 Poster: A snowHead
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I was chased around Canada in January by Covid, but came back for more in late February/ early March. The snow in January was excellent - cold smoke, but since then things had warmed up somewhat, and things were looking spring like.
The temperature when I arrived in Calgary was a pretty usual minus 20 or so. It was overcast with intermittent reasonably heavy snow starting to fall in the city.
Clearing the airport bureaucracy was quick, with no visible Covid testing (such as that in YVR a few weeks earlier) at all.
Snowboard bags come out (even for cattle class) rapidly, something which never happens in Vancouver.
My previous trip had some complications with internal flights and quarantine, but that process is history now.
My hire car was ready early and came with one existing stone chip but free winter wheels (they are all legal with M&S, but chunkier is better).
The service (Thrifty/Budget) was polite and there was no hard sell for once.
Hire cars from Kelowna Kamloops and Calgary always seem to come with winter wheels; they can't hire you illegal (without M&S tyres), but they will charge you extra for winter wheels if you're American or ask for them, which I never do. Vancouver has fewer winter wheeled cars, and most of them are left from open-jaw hires like mine (hence they have Alberta plates). I ignore those "anti-idiot" internet people and do what the locals do. I don't pay the waiver charges though, hence I take images of the stone chips.
Lake Louise is an easy drive from the AC flight, which gets in around 14:00 or so. With jet lag I'd not want to go a lot further. There was fresh snow on the highways and visibility was poor for a while, but that soon cleared up and the roads were bare into the park. I've stayed here and there around Banff and Lake Louise, and mostly I want somewhere which doesn't smell bad and which has access to good food. Lake Louise isn't the sort of place to take a stroll out in the evening, so I like to stay precisely where that food is at the Post Hotel. It's been taken over recently by the Relias & Chateux people. I was a worried they may have become prissy - their site mentions a dress code. It turned out fine and they didn't care about my heavy metal t-shirts and all.
In Lake Louise the hill's across the highway from the accommodation, so you either have to drive or catch a hotel shuttle. I prefer the latter so I don't need to find a parking space, although parking is at least free at the hill, and also in the hotels there. It's not free to park a car for example at the Banff Springs. There were no issues with anti-maskers on the shuttle or anywhere else I noticed.
Lake Louise was quiet and minus 20; I just walked straight onto the first lift of the day. Bump fields were in unfriendly condition with the temperature being nice and low, but the cord was in excellent condition from the start (as there's no thaw/ freeze cycle). I didn't look "off piste", but that'd be dust on crust at best and full of hard ruts, I'd imagine.
The resort catering is (as typical in BC) extremely basic, perhaps because it's all resort run. Some of it was closed down presumably due to Covid.
I couldn't find anything at the resort I'd want to eat, nor was there drinkable coffee, but then I don't like stopping much when the lifts are running.
The Post Hotel does fancy afternoon teas.
Their pool was quiet and I'd a new watch gadget to play with, so I got busy proving that I can get my heart rate much higher swimming than I can snowboarding.
The "top of the world" lift was closed for maintenance so I did the other bits of the resort.
The Post Hotel easily won the "best breakfast" award.
I set off up the Icefields parkway, which was a tad icy on the southern bit, but bare by Jasper. I'm more of a thug with winter wheels, but it's all good.
I stopped to buy beer then headed into the back woods to catch up with some mates.
Mount Robson in the door mirror.
And before the anti-idiot brigade fire up their weapons, I was stationary at road works learning the meaning of the word "flagger".
The snow in the back country was warmer than is good for it, and some places had quite low down "rain events". The wrong kind of precip. You don't want to be riding to the valley bottoms in that. Up top it was cold and pretty good for the time of year - creamy in places. Non jaded people said it it was their best ever 
My non jaded mate experimenting with how high he needs to get for those inverted aerials.
Having used up all my beer I drove down a bare highway 5 to Sun Peaks. There snow cover was good, but there was but no off piste worth bothering with: it's been too warm for a while, I think. Temperatures were zero down to minus five, so chunky corduroy first thing and with chasing the sun for an hour or two in the morning.
I stayed in the Grand (the back of which is on the left of this shot), a change for me as I'd normally stay in Kamloops and drive up as that's cheaper. They even charge you to park your car, which you can probably dodge if you know how, but it seems a bit much for somewhere which isn't that crowded. Oh well. It didn't seem very Grand to me, although it had some pretentions in that direction I suppose. The food was ok, but they're not selling this as a restaurant with rooms. The Cafe Vertical is still there and is the local's breakfast/ coffee joint, way better than standard resort outlets and better for breakfast than the Grand.
One of the two main "express" chairs which leave from right outside the main village. People at Sun Peaks are incredibly friendly but there aren't that many of them, so solo chairs are the most common type. Or maybe they were scared of the mean snowboarder. Most visitors were from Ontario but there are a lot of locals.
They don't really do narrow pistes. Well there are some lines cut narrower through the trees on "Morrisey", but the main pistes here are all very wide, which combined with the lack of crowds makes it all feel really safe. They make it clear that "all green runs are entirely slow zones", and there are enough staff around to enforce that if it was needed. Where they leave bumps there's always a groomed alternative.
