 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi! I am about to embark upon booking trip for family of 4 (kids 12 and 10) at Easter. We cannot travel during Feb half term or during school terms so we are forced to thunk about snow sure resorts for Easter. We have come up with cunning plan for US or Canada. Will this be more snow sure? We went to Saas Fee last year and did not enjoy schlep up to slopes before we could ski. Q for cable car crap and snow not great ...so has anybody any advice? We have been ski ing 4 years now: oldest kid is great ( red-black runs and loves jumps) ; other one OK and needs to go to ski school (even if she thinks she does not!). Husband and I OK -red runs -never going to be black runs. He's fitter; I'm better technically...Can anybody help as I don't know where to start. Also goes w'out saying, we have to spend wisely...Agh! Why is ski ing SO great and SO expensive?...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Watching this thread with interest as in a similar situtation.. Went to Whister and Colorado (separately !) pre-kids/had money. Might make Easter our main annual holiday. Quite fancy Tremblant or back to Colorado - wonder how good the snow will be at Easter?
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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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I've done Banff and a few other Alberta and Eastern BC resorts around Easter time for a few years now and it's always been in good condition, with at least 1 drop of fresh powder during the stay. Don't think you'll have any worries. Queues are shorter than the usual Euro resorts too IMO - never had to wait more than a couple of minutes at peak times.
Have boarded in California too, but earlier than easter (late Feb at Mammoth) they are normally pretty snow sure there.
Check the various resort websites most have historical snow reports listed month by month for the previous few years.
In any case, go ski or board North America and you won't look back.
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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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This year's Easter is early. In western NA, it should be quite snow sure and relatively quiet on the slope. It's simply not a big holiday in NA.
The one concern is ski school. Some resorts stop their ski school after March. So check to make sure.
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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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Have spent quite a lot of time in Lake Louise, Fernie and Banff in the past (2 full seasons so saw April a couple of times). You shouldn't have any problems snow -wise with either of them but as with a lot of north american resorts, the accommodation is no where near the slopes. You have to get buses which, although are well run and frequent, may not be what you're after if you found the cable car at Saas Fee a chore.
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Thank you to all that have responded so far. Much appreciated. Please don't stop if you have any other advice!Am looking now keenly at: Silver Star and Sun Peaks. Any insight anybody out there? And is there a good travel group etc to book this with?
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| tinabf wrote: |
| OK -red runs -never going to be black runs. |
You need to choose carefully, then. Many of the NA resorts that people rave about are massively targeted at confident skiers. It's possible to ski all of the pisted runs in some resorts by lunctime on your first day, but the bowls and glades would amuse an expert for weeks.
North America is fabulous, but will you really take advantage of it? Would you be better to save cash at a snow-sure European resort - Tignes, Val Thorens, Zermatt, for example - and visit North America when you're ready to tackle the trees, bumps and steeps?
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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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Dear JJ Thanks for response and sensible comment. We were thinking of going farther afield because we have to travel late and because we were so disappointed with our experience w Saas Fee. Our fear of staying in Europe was MORE bleeding queues whereas we have heard places like Silver Star/Sun Peaks were snow sure and had better q's. Are we wrong?
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From what I read here, I wouldn't pick Saas Fee for a group of intermediate. There're better places than that. Perhaps that's yuor problem for last year?
There're loads of snow sure resorts in Europe for Easter. Pratically anything higher than 2000 metre probably would do. I've done a couple trips in April (early and late April) and the snow was fine.
You do need to pick the right place. The continent doesn't matter quite as much as the specific resort.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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tinabf, I think Sun Peaks or Big White would be better for you than Silver Star. I'd edge towards Big White as the slopes can get some sun at Sun Peaks (not called that nothing!) and later in the season it could get a bit slushy lower down. There also are some qs getting out of the resort, although nothing major! Big White would probably be better quality snow and more varied skiing, with lots of tree skiing that your kids might like and a good park. They're not cheap though. Ski Independence go to both if you're looking for a TO. Otherwise I'd go with Banff for a cheaper equally good option, although not ski in/out that you would have with Big White. Big White is 3/4 hours transfer from Kelowna airport.
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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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Easter is when we usually go to Whistler. Never yet been disappointed. You can expect four seasons in a day though (well, a few days): we've had deep light powder, deep not so light powder, perfect groomers, bullet proof hard pack, spring snow and bumps galore, bluebird days, factor 30 sun days, mist, fog, drizzle, rain, snow sleet. If there's anything else, it's not that we haven't had it, it's because I've forgotten to list it.
As I say though, never been disappointed at Easter.
