 Poster: A snowHead
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@Saintsman, @Dabber, agree there was some really good stuff to be found if you looked hard enough; the lift lines, however, were a real PITA though - started badly after a crash on the sea to sky 15km out caused traffic carnage early doors.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Lift lines are lift lines, and frankly I didn't think they were too bad (compared to what I have witnessed in previous seasons)
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The Nottingham thing was more about the distance than trying to insult either radium or nottingham! Yeah I'm not saying he should stay in Banff or radium/Pano is awful. I'm just saying radium as a base to ski revelstoke doesn't make sense to me, because the distance is too far imo. Others might disagree and say 6 hours (if everything goes smoothly) driving per day is acceptable to them.
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@boarder2020, @Bones, thank you very much! Sadly decision to stay at Radium is out of my hands as have some inters in the group. We are here now in fact and Golden would have been better, but go to keep OHs happy with access to skiing and non-skiing stuff.
Going to plan Revvy now, it’s day 1 and most importantly, we are skiing!!!
And nottingham isn’t bad, I live there but wouldn’t use it as a base for anything. I think with the size of Canada (we are here for a year), a 3 hour drive isn’t THAT far. In fact, it’s just down the road for many Canadians. I have friends that do a 4 hr round trip for work everyday.
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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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i like pano, was there on saturday. It was quiet and the snow way better than i thought. Quite quiet. Also, on hill eateries are better than elsewhere.
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Rishie, Very nice, enjoy the trip 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I've not been to Panorama, but I may get there in the next few days.
We'll be based in Kicking Horse and I was thinking of going over the Revelstoke for a couple of days, but it should be an easier drive and more reliable than the Rogers Pass.
I only sat up and took notice when I saw it mentioned above.
Anyway train to Gatwick tomorrow
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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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An update if I may.
Friends flew into Calgary via Vancouver. They had pre-booked tests but were offered take away tests which they politely declined (a big thank you to everyone on here who has posted their experiences). Tests came back within 24 hours and we skied.
@Bones, @boarder2020, thanks for the tips about KH. We were there today and wow, some of it is interestingly steep. Standard of skiers was pretty high and I felt out of my depth a few times.
I’m very glad we didn’t take OHs as they wouldn't have enjoyed it. It is NOT a resort for nervous inters. Had an amazing day, skied a lot (didn’t manage Ozone as closed for FWT) but snow was great most importantly. Tomorrow back to Pano and some hiking along the cat tracks.
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| Rishie wrote: |
@Bones, @boarder2020, thanks for the tips about KH. We were there today and wow, some of it is interestingly steep. Standard of skiers was pretty high and I felt out of my depth a few times.
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You wouldn't be the first to feel out your depth, it's quite a humbling place! Standard of locals is always going to be pretty high, by the time the kids are 10-11 they are skiing T1 north and ozone.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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I went to Panorama on my first visit to Banff, just for the day mind on the ‘bus trip with lift ticket included’ deal. Something like 110 CAD for the return bus trip (door to door too) and the day’s lift ticket. Good value I thought. Bus was a minibus and very comfortable.
Well worth a visit for a day or couple of days just for that Taynton Bowl.
There’s a nice restaurant at the bottom too which was a bit more Alpine style rather than canteen style.
I was disappointed to see that bus trip isn’t running to Panorama this season. They are still doing Kicking Horse though.
Again well worth going to but that one gondola from the bottom breaks down a lot from what I’ve gathered.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
Again well worth going to but that one gondola from the bottom breaks down a lot from what I’ve gathered.
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Done a couple of seasons there and have friends that have been living in golden for last 7 years or so. Not mine or their experience.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@boarder2020, oh really?
That’s good to know.
Someone in the lift line when I was there told me it was always breaking down (it stopped working when I was there for about 10 mins so that’s how they came to say that) 
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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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Folks, the new updated restrictions (as of last night) don't seem to have had any change to the current restrictions....we're going to Whistler in two weeks time (so still time to hit the nuclear button)
Anyone know what the resort is like for apres?...is there much happening?...and do you need to reserve everywhere for lunch and dinner etc??
