Another Canada question - Fernie, Kimberley, Panorama or none of these?!

A snowHead

As it says above, we are tempted by Canada for next season and are looking at resorts within reasonable distance of Calgary.

Any comments on the three mentioned resorts welcome or any suggestions of others welcome too.

We are looking for a resort with on mountain/ski-in/out-ish accommodation i.e. not needing to bus/drive; really good, reliable kids ski school for a 6 year old competent little skier with 5 weeks under his belt; other fun activities for kids/opportunities for them to meet others; comfortable hotel or apartments ideally with pool and hot tubs; good range of on and off piste; generally family oriented resort.

No experience of Canada except 10 days in Whistler 14 years ago Shocked

Thanks

A snowHead

Not done Kimberley

Fernie has the nice accomodation on mountain, both apartments / houses and hotels. There's a shop in resort for the stuff you need, the town is a 15 minute (cheap) bus or taxi ride away though. Loads of offpiste, pistes are available too. The places we rented (we've been twice) both had hot tubs, one of them on the ski-out trail so you could wave to people as they skiied past

Panorama is a bit "disney" for my tastes and is quite a bit further from the nearest town. Like Fernie it has nice accomodation on mountain, both apartments / houses and hotels. There's also a massive communal hot-tub outside one of the hotels

Of the two, I preferred Fernie, it's the first place we went back to. We didn;t enjoy Panorama quite as much, possibly becasue the snow wasn't *quite* as good

No kids so can't comment on that aspect

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

Fernie certainly seems to tick the boxes & you can even see if you can wangle DaveC for your son's instruction. Kimberley also has on mountain accomodation but its not so compact as Fernie IMO and the skiing is a bit tamer. Pano is the most "full village" of the lot as its an Intrawest development but that of course also makes it Disneyish.

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nbt, fatbob, thanks a lot. I think I had an option of Panorama this year and for some reason we decided it probably wasn't the right resort. So Fernie is looking good but I would like to know more about Kimberley and any others I might not have considered.

When you talk about Panorama as 'disneyish' what do you mean exactly?

Thanks snowHead

Just noticed I have made my 1000th post, might have to go to the bar for a celebratory scoop, it's only taken me 6 years Laughing

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Done them all dont expect Europe.

Fernie used to be very good back in the 80/90"s but has sold out to developments and the pseudo rich parented euro/oz/etc ski bums.

Kimberley , the Disney Bavarian town Very Happy

, Good skiing

Panorama , a longway from anywhere

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Hvae been to all of them at least once within the past two years with our kids, now 5 and 7. Have used various bits of ski school in all three resorts.

I would rank them in this order.

Fernie- we really like. Been there twice - good experience both times. Ski school was good. Like the skiing , like the snow, like the town. Like the thai chicken soup and the lounge at lizard creek.

Panorama. Been twice. Good ski school. Good skiing. Some skiing is quite tricky, Sun bowl great intro to easy intro to bowl skiing for the little one. mini and maxi terrain park which fernie doesn't really have (it just has a rail park). Snow less good than Fernie on the whole. Some good activities for the kids, we got a 'build a bear' thrown in. Probably slightly better in the evenings for the little one than Fernie as there are good kids activities plus the hot pools etc and I think they have a skating rink too.

Kimberley- we don't particularly like. The set up from the base isn't good, no on mountain eateries and just one run and 1 lift up the the mountain from the base so we found the queues terrible and the 1 run back funnels over a 12m wide bridge so gets unbelievably busy (dangerously so) and icy - it was very bad for teh kids descending this at lunch and in the evening . They had closed a chair lift the year before which made the problem worse. Also they hadn't brush cut the previous summer on lots of runs and this was bad. Plus they had planned activities which we showed up for that didn't happen. Very little goes on at the hill, so if you want anything in the evening its pretty difficult with ski in ski out. We had the worst ski school experience we have had in canada here. My son had a terrible lesson. Pool at trickle creek was freezing. On the plus side has got night skiing. Can't imagine why anyone would choose it above Panorama or Fernie. Town itself quite nice, I like it.

Others you could consider would be KH maybe castle. Or go further into BC and do any two from Silver Star , Sun Peaks and Big White. All have tubing, skating ponds etc

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

Thanks a lot all.

So is it Panorama or Kimberley as stanton says that's Disneyish then? And what do you mean by that?

gryphea thanks, I do fancy some of the other BC resorts in particular Sun Peaks and Big White but was trying to avoid a long transfer, what is the driving time approximately from Calgary to go this far over?

After all it is free

Kimberley town centre has a whole faux Bavarian thing going on ,in a very obvious chipboard and mdf way. Its also a few miles from the skiing.

Intrawest resorts are just disneylike in the sense of professionally done but still obviously fake, it works for Whistler so its not necessarily a bad thing unless authenticity is a big deal for you. Some people complain that more isloated places like Panorama feel a bit like a trap where you have limited options around eating, supermarkets etc.

fatbob, thanks, I get it now. Fernie is looking favourite at the moment then. Bit more homework needed though.

