 Poster: A snowHead
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scotabroad, have a great holiday. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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scotabroad, i'd stay in Banff if you want to ski all 3 resorts (the lesson plan probably given to you by skibig3) the lake is out in the sticks. Food is cheap in Banff just been out for hango9ver lunch at the irish pub and it was $20 for halibut and chips and a glass of wine. It is possible to eat cheaper than this, for steak sandwhich (fantastic) with onion rings at Tommy's its $8.5.
My opinion is biased due to an underlying love for Banff.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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scotabroad, good choice - jet lag sucks... 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I've found Canada to be far better value for money in every area considering the conditions. However, the lift passes are extortionate compared to Europe. For 10 days at Fernie (owned by RCR as is Lake Louise), I paid $770 or £405. In the PdS, that would be under £300. The tax varies between states. In BC it's about 12% but food seems cheaper than Europe. I'd disagree with holidayloverxxx about the tipping: they're far less anal about it than the US and I put the odd bit of loose change into a pot on the bar but it wasn't as if the place descended into silence if you didn't. If the ski instructors are good always tip them though
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Sharkymark wrote: |
| For 10 days at Fernie (owned by RCR as is Lake Louise), I paid $770 or £405. In the PdS, that would be under £300. |
For 10 days in Austria we paid €276 (£207) for the Salzburg Super Ski Pass, that's 2,200km across 23 different ski areas. We did a split trip across 2 destinations, with day trips out to others so weren't tied down to any particular area.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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FenlandSkier, difficult to say how many km Fernie has due to the nature of the runs but it's in the region of 200km or so. Therefore, for 10 days:
Austria = 9p/km
Fernie = £2/km
Ouch.
If I'd got a season pass it would've been $1200 or £600. That's about 15/16 days worth and is much better VFM if you're going twice.
Edit: just to point out that if I'd known this, I would've got one and not had to pay £925 for 23 days skiing. OUCH 
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Sharkymark, I was once chastised by a barmaid (and that was for drinks served at the bar) in Quebec for not leaving enough tip - scared stiff ever since!
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holidayloverxx, if she had the cheek to turn on you for not tipping enough (in her view) then she didn't deserve it anyway 
Gotta say though, in my experience all the tips were well earned when we were in Canada recently - super service from people who seemed to be genuinely nice.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Biased here, but Whistler Canada is my favourite ski resort, biased because I ended up moving here.
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wbsr, dude - Whistler isn't on option though... 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Probably a good call, if you don't mind me saying so. Much as I love skiing in N.America, esp. Canada, esp. Banff, you're bound to enjoy it more if you can go for 10, 11, or 14 days and not worry too much about the £££.
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| Sharkymark wrote: |
If I'd got a season pass it would've been $1200 or £600. That's about 15/16 days worth and is much better VFM if you're going twice.
Edit: just to point out that if I'd known this, I would've got one and not had to pay £925 for 23 days skiing. OUCH |
If you are sufficiently organised, then many of the Canadian resorts do discounted season passes if you buy them the previous summer: that way they can cost in for a little as 10 days.
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You know it makes sense.
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Quick update - currently negotiating an all inclusive deal with HB, lift passes, flights, transfers, equipment and some booze included for just over 400 quid pp. So its a no brainer now. Still fancy canada though, on my own or with mate only for the price
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Scotabroad, N.America is a great place for the family, esp Banff, intermediates or not (don't let me put you off going with a mate, though).
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Poster: A snowHead
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Not been to Canada but have been to Colorado and loved every minute. This year, we were a party of four looking for a late deal for this weekend 23rd Feb - foolishly thinking that prices would come down last minute for Europe - think again - no bargains to be had there - would have been cheape rto go at half term! I all but gave up thinking i'd be going but a very good deal came up on tuesday - 675 catered 4*+ chalet with hot tub incl flights and transfers to Vail! Don't know about canada but no-one in the states pays full price for anything - you can get good deals on lift tickets (which witha discount are still cheaper than 3 Valleys and cover 5 resorts), ski hire and ski school if you book online in adavnce - go for it.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
would have been cheape rto go at half term
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23 Feb is half term - French vacances scolaires till 8 March! I think w/b 23 Feb is one of the Paris weeks; busiest of the lot.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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scotabroad, can you pm me who this is with please. the canada deals are out for us too as they are mid week flights and can't take my kids out of school and can't go the wed before. your deal sounds just what we need
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Did any one mention - Ski In / Ski Out accommodation? Always a priority for me and Europe seems to have a lot more of that around IMHO.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| kkev wrote: |
| Did any one mention - Ski In / Ski Out accommodation? Always a priority for me and Europe seems to have a lot more of that around IMHO. |
My experience must be different from yours. The small scale of many North American resorts means that ski in/out is easier to achieve and my longest walks have all been in Europe.
