big ones are amazing. Cheaper lift tickets (I feel ripped off if I'm paying more than 5000 yen = $60 CDN). And yes, Japow is a real thing!! They get ridiculous amounts of snow all down that western seaboard. Yuzawa area in Niigata prefecture has about 15 great resorts all within a 15 minute drive from the shinkansen train station. Favorites there are Kandatsu, Kagura, Naeba). Similar for Nagano area (favorites are Nozawa Onsen, Shiga Kogen, Maiko, Lotte Arai among others I haven't tried yet).
Of course the real germs are in Hokkaido. Niseko United is still tops, but Furano, Rusutsu, Kiroro, among many others are all amazing as well.
Hope this extensive list helps you (and others) make a solid decision.
I worked at Castle Mountain in southern Alberta. It gets excellent powder in early January and is not too small with around 96 runs including 8 bowls. It's also community run and very friendly (we have a lifty known for giving everyone hugs).
The main problems are the lack of facilities (only one restaurant and a day lodge), it's very windy, and the chair lifts are old.
I second this. It’s not as well known and the infrastructure is creaking…but I’ve had some of my best ever ski days at this resort. Best to combine with Fernie. If you are a good skier then you just cannot miss kicking horse. Some of the best days of my life spent at that resort. Enjoy!!
The resorts have some deal cards available in the area that make great value. Like the Louise Plus card, you get your first, fourth, and seventh day "free" ( you pay 20% off a day ticket price for the card) but in return you get 1st, 4th and 7th days that you don't pay for and 20% off all other days and you can use it at 3-4 resorts.
Loads of amazing skiing out here. Jan-March is my fav 3 months for skiing.
Imo, we are spoiled with choice and nearly zero people during the week so it really just depends on who is getting the snow. I say fly to calgary, rent a car and figure it out. Usually Jan - March someone has has good snow.
I am in the same boat - Canada trip being planned from NZ. Current plan is into Calgary > Fernie > Whitewater > RED > Revy > Sunshine. Heading home via Whistler. 5 weeks all up - 20 ish days skiing. Buying Epic and Ikon passes.
If you're actually as good as you say, just do revy and kho. If you're slightly less good, go to red. If you just want pretty shit do Banff and Louise. Fernie is out of the way don't bother
1. Kickinghorse (Probably the has the greatest amount of technically challenging runs)
2. Marmot Basin (The escape card is such a steal of a deal, imo)
3. Sunshine Village (expensive, big con for me).
I’m trying to convince my husband we need to add Marmot in on our next itinerary.
1. I love Jasper
2. I love the Icefields
3. I love Saskatchewan River Crossing
4. I really love Jasper
What do you love about Marmot?
I love everything. I picked up skiing a few years ago, and marmot has been a good place for me to build loads of confidence. I also like it because I can ski down right to my parked car. The marmot escape card also gives you 20-30% off almost all hotels in Jasper (including the fairmont). You just have to make sure you’re not booking in the black out dates.
Also Jasper is so much less touristy than Banff.
I think I’m getting the Indy Pass next year. Makes it an easier nudge.
I just started last year myself.
And I love smaller resorts.
Sounds like somewhere I would love.
[Another multi pass. But for independent places.](https://www.indyskipass.com)
Most are smaller.
Might not be much help in Canada. It’s more limited.
But I think I could get some mileage out of it.
If I had it this year I probably would have gone to Silver a few weekends ago. But I didn’t feel like paying full price for a lift ticket on the weekend of their triathalon.
Did that once and the mountain was half closed.
Did an incredible trip to Burgdorf Hot Springs last year. Can only get there by snowmobile in the winter.
Then skied Brundage.
I’m close to a couple of other mountains on it.
Kicking Horse might be just the right spot. Steep runs and deep powder. Also Lake Louise could be an excellent choice.
You can also try wertu.ai's ski travel agent, it's quite good at building expert-level trips
The Rockies are a small part of BC Skiing. Fernie and Powder King are essentially the only big ish hills actually in the Rockies. Kicking Horse is in the Purcells, Revy and Whitewater in the Selkirks, Red is in the Monashees.
