I have a trip booked later this year to go to Panorama with Inghams
I haven't booked any extras i.e. lift ticket/equipment/lessons etc just yet. I've been considering my options up until now.
The exchange rate seems to be going to pot now with the canadian dollar so I'm thinking 78 scoobies for equipment for a week is probably not that bad of a deal. I'm going to wait until we get there to work out lessons etc as there is a good chance we might get to kicking horse/kimberley for a days skiing.
Does anyone know if you are able to add these things on to your holiday once you have booked and paid for it?
I will call them obviously but just wondered if anyone had done this before.
Cheers
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
v1cky24, you certainly can with TUI (Crystal/Thomson) so I can't imagine Inghams have a different policy. For example, I've booked my holiday already and paid my deposit but left it open as to whether I want to book ski hire or ski carriage (depending on whether I buy myself some skis).
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?
queen bodecia, thanks for that... I thought that would be the case, I just didn't want any nasty surprises!
v1cky24, £78 is a good deal cheaper than Panaorama's one ski hire shop. A couple of years back I tried to do exactly what you did (same tour operator, same resort), but failed to add the extras to the holiday because the trip was less than a month in the future. The in-resort rates were much higher, so you might want to be careful.
IIRC, the differential between UK prices and Inghams prices were much lower for the ski school than for equipment hire so I'd recommend checking out prices on the resort's web site and, if there's not much advantage for pre-booking, wait until you get there. You won't have any problems with the ski school being booked solid, although it's possible that some lessons on some days might be oversubscribed or, more likely, postponed due to low demand.
The ski school there is excellent. They do some good deals on multi-day private lessons, and, finances permitting, that's the route I'd choose. One tip: when I was last there, you could get some better deals by booking private lessons outside the normal ski school hours. You don't say what level you're at, but Panorama is a great improvers resort as it has so much advanced intermediate terrain - a couple of private lessons on bumps or trees will do tremendous things for your confidence and might open up much more of the resort to you.
yes you can vicky they used to charge you a fee of £ 4 for doing so after your booking .
im going to be doing same , looking at passes they dont seem to have come down , prob best to book before hand , exchange rate seems to have gone down a bit .
i always watch travelex rate graphs and try to judge best time to buy dollars beforehand
on the coach transfer reps come round with ski school booking forms and lift pass forms and for the trips out , dont miss the toby creek snowmobiles , best moment of my life looking across the rockies above the clouds .
probably cheaper to take own skis as its £ 25 on flight , resort hire tends to be expensive
im off to panorama feb 24 for 10 days and counting down
where are you staying ? could give you a lowdown on resort , you wont be disappointed . its my fav by far
if you want to know any thing else just shout
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Thank you all - very helpful. Jonny Jones, I am probably at a guess an early intermediate? - I was making the blue runs in Winter Park last winter. I'm still relatively new to skiing but I progressed through the classes quite quickly on my last trip. Lessons are a must I think for me. I just want to get better so I can open up the mountain to myself.
I would love to have private lessons, we were lucky last year, we had a learn to ski thing booked but there was only myself and the OH on the course so we basically had a full days private lesson.
f1l, We are staying at the Pine Inn - not the best accommodation from what I have read but that doesn't bother me that much. I hear it is very much slopeside? We managed to get a cracking deal - I just hope the snow is good, we are going very early in the season (mid dec). We are hoping to hire a car at the airport to get to Panorama so if we need to travel around a bit we can. Really fancy the snowmobile - it is much cheaper here than in Winter Park! Do you think I would be able to book that with the rep in resort?
What is there to do on an evening? Are there many bars/places to eat?
I was a bit worried as it seems to be a bit of an experts mountain - I hope I'll be able to get to the top for the views etc, although it doesn't look as though there are many easy trails down!
After all it is free
After all it is free
the pine inn is indeed slope side as are most of the condos , your only feet away from the quad .
the pine inn gets mixed reviews , think they put most of the schoolkids in there when they come to stop on trips . think thats why it gets some bad reviews .
in inghams late offers for jan last year the pine inn was £299 for a week so who could complain at that ?
you can still get into the hotpools even if you dont stay at the springs .
early season snow can be a bit hit and miss but there is plenty of snowmaking , you may find a few runs taped off , if the rocks are starting to come through , i think you should be ok .
dont know if i would bother with a car , transfers from airport are on coach , normally about six or seven outside the airport going to the resorts . the reps are really well organised , and you get your welcome packs on board , with the details of the trips , and if you want to book ski school , lift tickets etc .
havn,t you got transfers in with package ? .
