Ski & Tourism Canada Trip

A snowHead

Hi again everyone. Been a year since last thought about planning a ski holiday, so thought I would come to may favourite place for advice on ski and snow!

This year (Jan/Feb 2016) we are looking at Canada (while we can before we plan the "kid" life)

We would love to ski around the Banff or Jasper area for around 4 nights and then travel over to Vancouver for 4 nights (around 10 nights in total with travel etc). However, we are open to offers around different ski areas. Been looking at Mont-Treblant (pretty French Canada area) finished off with 3 days in Toronto (allowing us to have a day at Niagra falls and hopefully an ice hockey match or something). However, would really love to travel along the Rockies from Jasper area to Vancouver

Has anyone traveled direct to Canada. Ideally don't want to swap flights, but its looking that way. We would want to fly from Manchester. My parents flew direct to Calgary in April,. but doesn't look like they offer this in Jan/Feb (from Manchester). If we have to swap flights, we will.

So, if anyone has advice on resorts to ski (with other stuff to do other than ski....skidoos, walks etc). Would love to see wildlife (like in Banff National Park). Also, advice on getting from ski resorts to Cities would be good (trains, coaches etc).

This would be a massive holidays for us (and expensive compared to our regular ski hol) so want to do it properly.

Any advice on anything Canada would be appreciated. Hotel recomendations, flight info, transfers. Wheres best to ski etc

We are both intermediate skiers but love the cruisy blues and taking it all in, rather than bombing down the slopes and not skiing anything
thanks for any advice

A snowHead

Beware Banff in January! There's a reason its so much cheaper then. Can be bitterly cold - 2 runs and in for coffee….. I did go back 3 times though - and it never got any warmer…..Fab skiing though, and great for intermediates...

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Long drive from Alberta to Vancouver and it's not along the Rockies but crossing progressive "trenches" of other ranges. Not so bad over a week or so stopping to ski plenty en route e.g. Kicking Horse, Revelstoke, Sun Peaks, Silver Star for the Hiway 1 route. Wildlife tends to be hibernating in winter though you might get some down licking salt from roads.

My advice would be rent a car and take 2 weeks.

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10 days is really tight for covering both Banff and Vancouver. You're going to miss out a lot in between, and at both ends too.

Canada isn't just any country. It's the 2nd largest country in the world.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

For only 10 nights, I would stay in/around Banff - perhaps a couple of nights in Jasper if your are desperate not to spend that long in one place, but there's plenty of skiing to be done, especially if you are taking a day or two off to do your other activities. Last time we went we had a car and stayed in Canmore - but if staying in Banff you can use the shuttle buses to and from the skiing.

Banff is pretty well catered for with the other stuff - dog sleds, ice canyon hike, hot springs etc and near enough to Calgary that you could (as we have) get in to an ice hockey game if that's your thing. You can also get day trips from Banff to Kicking Horse and to Nakiska. I'm not sure where you would go for skidoo rides, but there's probably somewhere not too far away.

Direct flights are available from London - Monarch used to go from Manchester, but I haven't looked recently. And a need to change flight (and thus a long journey there) would be another reason for not cramming in too much travelling once landed.

You'll need to Register first of course.

You can't go far wrong with Banff for 10 days and if you are new to Canada consider a tour operator such as Inghams.

They are very competitive on price and get a good deal on lift tickets if you book early ( a number of free days).

They also can arrange other activities such as snowmobiling, hockey games dog sledding and so on.

It does take some of the effort out of the arrangements so that you can relax.

You will need to fly from Heathrow with either Air Canada or BA,- but Inghams (I believe) will give a free connecting flight from Manchester.

10 days does not give you long to explore Western Canada and you will have plenty of "holiday" as well as ski options in Banff and Lake Louise. Trips can be arranged to Panorama and Kicking Horse if you wish. We always intend to go to other places but it hasn't been necessary yet.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I'll try to add stuff not specifically covered.

You can't really expect to combine the left hand and right hand bits - they're a long way apart and very different. Toronto is, well, not really a tourist destination I'd say and if you go over there you'd be better thinking Montreal/ Quebec. Tremblant etc are mighty fine but they are east coast so not quite the same kind of snow.

There are lots of direct flights from London, although you'll have to do your own search for other origins.

As they say, Banff and Vancouver are quite a way apart and in normal conditions the roads between can be interesting. I have done the "open jaw" both ways though. Look at the distances and how you expect to travel (if you ski all day then drive, for example, then you can't make very many hours between resorts). The snow is seldom the best all the way from Vancouver to Calgary at the same time.

