 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi there have only skiied in France before so no nothing about canada.Not fussed where we go as dont suppose there are any bad resorts.want a resort that doesnt involve hench transfer time form airport to resort.Also tips on how to do in cheapest way poss would be appreciated.Thinking of going in FEb,cheers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Nakiska for Calgary, Mt Baker for Vancouver, Kiimberley for Cranbrook, Big White/Silver Star for Kelowna. Doubt you'll find a package going to any of them with a dorect international flight.
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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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hairygerbil, Even if you don't want to use a TO, if you look on their websites it should give you the transfer time from the main airports to the resorts they offer. You can then make your own decision.
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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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Tremblant from Montreal short and easy transfer
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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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hairygerbil, Banff will probably be your cheapest option pre-lift pass and it's about 1 hour 45 on the bus or 1 hour 30 in the car from Calgary.
I'd avoid President's Day if you want to visit in February.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| hairygerbil wrote: |
| Not fussed where we go as dont suppose there are any bad resorts. |
Is that a dangerously naive assumption. Even if there were no bad resorts, not all resorts might be suitable for you given your own personal skiing and apres preferences.
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Big White is about 45 mins from Kelowna airport and the resort runs a bookable shuttle bus. I think Kelowna now accepts transatlantic flights so there may be flights direct there without having to go via Vancouver or similar.
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When in Feb are you going, because in the mid of Feb is Presidents Week and that gets really busy.
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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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| cathy wrote: |
| Big White is about 45 mins from Kelowna airport and the resort runs a bookable shuttle bus. I think Kelowna now accepts transatlantic flights so there may be flights direct there without having to go via Vancouver or similar. |
In theory it does - in practice I don't think you'll find any. Its still quite a small airport. The International bit in the name probably refers to the US destinations you can fly to/from. If you want harder skiing go the other way to Silver Star or a bit further to Revelstoke
If you're going to fly all the way to Vancouver you would probably want to be going to Whistler (2hrs transfer). Flights there are getting a bit pricey, so you may be better off doing it all through a TO.
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The "problem" is that the flights seem to land mid-afternoonish - and by the time you've cleared customs and got your skis you're hitting rush hour. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Big White/Silver Star does still involve a 45 min internal flight from Calgary or Vancouver to Kelowna and then a 1 hour transfer to resort. Unfortunately there are still no direct flights from the UK into Kelowna. Banff is probably your best bet for minimum overall travel time with a really good resort at the end. Obviously the East coast is less travel time, but the skiing is not in the same league.
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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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| hairygerbil wrote: |
| want a resort that doesnt involve hench(?) transfer time |
I'm making some presumptions here, that you're referring to western Canada (rockies/coastal etc), not eastern Canada, so you're talking Calgary westwards? You do realise that that's more than four thousand miles one way, involving a plane journey of 8-9hrs? Maybe from when you set out from home to when you chuck your cases on the bed 16-20hrs total journey time, maybe more? And the quote above is your only mentionable criterium?
Sorry if I've got this wrong, but I think you may be missing the point.
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from Vancouver there are 3 small mountain less than 40 minutes
Grouse Mountain
Mount Cypress
Mount Seymour
from Vancouver to Mount Washington its at least 2.5 hours (1.5hrs on Ferry)
From Vancouver to Whistler (2 hours) depending on how your travelling
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You know it makes sense.
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If (like us) you just love to ski somewhere new and different, Canada Olympic Park is about 20 mins from Calgary Airport. It's tiny - about 3 times the size of Xscape - but is great for an hour or two's skiing on arrival afternoon/evening, or on the way back to the airport. Very novel - we loved it! The winter olympics museum on the site is worth a look too.
Castle Mountain is an excellent unknown (in UK), locals resort about 90 mins from Calgary. Some great cruising and excellent steeps. From there you can reach Fernie in about another hour or so. On the way to Fernie (or back) you can put a couple of hours in at the tiny, even more local, very friendly and somewhat quirky resort of Pass Powderkeg on the Crowsnest Pass. The snow and grooming were amazing and there are some fantastic cruising runs to blast about on. When they heard that there were four UK visitors on the hill, the ski patrol and lifties went out of their way to met and greet us! Great stuff!
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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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| hairygerbil wrote: |
| dont suppose there are any bad resorts |
If you want Bad try Austria....... Bad Gastein, Bad Hofgastein, Bad Kleinkirchheim.................... 
A longhaul flight & jet lag makes the transfer a blur, the couple of hours or so to Fernie, Kicking Horse or Revelstoke etc from Calgary is no worse than the transfer to French resorts from Geneva etc.
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