if you hire a car and drive you will have to pay entrance fee to banff national park i think its around $60 dollars for a car .
looking on the panorama website they run a trip up to kicking horse on a wednesday for $109 dollars with lift ticket included , with tax prob about $125 dollars .
dont forget they add tax to everything GST cant remember rate at moment . just looked on google its 6% on everything .
toby creek snowmobiles are about half a mile down the road and they will come and pick you up anyway . dont miss this trip !!!
nightlife is limited to the crazy horse saloon slopeside or the jackpine pub down near the shop . think there a nightclub but i never went in , the crazy horse has live bands on at weekends , pool table and video games .
places to eat , the starbird , although that name might have changed , in the crazy horse saloon ( mmm deep fried pickles ) , and there is the heliplex , and a posh place forgot what thats called grays somthing that get excellent reviews . the crazy horse and starbird and the mile high pizza company are the same kitchens . so they are mostly the same , portions are huge .
or you could just pop down to the shop get a few tins , hire a dvd , and get a pizza delivered to your room .
because all the resort is owned by intrawest they used to run a chargecard system where you could book any bill to your room and pay at the end of the week at the central check in , you could even get your grocerys at the shop and charge it to your room , same with the dvds .
i booked some lessons when i went , and the ski school is excellent , they have a counter in the great hall where you can book , they always take you from the top on your last day of lessons .
the mountain can be quite scary , you wont go on the taynton bowl or the extreme dream zone , but there is plenty of acreage elsewhere on the mountain to keep you occupied . my fav run is roller coaster absolute cracker of a run
posted you some weblinks so you can have a look
hope you have some nice weather and overnight snowstorms , heres to goggle tans and blue sky powder days
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.
f1l,
Thanks for that, much appreciated!
We are probably going to hire a car so we can have a day out and travel to other resorts if the conditions aren't so good. The transfers are included in the package though, which only cost £777 for 2 of us! Bargain I think...
I am really looking forward to it..
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
v1cky24, although we're not going there this winter, Panorama is the single resort that I've enjoyed more than any other, and my entire family shares this opinion. I'm not sure that it would normally be the first choice for an early intermediate, though, because, as you say, much of its terrain is fabulously challenging and a skier at your level would normally find it difficult to justify the typically high cost of a holiday there. At the price you've paid, though, it's a steal, and you'd have been mad to turn it away.
To get the best out of Panorama, you'll probably be wanting to break out of the blues and onto the simpler blacks - Fritz's down to the Snowbird chair is a good start that the ski school uses to start people on the steeper stuff. Subject to the snow depth being adequate, you'll also want to try the easier bowls - the Sun bowl and the blue runs opn Founders' Ridge - and you'll need to improve fast to make the most of this terrain. If you're at all ambitious to improve yourself, I'd strongly recommend that you book yourself into a series of private lessons (you saved so much cash on the holiday that you can afford to do this, right?) and ask your instructor to help you to move on to the easier blacks, and perhaps learn to start skiing some simple bumps or through some of the flatter gladed runs. If that feels a bit ambitious, you'll be restricted to a couple of blues off the Champagne lift and the fabulous groomers off the Sunbird chair. The greens off the base lift are really best for beginners and for warming up at the start of the day.
As you're not self catering, a car's not needed unless you plan on day trips. One problem with hiring is that you'll need to overnight in Calgary - it's too far to drive to Panorama after a 9 hour flight. A few years back I hired a car for the day from Invermere so that we could take a day trip to visit some relatives, but although that save some cash, transport to/from Invermere is a problem - public transport is erratic and Invermere has only one taxi. There's very little in the resort itself, but the little that's there is pleasant enough - one pub and a couple of restaurants is your lot.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
v1cky24 wrote:
The transfers are included in the package though, which only cost £777 for 2 of us! Bargain I think...
I am really looking forward to it..
Crikey, I thought I was king of finding bargains, but thats fantastic. Was it a special discounted deal?
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.
Jonny Jones, Thanks for that... I love hearing from people who have been there. The insider knowledge makes a big difference!
I had been concerned about the trails when I first got sight of the mountain map - it seems to be covered in black lines!!! I don't know if I'll be able to make it onto them this holiday, that might be a bit ambitous, but then last year I never thought I'd be skiing some of the steeper blues on the 3rd day so I guess I'll have to suck it and see!
I'm wondering if maybe a trip to Xscape would help me out before I go? I'm not sure what lesson would be best though.
I do feel a bit sorry for my OH - I think he'll be stuck in the beginner area as he's a bit scared
The holiday is costing in total what it cost for only one of us last year - you are very right, I couldn't have passed up on this one!
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