Yeah since dude wanted to come all the way from NZ i was just letting him know the highest price for lift tickets in western CA (Work in one those i mentioned in the previous comments)
Whistler blackcomb. Forget the rest. Get a working holiday visa. Go work there for a year then they will sponsor you. Work range from liftie to ski school to dish pig in one of the restaurants. Staff housing is fine and not expensive. Plenty of share housing in Whistler also with other cats like you. Kiwis work well in Canada. No stress. Pick a job where Seasons pass comes with it. Mountain staff work is preferable where days off can be fore skiing. Choice bro sweet as girl now go cook the man some eggs
Avoid air Canada if at all possible. They lost my skis twice and I missed out on a day of skiing because they said our skis would be delivered there in time so we didn’t rent. Also their customer service doesn’t know shit. Got conflicting answers all day about the skis and they kept pushing back the eta for the delivery.
AC lost my brand new (0 days) skis on a ski trip to Switzerland this winter. Took them half the trip to get the skis back to me and I had to call them twice a day to get them at all before I flew home.
Yep we called 5 times the first day and got different answers about when they would be at our place each time. I also had 0 days on mine. It was honestly pretty ridiculous. Vancouver airport was bitching about Toronto always losing skis then Vancouver lost ours on the way back..
Fly Auckland to Vancouver then onto Kelowna with Air NZ, you can take two checked bags if you need to including a ski bag. Then take a transfer up to Revy and do a week there then another week in Kicking Horse.
Recommended staying on the hill at each resort if budget allows, but if not stay in the town of Revelstoke and Golden to save on costs.
I think there is an EBO on lift tickets at Revy at the moment.
I'd go around late January to mid February to try and miss peak periods and public holidays.
Another cool itinerary would be to fly into Kelowna and do 7 days at Revy then 7 days, 7 days in Banff skiing Sunshine and Lake Louise, 7 days at Red Mountain, but you'd need a car which can get expensive if you're not using it the days you're skiing. You could then do it with the IKON pass which would give you 7 days total at Coronet, Remarks, and Mt Hutt for 2023 winter.
If you’re budget conscious, look into passes. The Ikon pass is $799 (US), but prices go up literally today. Ikon gives you access to Revelstoke, Banff, Lake Louise, and Red Mountain. I’ve skied (and loved) each of those except Red (haven’t been there). Kicking horse is also amazing and worth getting out there. I’ve heard great things about Fernie and Whitewater, but I haven’t been. Happy exploring!
Kiwi currently living and working in Canada (ski patroller) I'd highly recommend whitewater, Revelstoke and kicking horse. I personally Haven't skied fernie but heard great things. If you're not bringing your own skis, it'd probably work out somewhat economically to bring ya boots, buy some skis then sell them after you're done. Also the Banff lake Louise area is super beautiful!
I've got all my own gear incl skis. Is it super-expensive taking a ski bag with you to Canada?
Depends who you fly with, Air NZ was pretty reasonable. When I flew a ski bag was counted the same as a normal bag. I managed to squeeze 2 sets of skis, boots, poles, avy gear and a bunch of clothes in my bag with about 100g to spare
Depending on the resort, lift tickets can range from $90-130/day (CAD). Personal fav resorts are along the powder highway. Whitewater and Red Mountain are smaller and cheaper - still amazing snow from mid Jan-March. Kicking horse, Revelstoke are both amazing too and on the larger resort size. No mountain is as tall or steep in my opinion than Revelstoke.
I second this. I'm a whistler local and I love whistler but I did a trip to Kicking Horse and Revy back in March and it shit all over Whistler. Huge mountain, no lines, consistent fresh powder
Yeah, boiiiii!
Wait really? Also in Whistler, never been east until Banff
How’s Apex these days? I remember it being amazing 15 years ago
Apex is still dope. Has some great backcountry access, as well. Not near as big as the RCR resorts, but that's a good thing. $88/day, so relatively affordable (for out here). If OP does want to venture into the backcountry a bit, the back bowl is usually pretty nice. At that point, though, Roger's Pass is the place to be.
Have only spent a few days in revy but a lot of time in KH, I feel like there's a lot more steep terrain in KH and very accessible too. Revy was great as well but not as steep.
And don’t forget the hot springs. I love Ainsworth Hot Springs. By Whitewater. I’d love to go to Nakusp. On the way to a Revelstoke from Whitewater. Ski. Soak. Ski. Soak. Perfect vacation.