Kids will enjoy ski school. Very positive, lots of fun stuff & jumps. The ski area is big, with lots for everyone. You certainly won't exhaust it in a hurry.
Easy to get to (relatively) with a direct flight from LHR and a 2 and a bit hour drive.
PM me if you've got any further specific questions.
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tinabf, I don't know if you've got any Tesco vouchers, but if you have you can convert them via the deals into tokens to spend with Virgin holidays, so helping with the skiing budget. We're going to Whistler in April and the instructor we had last time we were there was talking about skiing down the mountain in May. The lifts are really near the accommodation but I don't know whether they will still be running ski schools at that time. It would probably tell you on the Whistler website.
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You know it makes sense.
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April is when lots of Europe is in peak condition so I'm surprised about Saas Fee. N America that late can be lots of fun but lots of places are firmly in wind down mode by then - days can be very sunny with lots of softening in the pm. Mammoth for best overall altitude and snowpack probably of places Virgin specialise in.
Edit doh - realise you're probably not talking Virgin Hols
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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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| Quote: |
We were thinking of going farther afield because we have to travel late and because we were so disappointed with our experience w Saas Fee. Our fear of staying in Europe was MORE bleeding queues
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It would perhaps be worth thinking a bit more about exactly why Saas Fee was disappointing. I've never been (often looked at it, but the resort description has always put me off, ultimately and it's very small). As stated above, if you want convenience of "ski in/out" you'll get masses of choice in Europe and skiing at Easter (especially as it is not very late this year) should be no problem if you choose your area wisely. There's plenty of advice here from people who know the different resorts well and can advise.
When did you go to Saas Fee? That would have made a big difference with queues. And a quick google suggests that you're not the only people who have experienced problems with queues to get up the mountain. I can understand your frustration with that - having to do a crowded bus and a long, shoving, wait for a gondola is no way to start a ski day. Generally Easter is not a huge deal in European ski resorts.
The snow was "not great" in Saas Fee, you say. When was that? There's nowhere you can go where the snow is always great - it's a risk wherever you go, but generally the first half of April is a pleasant time to ski in higher areas in France (and probably elsewhere in Europe too, but I wouldn't know about that). I'm very surprised to hear that the NA resorts might have closed down their ski schools by then - that won't be the case in Europe.
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Poster: A snowHead
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tinabf, despite my vomment above, I love skiing in NA and we're there this year for the fifth winter out of six. Unfortunately, it's impossible to pretend that it's cheap to take a family over there. Good value, perhaps; cheap, no.
At the risk of starting a Europhile riot, I've found that you're right to say that typically NA resorts have less queuing than European resorts. I've never needed to join a large queue over there, while I've never had a trip to Europe where I haven't been forced into a long queue at some point. So queues can be a good reason to cross the Atlantic, but you can certainly find quiet European resorts and busy North American ones. Vail, for example, can attract serious queues - I once skied there on a quiet day and only escaped some massive queues because I was with a local who knew the stress points in the lift network. If queues are really important to you and you're staying over the main Easter weekend, I'd be inclined to avoid the big name resorts (Vail, Whistler, etc) and those next to large centres of population (eg Summit County and eastward in Colorado). However, this advice is largely based on hearsay and comments from friends who've made mistakes and found big crowds. Other reasons that I enjoy NA include the laid-back ski culture, fabulous quality of tuition and often deserted pistes - but I personally primarily head west for steeps, glades and bumps.
Snow conditions are very variable between resorts. For a late holiday, make sure your resort is high and predominently faces North or East or you'll encounter spring conditions, a euphamism for masses of slushy moguls in the afternoon; at your skiing level, that's probably not something you'd particularly enjoy.
You've been given plenty of sensible resort suggestions above. If you still want to go transatlantic, check them out carefully to see which ones suits you.
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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 skied at Silver Star and Big White for Easter two years ago. What can I say. Awesome snow. Never seen as much as in Big White and they were closing a few days later as the canadians had started to play golf. Both are good resorts for families and offer some family evening entertainment, like tubing and skating (although big white skating pond was shut)
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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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Whistler is a fine place in April. Good Friday (in all Canadian places) might be busy, rest of time will be quiet. We ski Whistler thru May and the snow/weather is always good. SNow around Banff/Lake Louise usually about best in late march/early April, so good options. Inland BC areas (big White, etc) might not stay open much after Easter, so check closing dates carefully. You can guarantee it'll be quiet!
Not been in April, but places like Vail/etc in Colorado should be excellent too. SAme for Mammoth in CA, I assume Heavenly too. They all have long seasons and great snow records. Same for Utah areas too. Americans don't do Easter, so it's no busier than any early April weekend (ie, not at all).
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