 Poster: A snowHead
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Planning a trip to Canada, anyone got recommendations for a resort or even self catered accomodation that will suit a family with two children 5 and 8. We're keen to find somewhere with plenty of tree level skiing a small park and slopeside lodging if possible. transfers to a minimum. Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Silver Star & Big White, would need an internal connection into Kelowna for short tfr. Fernie meets your specs though the transfer from Calgary takes I'd guess 4 hrs on a bus. Forget Banff although you might consider Lake Louise.
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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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Big White is all about the kids so they advertise, with slopeside lodging and fatbob covered the fly in site, can also drive to Silver Star or Apex for a change of pace. Unless the kids are hardcore they might like Kimberley over Fernie both have slopeside.
Still would say Big White with the age of the children.
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We have a 4 3/4 yr old and a 7 yr old so feel relatively qualified to answer this (plus we live in Calgary)
I would also forget Lake Louise as there isn't anything in particular there to keep kids happy (although my son would disagree as he loves the park), its cold and the resort runs get very crowded. (If you are tempted by Banff go to douglas fir)
I would recommend Silver Star or Big White. Both offer other activities such as skating, tubing etc to keep everyone happy. We like them both and both have little kids cut through trees with mini- jumps etc. (actually I think a two centre would be best). MAke sure that any SIlver Star accomodation is both ski in and out- as I think some is ski out only- unless you finish your day really early.
We are trying Sun Peaks this Christmas.
Would also really recommend Fernie, which we all love. Stayed at Cornerstone as well as in the town, but think the Griz may be better as it has a pool.
Could team with another centre such as Panorama (which does have giant slopeside hot tub). Or even Whitefish. From Panorama could do a day trip to check out Kicking Horse (lots of cabins there, and also tubing)
Kimberley was less enamoured with, didn't do enough brush cutting, only run back to resort a death trap of speeding crowds and they cancelled all the activites when we were there such as skating etc for no apparent reason. Pool at slopeside accomodation freezing too.
We are thinking of Silver next easter (OK I know its US).
Let me know if I can help anymore!
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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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Big White, Silver Star, Sun Peaks - won't go wrong at any and will meet a lot of Aussies 
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Frosty, I can only speak for Panorama because when we discovered it we kept going back as it's perfect for family skiing. It offers everything you're looking for.
The upper village is completely car free and very safe for kids; it's common to see unsupervised children going to the shop or playing in the snow there. The village is tiny so carrying skis isn't an issue, and you can easily pop back to your room to change wet gloves or fetch an extra layer of clothing. There's a large outdoor swimming pool / hot tub complex that's available to anyone staying in the resort but it's most convenient if you're in the slopeside Panorama Springs condos.
The skiing is ideally suited for families. All the runs funnel down to two lifts, so it's pretty much impossible to lose your kids. All the skiing is below the tree line, and there are some great, very easy blue-graded glades where your kids can have fun skiing through the trees and dodging bushes and undergrowth. The trails are designed with families in mind - most of the more difficult pistes have winding blue runs zig-zagging across them so you can take the 8-year old down a steep bit while your partner takes the 5 year old on an easier detour.
The ski school is superb, especially if your kids are fast learners - they do push the kids quite hard but very much in a spirit of fun. Between them, my kids have spent more than 40 days there with many different teachers and the standard has been universally high: none of them has ever had a bad day. The school has a policy of frequent assessment, so it's common for kids to move up or down a class at lunchtime or even mid lesson - just make sure that your kids don't get upset when the inevitable demotion happens because the rest of the class is of an unusually high standard one day. One nice touch is the play area hidden in the trees (I've never found it myself!) that's often used if the younger classes need a break; our kids loved it. A possible downside with the school is that there's no pre or post school club; that wasn't a problem for us as we wanted to ski with our kids at the start and end of the day, but it might not suit you.
The only other possible issue is the four hour transfer from Calgary, significantly longer than Banff or Lake Louise. I deal with that by overnighting in Calgary in a hotel with a decent swimming pool and then taking a leisurely drive to Panorama the next day. Most of the drive is through the stunningly beautiful Kootenay National Park, so you can make a few stops for photos and snowball fights, and finish off with an hour in the hot springs at Radium. The road through the park is often pretty snowy, so it's worth hiring a 4x4 rather than a saloon car.
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Jonny Jones, sounds great, if you don't mind me asking, what were the rough costs, accom, flight, lift pass, lift hire, eating out etc?
Cheers,
Greg
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Big White for sure.
Very child/family friendly with lots of entertanment laid on. Practically everywhere is ski in/out and stacks of tree skiing. The beginners area is totally separate from the main skiing area at the bottom of the resort so you never get fast skiers speeding through and there is the Family Lodge down there where they have various entertainments in the afternoon/evening. They have a good park with a skiercross track in as well. 3/4 hour transfer from Kelowna airport. I think there are now direct flights to Kelowna airport which you should try to get, otherwise its flying to Vancouver/Calgary/Edmonton and then an internal flight, which makes it a really long journey especially with small ones. UKtrailmonster here has an apartment there although I don't think I've seen him on for a while - you could try PMing him if you're interested.
Sun Peaks is not particularly more family friendly than most resorts
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cathy,
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Sun Peaks is not particularly more family friendly than most resorts
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Why do you say that?
It looks family friendly, skating, swimming pool, ski in ski out, tubing etc.
Haven't ben though, so was wondering............