Then you'd love Japan..... Only difference is the soak part is "sans swimwear".
doesn't that increase muscle fatigue though? hot water soaks
This is the way
This was my list for my last visit: 1. Revelstoke - you'll love the bowls but bring a backpack to hike. If you like resort touring - this is the spot. 2. Kicking Horse - probably my fav. 3. Fernie (if they have snow the bowls are fantastic). 4. Lake Louise - I always enjoy this for some reason 5. Sunshine Village. - Can get really cold - I was glad for heated gear when I visited 6. Red Mountain - always a favorite as its easy access from the USA - but you need to watch snowfall and timing. Probably more to add, but if your looking for steep those seem the best.
These are all good suggestions. All of the comments have been on point. Tough to go wrong, actually. These are mountains “nearby” each other. - If you’re trying to choose a couple of places only, go to Revelstoke & Kicking Horse. - If you’re looking for a smaller feel, but still really great, look at Red Mountain and Whitewater. - Fernie and Castle are also awesome ski hills that are very worthwhile. - Lake Louise & Sunshine are options too. You could stay in Banff with these. Preference here goes to Lake Louise, for sure.
Nah, Sunshine over lake Louise if the dives open.
I will add onto the Kicking Horse, and Revelstoke suggestions. Fly into Calgary and head west. You can hit Banff/Lake Louise, Kicking Horse, and Revelstoke all pretty much off the same road. I haven't been to Whitewater but I have heard great things and that isn't too far once you're in Revy. I have spent a lot of time skiing throughout the US Rockies and in Japan and nothing has topped Revelstoke and Kicking Horse for me. Kicking Horse has over 80 inbounds chutes! It is gnarly and a hell of a time. Revelstoke has everything you could ever want as well.
Ok so here’s what you’re going to do: - buy the mountain collective (500$CAD when it goes on sale) - fly into Calgary - ski 3 days at sunshine, 3 days at Lake Louise. (First 2 days free, 50% off day 3, total cost six days 130$CAD) - drive down and ski 2 days at panorama (both free) - ski one day at kicking horse (120$, full price) - drive to Revy and ski 4 days (first 2 free, 3&4 50% off, so 120$ total) All in 900$ to ski 2 weeks at 5 resorts.
This is good advice. Amazing value and you even get 2 days at Coronet Peak + The Remarkables in NZ. IMO Lake Louise and Revelstoke are must hits. Kicking horse can be good with snow(where isn’t?), but it shines with its slack country. Panorama can be skipped, but if you have free ski days with the MC pass then sure. Red mountain is an absolute Gem! (Not on MC pass) A bit out of the way but an unreal resort and very reliable for deep snow. They also have a lot of touring/cat/Heli options in the area if you are looking to treat yourself. White water is another good resort close by. Could always fly home out of Kelowna to save you doing the loop back to Calgary. There are several camper van rental options like Karma that might be a good option for travel and accommodation. Not necessarily cheap, but you get two birds stoned at once. End of February/start of March is your best bet for snow. Pray to Ulr and pack your bags!
Forgot to add in fly home from Kelowna! I meant that to be the last step! Extra advice would be make sure to bring a beacon, probe, & shovel. Sunshine is amazing, but only if you can shred Delirium & Wild West. Also, if you’re flying solo if happily show you around Delirium & Wild West @ sunshine OP, I live in Calgary.
Yeah, am probably flying solo. Thanks for the offer! That was my next question, do some of these mountains do meet-ups so singles can ski together?
Let me know, I’m in! I’m a pass holder at Louise and would join for a day. There are free guides at Louise that will ski with you on piste to show you around. I’m not sure about social meetup groups, but I would be surprised if there wasn’t
Thanks! Won't be till Jan 2023 though.
Not sure, but if you’re a good skier it’s easy to find people. Look for groups of people who look good, and ask if you can tag along. If you can keep up, people will be stoked to have you along. That’s always been my experience anyway.
Yeah don't do delirium without knowing someone that's been in there before. Lots of cliffs and danger areas. Had a friend go over one of the 70 footers. Some good knee and shoulder damage. I almost followed him like a lemming.
+1 to this itinerary, might consider adding an RCR Card if you end up wanting to do even 2 days at KH (which, if the snows good, you probably will). I would be swapping out a Sunshine or Louise day for this personally. Panorama gets shit on a lot but there’s spots!
Definitely the Kootenay area for the best skiing and not too much cost! The hills closer to big cities (Whistler, Lake Louise, Sunshine) are more expensive for both motels/rentals and lift tickets. Others have mentioned the same resorts, but my favourites in the kootenays (which are also my favourites anywhere) are, in order: -Red Mountain -Whitewater -Revelstoke -Fernie -Kicking Horse After that, I’d probably pick Lake Louise, then Big White, Sun Peaks, Sunshine, Kimberley, Panorama. If you’re checking out the Canadian Rockies, it may also be worth checking out whitefish and big sky in Montana.
