Canada - Panorama, Kicking Horse,Red or Fernie - advice please

A snowHead

Next season we will be in vancouver for the games and plan to ski Whistler for a week and one other resort for another week. Want to try somewhere new hence the choices above.

Myself and my soon to be husband are pretty good boarders/skiers and we will have Emerson who will be 3 and learning so good ski school for him is essential. Just after somthing a bit different really.

Good village and atmosphere, nice restaurants, want to walk everywhere so no drive in evening etc.

Ideas or advice?

A snowHead

Panorama is a bit "disney". It's a self contained resort about 30 minutes drive from the nearest town. Plenty of skiing, and in the right conditions I can see it being a bit special.

Kicking Horse is pretty much expert terrain, and the lift system could be better - the main gondola goes to the top in one, then there are only a couple of lifts around the top - or you come all the way back down again

Not done Red

of those you list I like Fernie, it's about 5 miles to town from the resort so you can stay on the hill or in town. there'#s plenty of expert terrain and although I've not used it I've heard good reports of the ski school.

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

Panorama is fairly isolated. You can walk everywhere, but there's nowhere much to walk. Limited and, with one exception, not particularly good (nor particularly bad), restaurants. It's not by any means a dump, but there a far pleasanter places to stay in Canada. The skiing is quite unusual, and as nbt says, it could be great in the right conditions. Apparently it has a reputation for being icy, and it was a bit on my only visit, but that proves nothing.

Haven't been to the others, worse luck.

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You would have to decide where you want to stay in Kicking Horse, at the resort or in the town of Golden (a short drive away but definitely not walking distance). Can't help you out with the town of Golden unfortunately.

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arv, We are in Vancouver so flying from there. Would fly to Cranbrook as nearer.

Will look into Banff as well then thanks

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Banff is a very different kettle of fish from Panorama. It's a (small) town, and a very pleasant one indeed, loads of restaurants and bars, all walkable. You have to drive or bus to the skiing, though; it's no problem at all, but if you don't fancy it ... .

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No we absolutely want ski in ski out with a 3 year old. That is a MUST HAVE for us.....

After all it is free

Mouth, Panorama is ski in ski out and has some nice hot tubs to relax in after a hard day on the slopes. I had 2 weeks of fantastic snow whilst I was out there, so the skiing was great, it was quiet and there were no queues. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. There are only one or two places to eat out in the village from what I remember but you do have the option of going to Invermere down away from the mountain by road. I would go back to Panorama although I suppose it isn't typically Canadian. I also spent 3 days in Kicking Horse and enjoyed my time there too but as mentioned previously it's more expert terrain with lots of chutes and bowls from what I can remember.

I must say, I've enjoyed every resort that I have skied in Canada.

I'd recommend Fernie Smile

Lots of challenging terrain but there's a good amount of sheltered beginner stuff too, and if you stay on the ski hill the ski in/ski out accomodation is nice. 10-15min bus or taxi to the town is the only drawback, but it ticks the rest of the boxes, and is pretty convinent if you're flying to Cranbrook. Emerson may well have me as an instructor if I'm on the Ski and Play program again this year Smile

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If you want ski-in ski-out with a 3yo, then the answer has to be Silver Star and/or Big White. Both also have excellent kid's centres which will look after the little one during the day, including a one-hour private lesson if you/he wants it. They are also not as far from Whistler as the ones you mention.

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RobW, That sounds really good and thanks for the tip. I will check both these resorts out too..

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I'd agree on the Big White (fly into Kelowna) or Fernie (into Cranhole), Red is greaaat but a pain in the ass to fly to. Pano is one of the few places in Western Canada that I haven't skied but nothing I've heard from other skiers has made me feel I've missed out.

You know it makes sense.

Mouth,

Think about Sun Peaks, also: nice village, well developed mountain and SI-SO accommodation available. This is within bus transfer range of Whistler (about 4 hours, depending on road conditions), but you can also fly into Kamloops (local airport) from Vancouver.