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sarah, The drive from Calgary to either Sun Peaks or Big White will take you a day - approx 8 hours to Sun Peaks minimum Big White will be further. Easiest way to do it would be an internal flight ( Kamloops for Sun Peaks, or Kelowna for Big White ) this would put up costs considerably though. Both are family oriented and wont be over run by British punters, during the week will be very quiet too.

Fernie is probably your best option given the criteria, although of all the Canadian resorts we have visited Fernie was the worst for friendliness and service towards tourists, the town though was totally different again.

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Big White prides itself on it's kid services, it does white-out often which is the most negative thing I've heard about BW. Gryphea hits it on the head for Kimberley, nice intermediate mtn but nasty little bridge, we did enjoy the ski in out and the food in the town, but skiing is rather intermediate in nature. Fernie has much better terrain, and Whitefish, Kimberley, and Castle are close if you decide to hit another ski area, all about an hour of driving from Fernie. Not yet been to Panorama.
There is always Banff with Lake Louise and Sunshine too.

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I would agree with Bones that Sun Peaks is around 8 hrs. Its quite a long way. Silver Star is less than this (more like 6.5 hrs) and Big White around 7 ish, if I remember rightly. Best to fly to Kamploops or kelowna for these options. We got stuck on way back from SUn Peaks this year for avalanche control- annoying for us, but tricky if you have a flight

Are you coming for two weeks? If so I would do a combo

either Fernie/Whitefish

or if you must Fernie/Kimberley

Or Panorama with either

You know it makes sense.

Bones, gryphea, thanks for the travelling info, that's out then I think, a 6-8 hour drive either end of the flight is not really what I fancy, particularly the pressure of having to get back for the return flight. And the cost of internal flights probably does really hike the overall price. Is Vancouver a better bet? I haven't checked flights there yet.

pinhead, thanks for the other suggestions, will look at them, though don't fancy Banff as want on mountain accommodation and I have seen the Sunshine lodge which is what I imagine arv mentions and think we might get cabin fever, you can't easily get off and back on the mountain at night.

gryphea, not 2 weeks, 10 days I think. So probably Fernie + 1.

Thanks again all snowHead

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

I haven't been to any other Canadian resorts besides Fernie (which is a bit weak, but I don't have time while working....) - from what I've heard, Kimberly isn't really somewhere worth travelling transatlantic for though. Can help with anything Fernie-specific anyway!

A snowHead

sarah,

10 days I would do Fernie plus a day or two at Castle.

I would do this over Whistler, which I find overcrowded, full of queues and a bit smaltzy (but that was 10 yrs ago)

We have stayed in town and at cornerstone lodge. Both were good. Cornerstone lodge has fab ski in ski out. But the Griz inn is supposed to have good condos too and they have a pool

A snowHead

Avoid the rooms in the basement at the Griz. Small and smelly. If I were going back I'd go to the Lizard Creek.

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

DaveC, gryphea, thanks a lot.

stoatsbrother, noted Shocked

Thanks!

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sarah. out of interest, what are you expecting in Canada that you can't equal or better in Europe, or do you just fancy a change??

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

kitenski, we're not totally decided yet but seriously considering.

It's partly because of availability of cheap flights and high standard of accommodation with pools and tubs, we think it's good value for money for us at for half term when France is very bad value for money.

We do also fancy a change.

We have heard very good things about the quality of ski schools in Canada and the States, native english speaking instructors and the other kids in the group too.

I have no gripes with Europe other than peak period prices, we love France and usually ski there and will probably ski there aswell next season.

How about you? Have you taken the kids there? Do you fancy trying Canada?

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sarah, cheers, no - I've not taken the kids to Canada, I've skied Utah and Colorado and would take them back West coast but not East coast, but want to wait until they are older and ski with us to fully enjoy it. My wife suffers a bit from jet lag and altitude so she isn't that keen to go!

We had a great week in Stuben last Easter and have already booked to go back.

Last time I looked 10 days in Canada/USA when you added in lift pass, lessons, food etc it was considerably more expensive than Europe.

regards,

Greg

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kitenski, bit of a weird question/implication? There're pros and cons to both sides of the atlantic snowHead

After all it is free

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kitenski, just seemed like it might be a bit biased/hints of the usual "but europe is better" type slant is all!

But yeah, besides half a season in Morzine I don't really have much knowledge of Europe's skiing compared to most. Fernie's well set up for looking after kids - I've heard a lot of positive stuff about the Cornerstone Lodge, which has the Daycare on the ground floor and leads out on to where the ski school lessons start. I'm not sure if I'll be teaching group lessons this season, but the instructors that work kids in Fernie are generally a pretty high standard. On the flip side, there's no getting round the fact it's a massive trek, especially with little ones.

As far as I know, you can get pretty heavily discounted lift tickets through TO's too - but the face value price of tickets is extortionate ($80~/day for adults).