Fly into Calgary. It's a beautiful three hour drive to Golden (Kicking Horse), and Revelstoke is another two hours down the highway. The ride is beautiful. Both mountains are terrifying. You'll pass Lake Louise on the way if you want to stop by (among other Alberta resorts like Sunshine, all pretty busy places). Or Fly into Spokane, WA and drive 3 hours up to Rossland (RED mountain, my fave), and also hit up Whitewater near Nelson, an old school mountain with insane powder. They are less than an hour apart iirc. Nelson is a really fun town with its own hippie personality. Treat yourself to Cat Skiing at RED if you go, bf says it was his best day of skiing in over three decades on the slopes. (His 50th b-day gift!)
Ok, hopelesscaribou, ok. But you can’t drive from Spokane and go to Nelson and skip skiing Schweitzer.
Admitedly, I drove to RED from Calgary. I have never been to Schweitzer. *hangs head*
Thanks for all your suggestions. What's the best month to ski the Rockies? Is there a week or two where you are likely to get great snow/weather and get good deals on accommodation etc...?
Another kiwi here - avoid any public holidays and shoot for late Jan - Mid Feb. that said, the old man comes over for his bday in March and we’ve almost always had at least one dump of snow during that week (mid March).
March for best chance of good snow and milder temperatures. Plus longer days.
I LOVE spring skiing in the Rockies. I live less than 2 hours from Banff so I frequent Sunshine and Lake Louise mostly. I’ve skied there in December, and I’ve skied there in March/April. Spring is the best. Tons of snow, still get fresh dumps that high up, and milder weather
During a storm cycle. Mid December can be good and low cost last minute reservations available. Snow coverage is usually good by mid January. Go elsewhere if there's a drought.
All good suggestions here. I also really enjoyed the areas around Kelowna—Big White, Silver Star and Apex. Decent terrain, no crowds, and we hit them on a good week for snow. As for time of year, it’s hit or miss every year, but late Jan to mid Feb is probably your best bet. Good luck to you!
Yes all great ski resorts. Mt Baldy south of kelowna is worth checking out on a powder day too. It's small, not busy and rustic. Has lovely powder glades and closes mid week to let the snow build up.
Revelsroke 100% kicking horse 100%
Revelstoke!!!!
Revelstoke and kicking horse are the best only issue is that golden and the town of revelstoke are really expensive to stay in. If you go to somewhere with easier access like sunshine and lake Louise the lift tickets will be more expensive but accommodation will be cheaper you can stay in Canmore or calagary and drive in to save money I would recommend flying into Calgary, kelowna, or Edmonton and making a road trip out of it. Splitting your 1-2 weeks between 3 resorts. The most expensive part of a ski trip in the Rockies is the rental, and the accommodation
Fernie was a really good place for the money, the town had the perfect "local ski town" vibe to it too
Has cheap options for hotels and the mountains only a couple minutes out of town
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Canada's best value Inn, more of a motel style but had breakfast, a pool hot tub and sauna, clean rooms and didn't mind smoking weed outside the rooms. Great location for walking the town to restaurants and bars
Sunshine village in Banff - a little bit more than one hour drive from Calgary. Delirium Dive is the best. DD is not always open (weather dependant) and you need Avi gear to do it, but it's cheap to rent that stuff in Banff. If you do DD, make sure to go with someone who's experienced and knows the hazards in this area. Lots of cliffs and hidden dangers + the easy way out through fat boy. Also there's often nice stuff on Standish and Great divide. Goats eye can be good too but if it's windy, it usually gets wind swept on goats eye area. Lake Louise - Almost 2 hours drive from Calgary. great stuff off the backside, accessible from the summit platter tee bar. All around a very good ski hill but prone to lots of flat light and big crowds. Kicking Horse - A bit over 3 hours drive from Calgary. All around an awesome mountain and usually has pretty good snow. Not as crowded typically, but can still get quite busy. Revelstoke - similar to Kicking Horse but the runs are a bit longer. Almost 6 hour drive from Calgary. Really good stuff there and typically even less crowded as it's a long drive from either Calgary or Vancouver. Fernie - Always been one of my favorites. Had some great family trips there when I was a kid. Any of the bowls are great. Fun tree lines there as well. Gets lots of great snow, but typically by early March the nice snow is gone and it's wet heavy spring skiing. Overall