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gryphea, yes it has tubing, swimming pool in the hotel?, can't think where the skating is. I'm sure it's fine for families but no more fine than most resorts in Canada. Whereas Big White does go out to make a name for itself with regard to families. The park would not be as good as Big White, I seem to remember just a few kickers of various sizes. Mind you, this is all from the point of view of skiing as a couple, not family, so don't take my word as gospel  Where are you staying?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Don't know why but all the Canadians we met dissed Sun Peaks and we never made it, course it was snowing at Silver and not Sun Peaks.
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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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pinhead,
Not sure its as hard-core maybe as alternatives? maybe that's why? Its funny we rarely meet someone who has been there, yet most have been to SIlver Star and Big WHite yet SUn Peaks is supposedly bigger. Maybe its all vancouverites that go there!
SO , thanks for your messge about Silver the other day, we would go very last week in March/very beginning of April, on previous seasons are we likely to get snow, or have good snow?
Thanks
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gryphea, cathy, gortonator, fatbob,Jonny Jones, Thanks for the advice I'll get googling and look at all these more closely.
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You know it makes sense.
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gryphea, Sun Peaks is fine and you'll have a great time there I'm sure. We did a 2 resort trip to Big White and Sun Peaks twice so have spent a total of 2 weeks there.
These would be my thoughts on it:
There are 3 main mountains to ski on, Mt Tod, Mt Morrissey & Sundance. Mt Tod was the original mountain and the other two have been developed, Mt Morrisey the most recently.
Mt Morrisey has some really lovely skiing through the trees and has pistes with trees left in them - good fun! Your kids will probably love it over there but it's not taxing skiing at all.
Sundance has some great long blues down the front face and also nice skiing through the trees on the 3 Bears.
Mt Tod has the most varied skiing - and is where they have set up runs specifically for the Austrian ski team who are using Sun Peaks as their training base for the Vancouver Winter Olympics - they even put in a special chairlift for them! There is a large bowl at the top but it is mostly awful to ski as the snow just gets frozen into nasty ridges.
The slowest ever chairlift is the Burfield - don't count on using this more than you have to! You can join it halfway up, which is 'interesting'.
http://www.sunpeaksresort.com/winter/trailmaps/wintermap.aspx
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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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Frosty, We had the same question and chose Big White. Did a lot of research and eventually chose Big White. Have secured a fab apartment whcih belongs to a SH and was recommended by another SH who stayed there with kids. PM me if you want details ok?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Frosty, We had the same question and chose Big White. Did a lot of research and eventually chose Big White. Have secured a fab apartment whcih belongs to a SH and was recommended by another SH who stayed there with kids. PM me if you want details ok?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Mouth, a good choice! I'm sure you'll have a great time there, we really liked Big White but not quite sure why....  Are you staying in UKtrailmonster's apartment?
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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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| cathy wrote: |
| Mouth, a good choice! I'm sure you'll have a great time there, we really liked Big White but not quite sure why.... Are you staying in UKtrailmonster's apartment? |
Yes indeed!!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Mouth,
We went to Big White at the end of march. Some of the best snow we have ever skied on and two days later it was shutting, as it was sunny in the vallies and the golf season was starting!
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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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I've been to Sun Peaks and would say it was ideal for families. A bit too much so to be ideal for me! Great place with kids I would have thought.
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| kitenski wrote: |
Jonny Jones, sounds great, if you don't mind me asking, what were the rough costs, accom, flight, lift pass, lift hire, eating out etc?
Cheers,
Greg |
Hard to put a figure on it, as we've paid wildly different amounts each year. Our first trip was a last-minute bargain with Inghams at £399 each for 10 days in the Huntley Lodge including transfers. More realistic for 9-10 days is £450 each for flights, £350 for a large 4x4, £2,000 for a high grade slopeside condo and £800 for list passes for 5. These prices vary significantly, though, and currency movements add further unpredictability.
Food and drink is reasonably priced by European standards - probably slightly less than UK city centre prices for equivalent quality - but there's not a great deal of choice. With kids, we generally prefer to eat in the condo in the evening, although we usually stop for a post-skiing jug of beer.
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cathy,
Thanks for all that- sounds great for us as we have a 4 yr old (well she'll be five by then). Lots of blues are perfect for her.
WE are staying at Settler's crossing, east village.
gortonator,
Thanks for blog and pictures- looks good!!
firebug,
Good to hear its good for kids. We will actually spend one day off skiing and snow shoe, skate and tube! I am actually thinking of lengthening our trip by one night- we will see, we have 6 nights planned.
kitenski,
Panorama has some don't break the piggy bank deals atm, pay for 3 nights get five. Don't seem to have any avalaibility when I want it though!!!
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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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gryphea, As regards Silver Mid March new snow pretty much a given, and happens quite often later, it kept us open 3 more weekends this year with a early April snow.
Frosty, Sorry for the sidetrack only negative I've heard about at Big White is it can become Big Foggy that might be the day to go to Silver Star or Apex for a change of venue.
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Both SilverStar and Big White are very family friendly. Given a choice, I'd slightly favour SilverStar as the village is a little smaller, there is a bit more variety of terrain within a short distance of the village and it doesn't seem to whiteout like Big White can. Haven't been to Sun Peaks but friends of ours who ski/ride as a family have been to Sun Peaks, Big White and SilverStar. Sun Peaks is their favourite.
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FAQ