Having said that, some prominent North American resorts don't have extensive slopeside accommodation - Banff is one obvious example - but, for that reason, I've always avoided them. The OP mentioned a discount deal to Panorama - I looked it up and it was in the Pine Inn where the main door is closer to the slopes than your room would probably be to the main door.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Jonny Jones wrote: |
| The OP mentioned a discount deal to Panorama |
Village temperature according to their snow report... -14c 
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Panorama has just 9 lifts...  what shall we do in the afternoon?
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red 27, you don't reckon amount of skiable terrain in Canada by the number of lifts - there will be a whole load of runs coming down from one lift, never mind all the terrain inbetween which can be skied. It's not like in Europe where one lift serves one piste
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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PS - apologies if you've been to Canada before and know that!
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cathy, Well, yes and no IMV...
The Panorama website has pictures of the resort which show exactly what you mean by numerous runs served by one lift, but - and it's a big but for me - that can mean that all 10 or so runs served by any given lift are very similar. Again take a look at that website and you'll see what I mean, yes they've made loads of trails, but they're all right next to each other coming down the same bit of the hill
I've been out there a few times, and enjoyed the holiday/hospitality but found the skiing (piste only I should add) unexciting.
It's a good site, and the resort and skiing look lovely, but I still reckon it's a looong way to go just for 7 days in a pretty small ski area.
scotabroad, You went for Europe mostly on cost grounds right? Which resort?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
7 days in a pretty small ski area.
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If you don't go off the piste, all N. America resorts are small. Though some are smaller than others.
And if you could actually tell the pistes are "similar", then even the "larger" ones are still small.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| red 27 wrote: |
| Panorama has just 9 lifts... what shall we do in the afternoon? |
As I said earlier, you can ski all of Panorama's groomed runs in a morning. Comfortably. If you go there for the groomers, you either like repetition or you've been misinformed.
You go to Panorama to ski the single and double black diamond runs, and it takes a long time to explore them all. Having said that, there is a certin degree of boring repetition on those runs: almost all of them are uncomfortably steep and bumpy; most feature trees, rocks or cliffs that can hurt you or your equipment; there's a stupid amount of powder that can tediously hang arund for days after a snowfall before it gets tracked out; and the runs don't suit sociable skiers as they're almost all deserted.
I recommend staying away.
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Jonny Jones, not so good for the OP then who has early intermediates in his party....
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You know it makes sense.
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| red 27 wrote: |
| Jonny Jones, not so good for the OP then who has early intermediates in his party.... |
Of course not. But earlier in the thread I listed some pretty comprehensive pros and cons of Canada vs Europe, playing on my specific experience of Panorama. I hope my response helped him to frame his decision - which was to ski in Europe.
Having said that, a resort like Panorama is a fantastic place for an intermediate skier to learn to tackle some more advanced stuff. Given the quality and extent of the expert terrain, the ski school is very experienced at giving intermediate skiers strategies to cope with challenging slopes.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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scotabroad, where you going then? Is it all booked and sorted>
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all.
Off to Montegenevre - not the highest km of resorts but it suits our needs, seems ideal for the family for the level they are at, and ski school seems to be reasonably priced for them.
Only downside is flying from Gatwick so a bit of petrol and driving involved, but tbh we have gotten most of our best deals from Gatwick at the expense of the drive down there.
Charliechops - I dont know how to pm on this website????
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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scotabroad, have a great time 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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scotabroad,
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I dont know how to pm on this website????
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go to the top right, under snowheads logo it says 'send/read messages' click on there. 
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