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Not much of s traditional apres scene in town. Clubs are closed, and groups are limited to tables of 6 by law. Longhorn, Blacks, and GLC still blaring music till late as best they can.
On mountain dining reservations are needed if you want to eat between 11.30 and 1.30 but otherwise plenty of space for walk-ups. For dinner, most places have always been walk-up only and haven't changed - just some of the smaller places really require reservations.
It's quiet in town
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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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@boarder2020,
The gondola did break down for a bit while I was there a couple of weeks ago.
Terrain at KH is great, but imho the gondola only access is the thing that let's it down. I can see why you might want it due to the cold temps, but if it had a midstation, or better still, if there was a lift from just underneath the ridges back up to the top of cpr ridge, you could cut the long lap to the bottom
The other things to add are 2 bridges! A wider one over the river and one over the train track
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@stuarth, Yeah - the problem is probably not so much frequency of stoppages but when it does stop the whole resort is out of action and opportunity for significant queues to build. Probably not unlike Revy really.
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| stuarth wrote: |
@boarder2020,
The gondola did break down for a bit while I was there a couple of weeks ago.
Terrain at KH is great, but imho the gondola only access is the thing that let's it down. I can see why you might want it due to the cold temps, but if it had a midstation, or better still, if there was a lift from just underneath the ridges back up to the top of cpr ridge, you could cut the long lap to the bottom
The other things to add are 2 bridges! A wider one over the river and one over the train track |
I guess we should probably define what we mean by "break down". Yes I've had it be a bit start and stop for mechanical issues. But never out of action for serious lengths of time. Even with extreme wind they usually run it just slowly (people were throwing up due to the rocking!). I think the odds on you turning up and not being able to ski due to gondola being completely down are extremely low. Even on its worse day you are probably losing 1-2 runs at most (a little annoying but not the end of the world).
I can't get on board with complaining there's too much vert. Especially when you can cruise down the lower half of the mountain in less than 10mins and there is actually some fun groomers. Mid station is something only visitors want, locals love the fact the top gets less tracked as people can't lap it and the longer laps generally have the tourists burned out by lunch.
The one way bridge is generally not a problem, as in the morning everyone is going up and in the afternoon everyone's going down. Generally people are pretty pleasant and let others up/down. I'll give you the train though, getting stuck waiting for the train is really annoying and can be up to 30mins - that's something they really need to sort out.
I think part of the beauty of kicking horse is that it's a bit rough around the edges. There is definitely some sentiment of the locals they don't want things improved too much as they hate the idea of it becoming more crowded and like the fact it's a skiers mountain rather than a "resort". Which is probably for the best as RCR are cheap and won't spend any money.
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@boarder2020,
The longer lap makes no difference to burnout as it probably isn't even 10 minutes from top to bottom on a groomer, especially for those visitors who ski 50+ days a year in places with equal or bigger verts and steeper terrain.
It does however add a foggy/slushy groomer and sometimes a lineup at the bottom, a long gondola trip, ..
Probably does help with the not getting tracked out, but it's not all that busy either, so not sure how much of a difference this would make - it's quite hard to get there, so not sure how much an extra lift would add to the popularity (another reason it wouldn't be that likely to be built)
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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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| stuarth wrote: |
@boarder2020,
The longer lap makes no difference to burnout as it probably isn't even 10 minutes from top to bottom on a groomer, especially for those visitors who ski 50+ days a year in places with equal or bigger verts and steeper terrain.
It does however add a foggy/slushy groomer and sometimes a lineup at the bottom, a long gondola trip, ..
Probably does help with the not getting tracked out, but it's not all that busy either, so not sure how much of a difference this would make - it's quite hard to get there, so not sure how much an extra lift would add to the popularity (another reason it wouldn't be that likely to be built) |
Exactly my point. The extra vert doesn't take long to ski so midstation is kind of unnecessary, just bomb the bottom half groomers and you are only saving 5mins per lap.
I usually stay in the hostel so end up skiing with a lot of different people. The majority of tourists I meet are not skiing 50+ days per year and are done by lunch. Of course someone skiing 50+ days a year with similar vert is not going to be tired.