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You know it makes sense.

Checking in online the second it opens and claiming emergency exit seats is much cheaper than paying for anything... Smile

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

A snowHead

DaveC,

Unfortunately the emergency exit seat thing isn't an option for children. They aren't allowed to sit in them I don't think.

pam w,
Flown to calgary a few times and actually depending on the airline the leg room isn't too bad- its more than on a short-haul. Leg room wouldn't put me off travelling with a child who gets their own seat. Jet lag might. Our last flight was quite good. Individually controlled seat back tellies etc, kept the kids more than occupied.

A snowHead

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

To liken Kimberley to a "Disney resort" is a bit of an insult to Disney, really. - At least Disney has decent production values.

I'd concur with the majority view here. Fernie has by far the best skiing. It's not too far from Kimberley, and if you do want a change of scene, there's a bus between the two that allows you to make day trips - Last time I was there, you could ski both resorts on the same lift ticket: that was way back when Charlie Locke still controlled RCR, which ran both resorts. I don't know if this is still possible.

Given the choice of these 3 resorts, Panorama would be my second choice. There's quite a lot of it (vertically, anyway) although as people have pointed out, it's a bit remote. Also, it's snow record isn't so good (but it will still have snow). To be honest, none of these hills is really conveniently situated for the adjacent town, but they do have ski-in/ski-out accommodation.

They're all still a fair old trek from Calgary airport.

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i went to panorama last year. It's pro's would be the ski in ski out aspect, the ski school and depending on how you look at it the terrain.
It's rather steep.
If you like that and can manage it's fine, although we had a beginner with us and i didn't think it was particularly great for her. I am astounded to see why inghams rate it as 4 stars for beginners? She was stuck on 2-3 runs for 3 days!
The cons would be the lack of different places to eat on an evening and the expensive shop. You could pretty much count on one hand the different eating places for dinner. Also, the 4 hour plus transfer after a transatlantic flight is a bit mea killer.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I can't vouch for the other resorts, but I made three consecutive trips to Panorama in 2006-2008 and the kids are still nagging for a return trip ahead of any other resort that we've been visted. Ignore the 'Disney' comments - I utterly loathe anything remotely connected with Disney but Panorama is great.

Reasons for a family to go there include:

- By some margin, the best ski school that our kids have ever used. Between them, they've spent 50+ days in school there, and they've never had a mediocre or worse day. The school rearranges classes every half day, so lessons are always pitched at the right level. Classes are always tiny, and the instructors have an incredibly can-do attitude. One of my kids was being taken on double-black runs (stteps, trees, deep powder, rocks, etc) when he was eight, and he wasn't the youngest in the class.

- If you like it tough, fantastic skiing for the adults when the kids are in school. OTOH, if you want groomers DON'T go to Panorama as it hardly has any. Steeper sections of groomers are often badly iced up, sometimes dangerously so IMV. To make the most of Pano, you need to be willing to tackle the double blacks, although it does have a couple of decent blue/black bowls

- Decent size open-air pool and hot tub available to all guests staying on site

- Car-free, child-friendly upper village where very young children can safely play late into the evening

- All runs funnel down to just two points. It's impossible to lose your kids on the mountain

Many of these features probably also apply to the other Canadian resorts that you're considering. IMV (and in the view of my kids), it's well worth the transatlantic flight.

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Thank you all very much, we are still considering it. Basically if our usual group gets it together (another thread) then we go with them, if not and we are on our own then we are thinking to give Canada a go.

Not concerned re. long haul flight, we are fortunate that our son travels extremely well, better than his mother actually Embarassed

DaveC, Spyderman, thanks for lift pass tip Smile

To be honest, after looking at it all I think I really fancy Sun Peaks and Big White but the transfer is too long. I think if we do it, it will probably be Fernie. Panorama appeals but perhaps not to be stuck there for 10 days.

Will keep pondering the whole thing.

Thanks to all snowHead

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

Realise this thread is a bit old now but I did a season in Sun Peaks 08/09 and as already mentioned the best way to do it is to get an internal flight from Calgary to Kamloops (both Air Canada & West Jet do daily flights). From Kamloops you can get the Sun Star Shuttle which takes about 50mins to an hour to Sun Peaks.

If your going with kids Sun Peaks is ideal, they have a great ski school and are a very family orientated resort, there are also enough bars to entertain the adults. Everything is also designed around the village and 90% of the slops lead directly into the village so its easy to meet up with different members of a group if some only want to ski certain runs.

I have also been to Big White and really enjoyed it but it is a lot more spread out than Sun Peaks which means that to get back to the village you often have to ski down up a lift ski down up a lift etc. Big White is also nicknamed Big Whiteout as it is notorious for have lots of Whiteouts.

After all it is free

j0n, welcome to snowheads and thanks for that, we have parked Canada for the mo', still working on the group thing rolling eyes

Help!!

Another Canada question - Fernie, Kimberley, Panorama or none of these?!

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