You can see ice hockey anywhere from small towns (my favourite) through to any of the cities.

Most resorts offer "other things to do", although personally if I'm in a ski resort then I'm there to ride. I was paid by various people to photograph "other stuff", so I do know you can find such things at any BC/AB resort. Sledding (they don't call 'em "skidoos" much), dog sledding, snow showing, all that stuff can be arranged for a few dollars at most resorts. If that's your focus then you'll get better value at smaller resorts (eg Big White/ Silver Star etc not Whistler/ Banff).

Wildlife... in winter I think it's mostly asleep, although I usually see some mountain goats and the Caribou, the odd hawk and various rabbits and stuff. The bears are asleep.

For getting from resorts to cities... the locals just drive. So you may want to consider hiring a car (which they will charge you to park in Whistler at least). Otherwise bus transfers are available from YYC to Banff (about 3 hours?) and YVR to Whistler (about 2 hours+). Greyhound also runs through those places but it generally doesn't run directly from the airport and is a bit more "locals" than the airport transfers. There are ski resorts right in Vancouver which you can reach easily on public transport, although the last two seasons maybe you'd not want to bother.

My general advice would be not to under-estimate the distances between places.

Broadly, you can't go wrong, and if you've never been there before then even the bad stuff will be good. Vancouver is a much nicer city than Calgary, which is not at its best in mid winter. Quebec is better than either for tourists, but worse for snow.

After all it is free

Everyone is giving you good advice....
There seems to be no direct flights out of Manchester .. use "Skyscanner" to check flights.
You really must go for 10 days to get over the Jet Lag.
I would really recommend that you don't bite off more than you can chew .. distances can be immense.
To get the best out of it make your main base Banff .. I would recommend the Caribou Lodge ...it ticks all the boxes for my wife and I.
They were really good as well when I got caught out in a storm there last December, they let us have a room for 80$ +10 for breakfast buffet. I would recommend booking directly with the hotel .. you will get the best deal.
There are two local areas to Banff, Norquay which is small and all done in 1/2 a day, but still worth doing.
Sunshine about 20 minutes away, big area by Canadian standards.
Lake Louise is a good hour from Banff, but well worth it.
If you want to spoil yourself you should stay at least one night in the baronial mansion up there, if you are tight like me at least go in and have a coffee in the bar and look out over the frozen lake.

I'll come back and add some more to this thread when I have time.
Revelstoke and Kicking Horse must be mentioned .. if you can stand the traveling

Thanks for all replies. Really helpful. Didn't realise there was a different type ofsnow for eastern/western Canada . The tremblant resort looked really picturesque but snow isn't as good as jasper/banff etc and Toronto not as good to as Vancouver, I'd prefer the Banff side. Looking g at flights I think we need to go for 13 days as one airline only goes 1 day a week (transair). I was thinking of doing one or the other, not tremblant/toronto AND vancouver/banff. All comments have been Really helpful but obviously I need to do some research and check a map out. Thanks again for advice. Please continue to add ideas/experience if you have any. Thanks again

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Hi @Jon Ford, is Transair .. Air Transat?
They used to run Wednesdays and Saturdays to Gatwick till recently, and they were very good value for money.
I just noticed they fly Sundays out of Manchester!! .. I don't know what dates though.

I'd say .. Fly to Calgary rent a car go to Banff and see what happens.
If you stay in Calgary the night you arrive you'll be very tired but want to get back on the road at 4:30am.

One really good thing in most Canadian resorts is they provide a free "hosting service" .. that means guiding.
So you don't have to ski on your own .. you just turn up at the allotted time and meet your guides and get shown around the best routes on the mountain according to your ability.

This would cost you a fortune in Europe.

If you rent a car you can sample different ski areas without the hassle of running for the bus.
The Hotels in Banff all have underground parking so your car is nice and warm for the morning and your boots are not frozen.

Whats to do in Banff ?
You could stay in the hotel bar all night or you could walk down to the Oirish pub and jig about a little.
Then you could go into Wild Bill's and jig around a lot.
Then walk home in the freezing night air and look at the stars.
There are lots of ski shops to squeeze the money out of you, plenty of restaurants in all flavours.
My favourite was the "Dollar Shop" ...like a pound shop with discount!

I don't know if there is any nightlife up at Lake Louise, but the lodge at the resort is pleasant apres ski with filling snacks.

I'm particularly fond of Revelstoke but its a long drive from Banff at least 4 hours.
There are only three lifts on the mountain but a lot of runs off its a bit more challenging.