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

Of the resorts you mention, I've only been to Panorama, and that was originally an accident when I saw a too-good-to-miss last minute deal. When I got there, though, it blew me away, and my entire family is unanimous that this is by some margin the best place that we've ever skied - and I've tried many of the big names resorts on both sides of the Atlantic. We've taken three trips there altogether and we'll certainly be back some time.

Panorama is about skiing. You won't find any nightlife beyond the hot tub, and you'll be able to walk everywhere because there's nowhere to walk - one shop, one restaurant, one bar, one coffee shop, one pizza joint and, er, that's it. And, at first sight, there's not even very much skiing - four lifts and a handful of groomers that you can ski in a couple of hours. It's no wonder there are no crowds or queues, either.

But, if you're a half decent skier, you'll soon explore beyond the groomers. You'll find endless, deserted mogul pitches with bumps the size of small cars; lightly cleared glades that retain their powder for days after a snowfall; steep, heavily wooded pitches that will push your technique to the limit; and steeps that will terrify you. Even in peak season you can ski the mountain from top to bottom without meeting another skier, and that means the wildlife is abundant. I once had a close encounter with a cougar that scared the wits out of me - I felt like I'd been tossed into the lion pen in the zoo.

Don't go to Panorama if you're timid. Around half of the named runs are graded black, but that underestimates the true position - maybe half of the skiable area is only accessible if you're willing to tackle double diamonds. Two areas in particular, the Taynton Bowl and the Extreme Dream Zone are truly exceptional - I've never encountered their like elsewhere. But then I've never been to Fernie, Kicking Horse or Red - yet. I hear that they offer very similar terrain, so it's just a matter of time snowHead

A snowHead

I think it's fair to say you can't really go wrong in BC Smile

A snowHead

what about Revelstoke? Isn't that the new hot destination for good skiers/boarders?

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Jonny Jones, if you liked panorama that much then you must visit Fernie, it's like Panorama only better Smile

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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As said already, Big White will tick all your boxes with the little one in tow. Kids facilities are excellent and it's got a good selection of restaurants and a friendly atmosphere.

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After all it is free

If you haven't driven in Canada, I can tell you that it's a pleasure not be missed. The limits are a bit low (and they enforce them as I know to my cost) but the roads are empty and the scenery is, as is widely known, great.

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uktrailmonster, I think we are almost there with Big White. This thread has really helped so thanks. As this trip is part of our whole lets do a season plan just need to sort out the logistics and dates and I may well be pming you uktrailmonster, Toofy Grin

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WE have been to lots of these places (not RED, or SUn peaks) and have used the childcare and/or child ski facilities in most.

If I were to put it in order of childcare/little child ski then

I would rate the following in no particular order:

Kicking Horse- only went there for a weekend but childcare was fabulous. Has bonus of min tubing track. Magic carpet slope has slight camber which may be tricky for a brand new beginner (but if you are going to Whistler first could be OK)

Silver Star - really liked it here. Skating pond, tubing etc too. Choose where you stay carefully if you want ski in ski out with a beginner. CHildcare good.

Fernie- great resort for a beginners. Good set-up for little children- one of the very few places to offer more than basic group beginner lessons for kids. We were really happy with our experience there. Loved the resort. Kids loved it. Great green runs to graduate to after magic carpet.

Panorama we liked, although there was a terrible lift next to mini-magic carpet, but I think this was replaced last season. Fake hotpools outside are a bonus and little one will like riding the bucket lift down to shop at night.

We went to Big White (which we liked) and it has the bonus of tubing, sleigh rides etc and gondola for access at nights BUT the childcare was the worst we have experienced in Canada by a long stretch (and we have experienced more than the above resorts, adding NAkiska, Lake Louise, Kimberley to the above list) . I don't know whether we hit at a bad time, or whether as it was the end of the season the staff couldn't give a monkeys, but it was bad. We booked our 3 year old in for a few afternoons. When she turned up she was told not to talk (she was shusshed) , it was all dark as some kids were asleep on the floor and she was put in front of a telly. She clearly didn't do anything much the whole afternoon and by canadian standards it was expensive. It was truely appaulling. Sorry to tell you this.