Highway 99 was closed, so I chugged down the Coquihalla to Vancouver on the way to sofa surfing in Whistler. The Coq was mostly bare and not busy, except for the road works, which were (perhaps obviously) on the low level easy bits where the rivers are. The repairs are coming along, but you can still see one concrete bridge section hanging in space.
The Sea to Sky was bare, as were most of the back roads in Whistler. The resort was much quieter than it was in the xmas holidays, a massive improvement in my view. I was only there then because Covid closed the place I was supposed to be, and we couldn't drive anywhere else, until 99 opened for tourists.
The good news is that the hot tub didn't freeze up over xmas.
You had to be there. The dog on that sled is barking a warning to anyone who cares to listen.
Whistler was quiet, lots of snow, condition about the same as Sun Peaks.
I dropped the car off in YVR and flew home.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 15-03-22 23:47; edited 1 time in total
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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 have been to Lake Louise and Sunshine every year since 2002, until we decided to go to Breckenridge in 2020 when Covid hit. Feels like we’ve been gone a long time, and we really miss it. Interesting to hear how it feels post covid. Sounds like a great trip.
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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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Great report philwig. Thanks for sharing.
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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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Was just contemplating Banf vs Sun Peaks for next year, and boom, there's your trip report. Thanks for the info!
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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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@philwig, and others - is there a 'best time' to go to Sun Peaks (avoiding school holidays etc - we have no ankle biters and therefore try and avoid them!)? That video has made it first choice for next year, I'm a sucker for a quiet piste.
Any other tips? Sorry for the thread highjack!
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philwig, Thanks for the vid and pictures - Totally agree about the video being accurate like that with good conditions each time we've been.
Nice to see Nancy skiing, we stayed at her place the last time ( needs some tlc in the rooms tbh ) as we managed to get a good deal on rooms and tickets. previously stopped in Kamloops and drove, its nothing special tho.
ElzP, We've been lucky with good conditions when we've gone, end of Feb, the village isnt that large, and fun to ski through it 
Theres litereally nothing else around so if you stay there you're captive audience. Some decent eateries and cafes. We've dropped into Cafe Vertical and its pretty good.
Not a place we could stay for long, done about 3 days at a time as part of a roadtrip but there is some good terrain. We luckily hooked up with a local couple on a lift who showed us some interesting spots 
If you are DIYing easy to combine with Silver Star 2hrs drive, which is another quietish place, or possibly Revelstoke.
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I would look up when Canadian school holidays are. However kids are not allowed to queue barge or break rules generally, so I think their presence isn't the same issue as in Europe. Plus any ski schools in Canada are really well run (small groups, snakes max at 5 people with one instructor at front, one at back, etc).
Nancy leads the free "guided tours of the slopes" thing which may run every day.
If one was to be considering Banff and Sun Peaks, it would be wise to understand what you're getting and not getting in each. Banff has a broader appear as a tourist destination and has "more to do" in terms of non-skiing entertainment etc, if people need that.
Sun Peaks is a fairly large area with a good mix of terrain, pisted and not. The headwalls piste is the only place the FIS speed ski people ever ran a comp in Canada. The resort does the standard thing where some stuff is groomed and some isn't. Also in North American style, they maximize the value of each lift, so there are of course many alternative routes from top-to-bottom of each lift which may feel fairly similar in aspect.
Some people may get bored, and I too am mostly "passing through" here on the way somewhere else. Although Snowbird and Taos and any/every small base resort has the same characteristics. Like those places, it's a mistake to only look at the pistes. Conditions: well you're always going to have snow, the issue is how much of it is untracked... the snowfall records are published, but it's impossible to predict...
I like Silver Star too (and Big White!), and that's an easy drive as described. If staying in Kamloops it's even closer, but Kamloops isn't great for tourists.
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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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Look out for the Family Weekend public holiday though that's essentially just a long weekend (and was 21 Feb this year). I think Ontario maybe then have school break.
I've stayed in Kamloops in the past. It's fine, it's just a largeish Canadian town/small city with usual amenities but not much in the way of thumping nightlife.
If I was going to Sun Peaks I'd probably go "multi hub" and combine it with a stay somewhere else over 2 weeks- Silver Star or Big White being the most obvious in the Okanagan
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Thanks guys, that's all really interesting and useful. Will especially contemplate the 2 stop trip with maybe Silver Star, we'll probably take 2 weeks hol. We're currently firmly piste, but in Whistler in 2019 did some easy off piste with an instructor and loved it so will be looking outside of just piste again, with instruction or a guide!
To add, think most of you gave brilliant tips for the Whistler trip so I'll be back. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| phil_w wrote: |
Oh. My mate Ron did a "ski TV" thing at Sun Peaks which gives a good/ accurate feel of the place. There's about 1:00 of adverts at the start to ignore first, then the odd add break.
Ronnie was mostly interviewed at the Cafe Vertical.
https://ascend-television.com/now-playing/ep05-sun-peaks-bc/ |
Phil, realise I'm late to this but that seems to have been taken down. If Ron has a secret link anywhere could you ask him to share it!
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FAQ