The night life was very good, ... its a shame I only skied 2 days and stayed one night.

Gosh I'm dreaming again.

I nearly forgot .. We saw "Sun Dogs" .. that's another mountain weather phenomenon like those glistening crystals you get in the really cold "Blue Bird" days.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@Jon Ford, just done a summer tour from vancouver to calgary and back covering kelowana/banff/revelstoke/canmore/ and found the drive incredibly scenic and not hard work at all , my advice would be fly BA to calgary , ski lake louise ( stay at the fairmont ) drive to revelstoke ( stay at sutton place hotel , amazing rooms with every amenity for families ) , then big white or sun peaks (kelowana), then finish of at whistler (again at the fairmont as they will give you a free night at one of the downtown hotels in vancouver to finish off your journey ) . if you book a package with ski i or frontier ski etc you should get free shuttle from man to heathrow . canada is a great destination for family ski holidays , and apart from the temps will be very low in alberta , everywhere else should be fine snowHead

snow reports

@Jon Ford, also don't think air transat do winter flights from manchester Puzzled

back from vancouver and would be very hard to drive both ways in the time you have

Hi @Dabber I've heard that the view between Golden & Revelstoke in Glacier Park ... is something very special, I've through there twice but unfortunately it was dark Sad

4am with the ice road truckers
then back at 8pm on the "looser cruiser" (Greyhound)

You know it makes sense.

Thanks again for all advice. Sounds like a bigger adventure than I imagined but still really up for it. Would make a change from the standard package week in Europe and be good to do it before we start a family and money goes forever! Will look into all comments at the weekend when got access the to computer. Will keep you posted as no doubt I'll have some questions when we decide where and when we go. Final question, due to low temps in January, would it be better to go late Feb after half term hols or is the snow on its way out then?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

A few points from my perspective:

- internal flights in Canada are expensive, so as others have said, I would pick one area [I would recommend the eastern side of the Rockies - bring warm clothes. No, warmer than that.]
- Vancouver is better in the summer than in the winter [I went to uni there, and it was a month before the clouds cleared enough for me to notice the city was ringed by mountains]
- Toronto is better in the summer, than the winter
- Niagara Falls is better in the winter than in the summer, but I would not go out of my way to go there for a ten day trip [Bias declaration: I was raised just a few miles away, which means I can still drive by the Falls and not even look at it... but they are impressive]
- Quebec skiing is not a patch on Rockies/Coastal skiing... it can be good, but it can also be a sloping ice rink, or a slush fest
- as others said, ice hockey is ubiquitous in Canada. Those rugby playing guys in the UK at the moment? They made the team because they are the only 20 guys in Canada who cannot ice skate.

A snowHead

Ha ha. Thanks for latest replies. Some more useful Info to take on board. Need to sit down and plan it. Would prefer to do banff/jasper area but also want to see the sights there so it's a tricky one. We may have to I back in the summer to get full affect. Thanks again

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Jon Ford,canada ............ go skiing in the winter and it makes you want to go back , go mountain biking in the summer and it makes you want to stay forever Very Happy

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks @gryphea, they all sound nice. Would like to travel over to Vancouver after banff/jasper so looks like well and have to do tailor made hol rather than package as best to fly into Calgary and travel across after 7ish days to do 6 ish days in Vancouver (including travelling across). Its doable, just need to plan it properly. So many places to see.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Re driving the Trans-Canada highway in winter; or anywhere between ski resorts on a road trip....

The seemingly endless distances in the dark should not be underestimated - total wilderness sums it up; roads can be very snowy (not cleared due to the sheer scale) and some passes are high and potentially treacherous (eg Banff to Golden and onward to Revelstoke); snow tyres can be hard to come by on hire cars (seemingly non-existent from Calgary; a bit more available at airports like Kelowna); street lights are only in towns; road markings are difficult if not impossible to see due to the winter muck on the roads; mobile phone signal can be non-existent; big animals can be a hazard on the road.

All a different kettle of fish to Europe and the Alps and not to be taken lightly. Definitely not to be confused with lovely scenic summer driving in the Rockies.

And isn't Banff area to Whistler about 8 or 9 hours drive??

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

[quote="mountainaddict"]Re driving the Trans-Canada highway in winter; or anywhere between ski resorts on a road trip....

All a different kettle of fish to Europe and the Alps and not to be taken lightly. Definitely not to be confused with lovely scenic summer driving in the Rockies.

quote]

And the locals, including the lorries [rigs], have more experience in the conditions and have a more blasé approach to overtakes in bad weather than you might wish.