Gryph

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Mouth, No problem, I'm more than happy to help.

On the childcare front RobW has been to Big White many times with very young children, so should be an expert by now! He would be best placed to advise on that subject as we don't have any children (yet!). From speaking to others with children I really don't think gryphea's experience was typical, but it shows that things are never perfect.

Accommodation - If you're interested, we have a very nice apartment for rental which would be ideal for the 3 of you. Click on the link in my signature for details and again you can ask RobW for an impartial view as he's stayed there twice. The alternatives are other apartments of course (but you certainly won't find a nicer one at the price we can offer) or one of the hotels. Before we had our own apartment we stayed at the Big White Inn (pretty average, but clean and well priced) and the Sundance hotel (nice, but can be very expensive at peak times). The White Crystal Inn looks quite nice too, but we haven't stayed there ourselves.

Driving from Vancouver - We've done that once and it went very smoothly. But if the weather turns nasty and they start closing the mountain passes, it could quickly turn into an epic. We usually fly into either Vancouver, Calgary or Edmonton and then take a 45 min internal flight to Kelowna, which is then only a 1 hour transfer to Big White. It does mean sitting around in airports for several hours, but it's really quite simple. We normally use Air Canada for both flights and allow at least 2 hours connection time. They are talking about direct flights into Kelowna next season, but not sure when/if that will happen. Flight prices vary massively depending on the dates and times travelled and airline promotions, so shop around and you can save a fortune.

Feel free to pm me if you want any more info. If you're interested in our apartment let me know what dates you're thinking of as we give RobW first priority as a returning guest. We normally go ourselves over Christmas and late season, but we're more flexible with our own timing next season.

Cheers
UKTM

You know it makes sense.

Beware Big White and kids. RobW's kids are demons, the teaching of little kids there is so good that yours will show you up very quickly, as his are doing do him Laughing

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

A snowHead

Thanks for all the pointers and advice and to let you know that we have decided to ski Big White. Just ticks loads of boxes for us. Smile

A snowHead

Mouth, Reasonable choice, if you can, ski Silver Star too- you wont be diappointed

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

Mouth, Ditto on everyone else with only a week would stick with the Okanogan Valley Silver Star and Big White are both worth it Apex is interesting in it's own way, too, but much smaller and the steeps run into the blues. Still haven't made it to Sun Peaks but it's another hour to hour and half to get to Sun Peaks after Silver Star headed North. There are even some decent wineries around Kelowna too.

Had you more time driving further might be worth it but it should be great with the choice you made. A Kimberley Fernie combo might be worth it if the Okanogan area is in a no snow cycle as it does happen occasionally, then you could stop by Red on the way out or back.

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And I have just booked a certain snowHead

apartment in Big White for the week Toofy Grin

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When i was in Canada for a season we went on a trip to kicking horse and it is definitely for the more experienced skier as the runs are all generally pretty steep....great skiing though if you like this sort of thing.
Fernie is amazing! love it there....the town is pretty small but it has an amazing atmosphere and you are guaranteed to get have an amazing time there. slope wise, there is a lot more variation than kicking horse, but it is best for experienced skiers as the best aspect of fernie is the fresh powder tree runs....amazing!!!! the redtree lodge is a great place to stay as well... hope this helps a bit

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Just booked the international flights so everything sorted for our 3 week canadian adventure

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

go for kciking horse if you like steep. The lift stairway to heaven is slow but gives you access to some of the most phenomenal inbounds, lift access skiing ive ever done. The restaurant at the tope of kicking horse is awesome aswell with stunning views and great food aswell...

Help!!

Canada - Panorama, Kicking Horse,Red or Fernie - advice please

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