Canada

With an average snowfall of nearly 11 metres snow  each season,200+ trails of powder-filled bowls, tree runs and mile-long cruisers, Whistler Blackcomb is truly one of the world’s best ski resorts. It has been a favourite of Australian skiers and boarders for many years and with direct flights daily from Sydney to Vancouver it is now the easiest and fastest solution for skiing in the Northern Hemisphere. The Pedestrian friendly ski in/ski out village offers 2 massive mountains consisting of over 8000 acres and over 1500m of vertical with endless runs that has something for everyone.  Plus Whistler Blackcomb is a low altitude resort so no acclimatising required.

There are 3 areas to stay in Whistler Blackcomb, the main village, the upper village located on the Blackcomb Base and Whistler Creekside. Hotels on offer include:- Westin Whistler, Delta Whistler Village Suites, Aspens on Blackcomb, The Coast Blackcomb Suites, Cascade Lodge Whistler, Marketplace Lodge, Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa, Pan Pacific Mountainside & Pan Pacific Village Centre.

Big White Ski Resort is Canada’s largest ski-in ski-out resort village and has been awarded North America’s best Family Resort due to ease of getting around and family friendly activities including the award winning Kid’s Centre. Located in the Okanagan Valley and shielded from wet Pacific air, Big White produces an average of 25 feet of fluffy dry powder every year. This, combined with the 2765 skiable acres of terrain,  state of the art lifts, restaurants, cafes and bars, makes Big White the world class resort that it’s been awarded for. The village offers the utmost in skier convenience with the village shops either steps from your front door or a short Gondola ride away. There is a dynamic range of accommodation suited to every style and budget including award winning luxury hotels, high end condominiums, townhomes or modern rustic cabins. Hotels on offer include:- Stonebridge Lodge, Trappers Crossing, Towering Pines, Chateau on the Ridge, Chateau Big White & Whitefoot Lodge.

With 7 metres of 100% natural snow each winter, superb ski-in ski-out accommodation, an array of restaurants and bars to choose from and family events and activities for all ages once the lifts are closed – why not choose SilverStar? The Vance Creek side of the mountain features groomed to perfection undulating trails while the Putnam Creek side offers some excellent steep chute and tree skiing. Off the slopes SilverStar’s mid-mountain village offers convenient ski-in /ski-out access from every doorstep of the resorts’ hotels, boutique retail shops, restaurants and cafes. Accommodation on mountain ranges from hotels, suites and condos in the village centre to SilverStar’s famous Victorian vacation homes each with their own unique flavour and décor.  Hotels & Condos on offer include Snowbird Lodge, Firelight Lodge, Silver Creek Lodge, Grandview, Creekside Condos, Aberdeen Hotel.

Banff National Park is home to one of the longest ski seasons in North America and three world-class ski areas, which are all located within 45 minutes of the Town of Banff: Mount Norquay, Sunshine Village, and the Lake Louise Ski Resort. While some skiers and riders have their favourite ski area in this UNESCO World Heritage Site, mountain enthusiasts can also take advantage of a Tri Area pass known as the “Big 3 Season Pass.”  Spectacular scenery awaits at Banff and Lake Louise with uniquely beautiful terrain that is both vast and varied. The wilderness is pristine and inspirational.

Located in the heart of majestic, historic Banff National Park, Lake Louise is truly legendary and offers world class terrain. With 4200 skiable acres, Lake Louise is one of the largest ski areas in North America.  The unique layout allows families and groups of varying abilities to ski together; there are beginner, intermediate and expert runs down from every chair. Beginners and intermediate skiers have access to an abundance of gentle slopes and long cruising runs. Experts can explore endless chutes, glades, gullies and remote bowls in some of the Rockies’ most challenging terrain.  Some of the hotels on offer are: Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Fox Hotel & Suites, Banff Caribou Lodge, The Banff Ptarmigan Inn.

Sun Peaks, Canada’s second largest ski area, is under an hour’s shuttle from Kamloops Airport, and is one of the best resorts in North American focused on family-friendly convenience and value. The ski-in/ski-out village, offering more than 40+ boutique shops and diverse restaurants, is nestled at the centre of the three mountains (Canada’s Best Ski In Ski Out Village – Ski Canada Magazine 2009).

The skiable terrain consists of more than 1,700 hectares with a vertical drop of 882 metres, the longest run being 8km’s. 137 runs, including 17 designated gladed areas and a 10 acre terrain park, is blanketed by consistent, light dry snow ensuring outstanding conditions and diverse terrain for all abilities including a green run from the top of every chairlift. People who have been there say Sun Peaks has the most consistent fall line terrain of any ski area in Canada.

From all three mountains you can ski to a central ski-through European- style village tastefully designed with hotels, eateries, shopping, snow school, the spa and a variety of non-ski activities, such as dog sledding, snowshoeing & sleigh rides.

Located in the spectacular Canadian Rockies in British Columbia, deep in the snow, high up on Powder Highway, is Fernie Alpine Resort. With 37 feet of perfect powder, stunning scenery, 5 huge alpine bowls (the most in North America!) and endless downhill thigh burning runs, Fernie is a skier’s and snowboarder’s dream.   A unique ski destination with an authentic ski town minutes away, with friendly locals and loads of local history and culture to absorb. With a variety of lodging options from ski-in/ski-out chalets to 5 star hotels, your experience is only limited by your sense of adventure. Fernie has been named as a Top 25 Ski Town in the World, Best Winter Trip and Coolest Town in North America in recent years.  Fernie Alpine Resort is a great all-round ski holiday destination. It is growing in popularity particularly amongst adventurous ski and snowboard fiends because it’s not too crowded and pretty good for powderhounds. “Growing in popularity” and “not too crowded” may seem like an oxymoron, but Fernie manages to find the right balance between being somewhat undiscovered and being developed. Another drawcard is that Fernie is the quintessential Canadian ski resort with a laidback friendly culture, making it great for relaxed powderhounds as well as families.  Some of the hotels on offer are: Snow Creek Lodge, Lizard Creek Lodge & Timber Lodge.