After all it is free

thanks @mountainaddict, and @wittenham, - driving there is definitely something I need to consider!! Would love to travel across to vancouver, but I think I have to be realistic and try not to fit everything in to 1 trip as well as the safety issue!! We may have to go back in the Summer when its a lot clearer and take in the banff-Vancouver trip (also when there are more direct flights back to Manchester!)

So, the 2 possible options:
Manchester-Calgary flight (via London). Ski in the banff/lake louise area. Stay there for around 10 days. Ski 5 days and then try and catch public transport to areas of interest for a day at a time (always coming back to the original hotel each evening...or stay in Banff for 3 nights, Lake Lpouise for 3 nights etc, but always staying in that area (ie not going to Vancouver). Fly back home after 10ish days - Calgary-Londn-Monachester. Perks would be seeing banff national park/poss Jasper/Lake Louise etc.
Cons would be the transfer flights, prob more expensive and not seeing a major city. Also, I realise that in the winter views of banff/Lake Louise etc may not be as spectacular as in the summer.

Other option would be: Manchester - Toronto (appears to be direct flight). Stay 7 days in Mont Tremblant. 4ish days skiing and then 3 days ski-doos, dog sleds etc as well as using public transport to visit local areas (there is a national park in the area and maybe a trip to Quebec City...if not to far (or even stay overnight there and come back next day to Tremblant. Then days 7-10 in Toronto (sights/niagra falls etc) before flying direct back to manc. Pros - (possible) direct flight. Lots to do. City tour at end. Cons, not getting to see Rockies.

Someone mentioned that the skiing/snow on the east is not as good as the west. Do you mean that the quality is not as good (ie, may not be any snow or very poor slushy snow) or that the amount of slopes/way pistes are looked after are not as good. We are looking at either end of jan or end of feb (ie before or after half term)
We are aware temps may be very low (we have skiid Lapland in -32 and prepared to cope with that (good layers, stopping to warm up etc). We are not "all day non-stop skiers" and we like to stop along the slopes for hot chocolates, photos etc)
Also, if we are only used to skiing Soll, Andorra, les Arcs, Bulgaria, lapland, Passo Tonale, would we see a massive difference and know that it is poorer snow than the West, or would the East be far better than anything we have skied in Europe

I think I will scrap the idea of trying to get to vancouver. Ive looked into Mont Tremblant and it looks very picturesque but would it be good for sights at top of montain etc (ie, with it not being the Rockies). Again, only used to smaller europe, so surely it would be better than there??? City wise, I would prefer to spend 3 nights in Toronto than Calgary!

Hope the above makes sense. If the above 2 aren't feasible, we are looking at doing a DIY split ski/city Austria or Italy trip which really wont be as good, but still enjoyable. If someone can offer advice on the West Vs East Canada situation, that would help me look further into the options. Thanks

We are limited to around 11 nights. Another option to Toronto could be staying a few nights in Quebec or Montral

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Air Transit appear to do direct Manc to Toronto but fly out on the Wed and come back on the Tues (so would be 13 nights) allowing us to have a few days in Quebec and then a few days in Toronto

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Jon Ford As you have probably gathered, the scale of western Canada is HUGE. You could do worse than a mini road trip around flights to Calgary, combining some of the following areas - a fair few to pick from without the need to go too far afield:

- Lake Louise
- Norquay
- Sunshine
- Panorama
- Nakiska
- Kimberley
- Fernie
- Castle Mountain
- Kicking Horse

Of those, I've skied all but Kimberley (pencilled in for there in Feb 2016 - snow permitting) and had great snow and a great time at all of them.

You could definitely do worse than a week in Banff for your first Canada trip though.

En route to or from Calgary, we've also skied the following novelty areas to fill in a couple of hours and tick off a couple more ski areas:

- Pass Powderkeg - Tiny, very friendly, proper locals' area between Calgary and Fernie. Staff came to seek us out when they heard they had visitors from the UK.
- Canada Olympic Park - Manmade-snow, floodlit (outdoor) ski area on the Trans Canada Highway on the outskirts of Calgary. 2 chairlifts and a small vertical but a good little set up - we really enjoyed it (though we are easily pleased when it comes to sliding about on snow!). We squeezed in an hour's skiing there before flying home. It's also got a bobsleigh track (fully booked for our visit Sad

) and 1988 Olympic Museum, which we also enjoyed. AND you can ski right next to the ski jump where Eddie the Eagle soared to fame.