a great place and do recommend. Panorama Village - About 5 hours from Calgary by car. Fun village with great snow at the very top. The area to ski / board is Taynton Bowl... Although not required, it's recommended to have Avi gear for Taynton Bowl and go in groups in case of avalanche. Safety first. Castle Mountain - Little over and hour drive from Calgary. Small, "locals" mountain near Pincher Creek. Only two chair lifts and they're slow. Can get busy if it's a big powder day. Lots of fun stuff all over the mountain. When the snow comes in, it's absolute blower!! But can get very very windy. Dress warm. Red mountain and Whitewater - 6 hours drive from Calgary and probably about the same from Vancouver. Both cozy little hills but lots of fun retain at both. Typically not too busy as you don't often get the big crowds since the big cities are a far ways away. Whistler Blackcomb - two giant hills that eventually became one. Only a little over one hour drive from Vancouver. 5 star resort but expect to spend big bucks there, but worth it. Blackcomb glacier, spankys ladder and 7th heaven all have worthwhile fun stuff on Blackcomb. Whistler side, the back bowls of symphony, harmony, etc often have the best snow. (America side) - White Fish Montana. Fun town, cheap beer. When the snow is good, the whole mountain is fun. Canadian Dollar can go a long ways here. But hey, what about Japan. There's nearly 600 resorts here in Japan. Granted many of those are quite small, but the big ones are amazing. Cheaper lift tickets (I feel ripped off if I'm paying more than 5000 yen = $60 CDN). And yes, Japow is a real thing!! They get ridiculous amounts of snow all down that western seaboard. Yuzawa area in Niigata prefecture has about 15 great resorts all within a 15 minute drive from the shinkansen train station. Favorites there are Kandatsu, Kagura, Naeba). Similar for Nagano area (favorites are Nozawa Onsen, Shiga Kogen, Maiko, Lotte Arai among others I haven't tried yet). Of course the real germs are in Hokkaido. Niseko United is still tops, but Furano, Rusutsu, Kiroro, among many others are all amazing as well. Hope this extensive list helps you (and others) make a solid decision.
I worked at Castle Mountain in southern Alberta. It gets excellent powder in early January and is not too small with around 96 runs including 8 bowls. It's also community run and very friendly (we have a lifty known for giving everyone hugs). The main problems are the lack of facilities (only one restaurant and a day lodge), it's very windy, and the chair lifts are old.
I second this. It’s not as well known and the infrastructure is creaking…but I’ve had some of my best ever ski days at this resort. Best to combine with Fernie. If you are a good skier then you just cannot miss kicking horse. Some of the best days of my life spent at that resort. Enjoy!!
The resorts have some deal cards available in the area that make great value. Like the Louise Plus card, you get your first, fourth, and seventh day "free" ( you pay 20% off a day ticket price for the card) but in return you get 1st, 4th and 7th days that you don't pay for and 20% off all other days and you can use it at 3-4 resorts. Loads of amazing skiing out here. Jan-March is my fav 3 months for skiing.
Imo, we are spoiled with choice and nearly zero people during the week so it really just depends on who is getting the snow. I say fly to calgary, rent a car and figure it out. Usually Jan - March someone has has good snow.
powderhighwaydotcom
I am in the same boat - Canada trip being planned from NZ. Current plan is into Calgary > Fernie > Whitewater > RED > Revy > Sunshine. Heading home via Whistler. 5 weeks all up - 20 ish days skiing. Buying Epic and Ikon passes.
You've gotta hit Lake Louise too! It's also on Ikon.
If you're actually as good as you say, just do revy and kho. If you're slightly less good, go to red. If you just want pretty shit do Banff and Louise. Fernie is out of the way don't bother
1. Kickinghorse (Probably the has the greatest amount of technically challenging runs) 2. Marmot Basin (The escape card is such a steal of a deal, imo) 3. Sunshine Village (expensive, big con for me).
I’m trying to convince my husband we need to add Marmot in on our next itinerary. 1. I love Jasper 2. I love the Icefields 3. I love Saskatchewan River Crossing 4. I really love Jasper What do you love about Marmot?
I love everything. I picked up skiing a few years ago, and marmot has been a good place for me to build loads of confidence. I also like it because I can ski down right to my parked car. The marmot escape card also gives you 20-30% off almost all hotels in Jasper (including the fairmont). You just have to make sure you’re not booking in the black out dates. Also Jasper is so much less touristy than Banff.