Each winter when a snow-deep mantle of white covers the Canadian Rockies, Jasper casts its own magic spell. A destination of amazing contrasts, Jasper offers first class services and facilities within magnificent scenic wilderness and surroundings of unparalleled beauty. The ski area near Jasper is called Marmot Basin and it is renowned for being one of the best powder areas for North America skiing. The snow is dry, light and fluffy. Due to the lack of crowds and the dryness of the snow stays in great condition for weeks after a fall. Jasper skiing is ideal for all levels of skier from beginner to expert with intermediates probably getting the best of it. For experts the tree area under the Eagle Ridge quad chair is steep and challenging and a favourite with the local guides. For beginners the ski school is one of the best and friendliest for Canada skiing.  Jasper is perfectly suited for families and groups ensuring fun for all levels of skiers and boarders with its variety of runs from each lift point.  Best Western plus Jasper Inn & Suites is one of the hotels on offer in Jasper.

Revelstoke is located in the heart of the Selkirk and Monashee mountains in BC and for decades, helicopter and cat skiers from around the world have flocked to Revelstoke, BC, attracted by its perfect powder, varied alpine terrain and quaint mountain community.  Since 2007, Revelstoke Mountain Resort has offered the most vertical in North America at 1,713 metres (5,620 ft) of lift-accessed terrain, 3,121 acres of fall line skiing, 2 high alpine bowls, and 65 named runs, including legendary glades and phenomenal groomers. Revelstoke Mountain Resort is also the only resort world-wide to offer lift, cat, heli and backcountry skiing from one village base. Across our group of companies, that include Revelstoke Mountain Resort, Revelstoke Cat Skiing and Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing, skiers and snowboarders have access to a total of 515,000 acres of terrain. This resort is for the adventurous skier / boarder with miles and miles of largely untouched terrain, some epic runs mixed in with amazing vistas and awesome Selkirk powder.  Some hotels on offer are: Sutton Place Hotel & Hillcrest Hotel.

The Kicking Horse Ski Resort is located 14km outside the logging town of Golden, in British Columbia, Canada. It’s about a 2.5 to 3 hour drive from Calgary, and is about 90km west of Banff.   It’s a stunning scenic drive that brings you to a skiing destination so well-hidden and unknown that most travelers drive right past… leaving the lucky to enjoy the many pleasures of this undiscovered paradise: Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, the best kept secret in the Rockies! Organising your travel is easy as Kicking Horse has partnered with Brewster Travel Canada to provide daily transfers from the Calgary International Airport and daily ‘ski and ride’ services from Banff. Kicking Horse is also RV-friendly: park overnight for free!  Kicking Horse Mountain Resort has a great reputation for being hard core and many an expert has been humbled there. The mountain consists of 45% black runs and 15% double-black diamond runs, although some of the single black diamond runs would be considered double blacks elsewhere.  Even though this mountain has awesome expert terrain, it is suited to everyone.  The resort only has four chairlifts, two of which are used solely by beginners. The main lift from bottom to top is a high speed gondola which allows access to the huge variety of terrain for experts at the top of the mountain. Further down the mountain it flattens out to intermediates, and then beginners’ territory. The location of Kicking Horse is ideally situated to produce light dry powder. It’s all about quality not quantity at Kicking Horse, as there’s only an average annual snowfall of 7m at the top of the mountain.   There are a few on-mountain eateries and it’s essential to spoil yourself at least once with lunch or dinner at the Eagle Eye restaurant, which is perched up on the mountain top. There are a few bars on-mountain, but there’s probably more action down in Golden.  One of the hotels on offer is: Glacier Mountaineer Lodge.

Panorama was established in 1962 by a group of local ski enthusiasts that wanted to create a local ski hill.  Panorama was named after the area Panorama Plateau – a popular hiking area and as the name suggests the vistas from anywhere in this resort are panoramic and awe-inspiring.  Panorama Mountain Village is located on British Columbia’s Powder Highway, at the heart of some of North America’s best skiing. From the Calgary International Airport drive along one of the world’s great mountain highways, through Banff and Kootenay National Parks. Panorama is two hours from Banff, Alberta, and only 90 minutes from the new Canadian Rockies Airport in Cranbrook, British Columbia. Panorama is a quintessential alpine village, the resort is now owned by Intrawest, the company that is behind the world reknowned ski resorts like Whistler & Mammoth Lakes, however this resort is more intimate with the entire village being ski in ski out and the maximum capacity is around 2000 beds so while you have the operations and facilities of a world-class resort, the scale is much more intimate. Panorama has a mountain rise of over 1,220 meters with varied terrain, 75% of terrain suitable for beginner to intermediate skiers & boarders.  This resort is great for families and all ski, mountain & wilderness enthusiasts.  Panorama Resort could be considered an alternative to the bigger resorts such as Whistler.  The village offers everything you need from cafeteria style to casual & fine dining, general store, retail shops, ski school, spa and Canada’s largest slopeside Hot Springs – perfect after a day on the mountain. Some of the hotels on offer are: Tamarack Lodge, Ski Tip Lodge, 1000 Peaks Summit Lodge.