For a road trip featuring Revelstoke, Big White, Silver Star, (Edit: Sun Peaks), Crystal Mountain and some catskiing we flew to Kelowna.

For Whistler we flew to Vancouver - also spent a few days in Vancouver that trip. Very nice city - but (little did we know!) very wet. We travelled back by train to Vancouver from Whistler - spectacular. Also skied Cypress Bowl that trip.

There's loads to do apart from skiing - we have dogsledded, ice skated, snowshoed on a frozen lake and did a heli sightseeing trip over the mountains near Banff. Er, also tried linedancing one night in Banff Embarassed

....Well you wouldn't get that in Courchevel!

So lots of areas to ski and lots to do without combining east and west, or Calgary and Vancouver.

AND, never mind the summer, the scenery is pretty spectacular in winter.

snow reports

Sorry @Jon Ford, ... but you are still trying to get too much in.

Keep it simple and enjoy exactly where you are .. for 10 days you will have enough to do flying to Calgary
then driving through Banff and doing "Sunshine" & "Lake Louise" and "Norquay"
even a trip to Kicking Horse is a long drive and Revelstoke even further .. and Jasper is further up the valley another 180 miles!
And as someone else said there is no much traffic on that road and you could get stuck if the weather changes.

The skiing is not that tough unless you do something special.
And I believe its just not that great in the eastern provinces.

And you will be Jet Lagged .. for at least one day.

But you will have fun. Just dont try and tour the whole world in a fortnight!

@mountainaddict, ... Line dancing ? .. was it Wild Bills .. what a blast .. I showed them how to do do the "Liver Dance"

You know it makes sense.

Thanks @DrLawn, and @mountainaddict, some useful tips. Will look more into the Banff area although I would love to do the tremblant ski areaa for a few days and then Torontofor a few days. However, depends on snow conditions compared to Banff. Just wish could get direct flights from manc to Calgary. Hate switching flights

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Cheers Jon Ford

Other than a flight to Heathrow, a change followed by a BA flight to Calgary, the flights used to be multiple changes Jon Ford. Eg we've typically had to do Newcastle (and less frequently Teesside) to Amsterdam; Amsterdam to somewhere like Minneapolis; then finally to Calgary.

So, unfortunately flight changes are a necessary evil to Calgary now that Air Transat have stopped MAN direct flights. However, KLM now fly directly to Calgary from Amsterdam - so at least that's one flight less (and quite a bit shorter journey time) for us when we travel to Calgary from Teesside Airport next Feb.

Back on the subject of Toronto etc followed by BC....I think I'm right in saying that it's a similar distance across Canada as it is across the Atlantic.... wink

A snowHead

DrLawn It was a few years ago so I'm afraid I can't remember the line dancing venue...though I perhaps have a vague 'upstairs' recollection.... Confused

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

thanks @mountainaddict, and @wittenham, Will start looking more into the Banff option.
Just to clarify, I wasnt thinking of doing tremblant and toronto and THEN over to Banff etc. 1 option was banff/lake louise area only and the other option was Tremblant and Toronto only (not with additional Banff as well)

Think I will need to look into flights from Manc to Calgary (via London and/or Amsterdam) and just stay in the Banff/LL area. Im sure we can find enough to do for 10-12 days (bearing in mind 2 of those will be flying). Can always go round the national parks and glacier etc. Thanks for all the advice. Hopefully I can stop mithering people now.
Hopefully, this works out, otherwise I'll be back to ask about europe!! wink

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We did a similar trip the other year. First time to Canada, had 14 days and wanted to see city and ski. We opted to go late march/ early April to limit the cold factor. We flew London to Vancouver and had 4 days seeing local sights (cycling in Stanley park, Lynn canyon, food, craft beer, granville island, hockey games, etc). It gave us time to get over the jet lag. Then we got an internal flight to Calgary (£140pp approx) and transfer to Banff. Skied 8 days from Banff to norquay, sunshine and lake Louise, and had amazing fresh snow fall every other day. Stayed at aspen lodge in Banff, so spent each evening soaking in the outdoor hot tubs next to open fire while snow fell. Lots of good food places in Banff. Also did Johnston ice walk, very pretty. Flew Calgary to London on way back. We loved the holiday and felt it gave us a good intro to western Canada.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

that sounds great @carettam. May have to look into that plan (shame about all the flights - trying to keep costs down!) but got to get around that if we go over there, its gonna cost!. Need to focus on planning my Europe city break in 3 weeks before Canada really....but Canada is much more exciting!! thanks again

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