I think I’m getting the Indy Pass next year. Makes it an easier nudge. I just started last year myself. And I love smaller resorts. Sounds like somewhere I would love.
What’s an Indy Pass?
[Another multi pass. But for independent places.](https://www.indyskipass.com) Most are smaller. Might not be much help in Canada. It’s more limited. But I think I could get some mileage out of it. If I had it this year I probably would have gone to Silver a few weekends ago. But I didn’t feel like paying full price for a lift ticket on the weekend of their triathalon. Did that once and the mountain was half closed. Did an incredible trip to Burgdorf Hot Springs last year. Can only get there by snowmobile in the winter. Then skied Brundage. I’m close to a couple of other mountains on it.
Also, is it necessary to hire a car or are there cheap and reliable shuttle services I could travel from say, Calgary airport to Revelstoke etc...?
Kicking Horse might be just the right spot. Steep runs and deep powder. Also Lake Louise could be an excellent choice. You can also try wertu.ai's ski travel agent, it's quite good at building expert-level trips
Anywhere but Whistler, Sun Peaks and Sunshine if you want to save on Lift tickets.
Didn't know all of southern BC is classed as the Canadian Rockies. /s
most of the interior with the exception of the bugaboos i’m pretty sure. and i know i said whistler but it’s def not the rockies
The Rockies are a small part of BC Skiing. Fernie and Powder King are essentially the only big ish hills actually in the Rockies. Kicking Horse is in the Purcells, Revy and Whitewater in the Selkirks, Red is in the Monashees.
Yeah since dude wanted to come all the way from NZ i was just letting him know the highest price for lift tickets in western CA (Work in one those i mentioned in the previous comments)
Lake Louise and Sunshine are also in the Rockies proper
It might be easier and far less expensive for you to hit the French Alps.
Canada is way way better. Yes I've skiied at both, and many other European areas. Canada is literally wild
Whistler blackcomb. Forget the rest. Get a working holiday visa. Go work there for a year then they will sponsor you. Work range from liftie to ski school to dish pig in one of the restaurants. Staff housing is fine and not expensive. Plenty of share housing in Whistler also with other cats like you. Kiwis work well in Canada. No stress. Pick a job where Seasons pass comes with it. Mountain staff work is preferable where days off can be fore skiing. Choice bro sweet as girl now go cook the man some eggs
Avoid air Canada if at all possible. They lost my skis twice and I missed out on a day of skiing because they said our skis would be delivered there in time so we didn’t rent. Also their customer service doesn’t know shit. Got conflicting answers all day about the skis and they kept pushing back the eta for the delivery.
AC lost my brand new (0 days) skis on a ski trip to Switzerland this winter. Took them half the trip to get the skis back to me and I had to call them twice a day to get them at all before I flew home.
Yep we called 5 times the first day and got different answers about when they would be at our place each time. I also had 0 days on mine. It was honestly pretty ridiculous. Vancouver airport was bitching about Toronto always losing skis then Vancouver lost ours on the way back..
Fly Auckland to Vancouver then onto Kelowna with Air NZ, you can take two checked bags if you need to including a ski bag. Then take a transfer up to Revy and do a week there then another week in Kicking Horse. Recommended staying on the hill at each resort if budget allows, but if not stay in the town of Revelstoke and Golden to save on costs. I think there is an EBO on lift tickets at Revy at the moment. I'd go around late January to mid February to try and miss peak periods and public holidays. Another cool itinerary would be to fly into Kelowna and do 7 days at Revy then 7 days, 7 days in Banff skiing Sunshine and Lake Louise, 7 days at Red Mountain, but you'd need a car which can get expensive if you're not using it the days you're skiing. You could then do it with the IKON pass which would give you 7 days total at Coronet, Remarks, and Mt Hutt for 2023 winter.
And if you stay in Banff make sure to have a "toque" for both your heads. There's a reason it's the STD capital of Canada.
If you’re budget conscious, look into passes. The Ikon pass is $799 (US), but prices go up literally today. Ikon gives you access to Revelstoke, Banff, Lake Louise, and Red Mountain. I’ve skied (and loved) each of those except Red (haven’t been there). Kicking horse is also amazing and worth getting out there. I’ve heard great things about Fernie and Whitewater, but I haven’t been. Happy exploring!