IME the bottom doesn't really get slushy - although I've never been there as late as April. It's not like revy where the bottom is really low (revy is around 500m and does suffer with slush and freeze thaw, kicking horse is 1200m). As for foggy, I've had days where the tops in cloud and the bottom is clear and vice versa.
I don't think a midstation would remove the lineup. It just spreads it over two stations. Pretty much nobody would be getting out at midstation, so you may even end up waiting longer there than you would at the base. FWIW I have zero confidence in KH managing a midstation at all efficiently either!
Gondola trip is around 12mins for 1200m vertical. That's pretty efficient. I'd rather a longer trip than having to do two chairs with a little ski in between (fernie  ). Being in a gondola is pretty comfortable, and I like the time to have a snack, faff with equipment, chat with people etc.
I can totally understand why people dislike kicking horse and the gondola set up. It's pretty marmite. I personally love it.
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Have been planning a trip to Panorama for some time. Last year's trip got cancelled due to COVID. This time people dropped out due to the Canadian COVID testing requirements... Due to these cancellations I have 1 single BRD Condo and 1 double BRD Condo available from Feb 19-26. Condo is slope-side with access to the hot-springs. Have planned Heli-skiing and a day trip to Kicking Horse. If interested please send me a message and I'll give you more info.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Finally! Thar be snow in Whistler!
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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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Almost in touching distance of Banff getting excited and nervous in equal measure. Fly out Monday 31st Jan from LHR. PCR done, eta done, ArriveCan app done.
Are they testing 100% of international arrivals at Calgary? and is it still recommended to pre register and i assume that means you would be automatically tested anyway?
In last 14 days as well as UK I've been in Italy and wonder if that will come up as red flag to auto test.
Next weeks weather looks a wee bit chilly although snow-forecast.com has sunshine in the region of -20 or below and Skibanff.com is at -16
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Pre-registering had nothing to do with being selected for testing, so do it - it will save time IF you get selected (you're registering details with a private company contracted by the federal gov if they decide to point you that way - they don't know who you are)
Calgary testing anecdotally is still running at about 30% of arrivals, but maybe dropping slightly. If there is rhyme or reason as to why someone actually gets selected for testing no-one's been able to work it out yet, so your Italy trip may or may not make a difference, but at Calgary your result should be under 36 hours worst case, so not something to sweat about - Toronto is now reporting 14+ days
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You know it makes sense.
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@Saintsman, super helpful thank you so much. I will report back on my experience from Monday.
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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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@eat>sleep>ride>r, good luck yes please let us know.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@eat>sleep>ride>r, good luck - we're doing the same journey on 10 Feb.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We are flying out to yvr in few weeks (fingers crossed). Just a few questions for folk who are already out.
1. Whats the current percentage on people being tested at YVR?
2 How strict/policy are whistler on face masks?
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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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Currently YVR is testing effectively 100% of eligible arrivals, but rumours are mounting that will change imminently back to a small % and no quarantine
Facemask and Vax checking is STRICT. You will need to carry ID as well as your Vax passport for restaurants/cafes
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Buffs acceptable?
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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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Yep, especially in Gondola/on mountain
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@WASHOUT, yes they are , but they are not very effective ,
also for ease of ID and not risking losing valuable documents everywhere I went accepted picture of DL or passport along with nhs vaccination cert on my I phone
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Be warned - while most places accept a picture of your DL or passport, one or two will insist on originals.
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@WASHOUT,
Quite a few shops etc now have a "proper mask only" requirement. I've also (occasionally) seen WB handing out surgical masks to get on the gondolas when they have deemed face coverings insufficient.
And really, after 2 years not quite sure why anyone wouldn't have (and use) a proper mask.
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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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I don’t mind carrying my photo card driving licence around with me for ID purposes but I’m not keen on carrying my passport around really.
They accept the UK driving licenses without the passport do they?
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@VolklAttivaS5,
I'd assume they would since the requirement is government issued ID (assume its the same in Alberta as BC).
I use my BC services card as my ID
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FAQ
