Canada Ski Blog

Canada-Ski news, views and travel specials on resorts in the Canadian Rockies and Western Canada.

*** FLASH SALE ***

Ski Holidays Canada are offering a “flash sale” on the Sunshine Mountain Lodge when booked from now until October 15th, 2014 - these are the lowest rates of the season!

Deluxe Waterfall Rooms – Early Season $99* sale “$99* per person including next day lift ticket” 

*Subject to applicable taxes

Conditions:

(1) All bookings need to be made within the Oct 1st/2014 to Oct 15th/2014 Time frame.

(2) Special is only valid for early season Midweek only bookings – November 17th to December 18th /2014 & January 5th to January 29th/2015.

(3) Not combinable with secondary offers.

(4) Subject to availability.

(5) Deluxe Waterfall Category only.

(6) Applicable to new bookings only.

How to book:

Contact Ski Holidays Canada with promo code “SL Flash Sale”:

  • http://www.skiholidayscanada.co.uk/ski-contact.htm

TOONIE THURSDAYS ARE BACK!

Ski and ride for just $2 at Banff Norquay on the following Thursdays in 2013:

  1. January 17th
  2. February 21st
  3. March 21st
  4. April 11th

For those of you who aren’t Canadian, a “toonie” is a name we use to refer to a $2 coin.

Hope you get chance to enjoy this incredible value – this has to be the best ski deal IN THE WORLD – what do you think??!

Happy skiing and riding!

Are you on Twitter? If so, be sure to enter the competition below for your chance to win a free Tri-Area ski pass. The Tri-Area pass covers Banff Norquay, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise as well as the ski shuttles from Banff. Banff Norquay is currently open weekends until the end of this month and Lake Louise and Sunshine Village are set to open this Friday, November 9 2012.

All you have to do is follow @HolidaysCanada on Twitter, then retweet (RT) the tweet below and you are immediately entered. A winner will be selected at random this Friday so get your skis on and good luck!

Mt. Norquay in Banff National Park (Western Canada) OPENS TOMORROW!

This is the earliest ski resort opening in Canada as a result of the incredible early season snowfalls we have been receiving.

Banff Lake Louise Sunshine is already on track for another record smashing ski season – let’s hope it continues…

Mt. Norquay is leading the way in the record books with its earliest opening in its history and the first ski resort to open in Canada. Nakiska ski resort announced yesterday that they were going to open on the weekend and Banff Norquay have pipped them today by announcing that they are opening 2 days earlier.

Banff Norquay will be open for skiing tomorrow, Thursday October 25th at 12noon – will you be there?!

The combination of 30 cm of natural and manmade snow has provided the best opening skiing you can imagine! Norquay will also be open 10am-4pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Following closely on the heels of Mt. Norquay is The Lake Louise Ski Area and Sunshine Village with opening dates currently scheduled for November 9th, completing the big three ski resorts in Banff National Park. Banff National Park boasts the longest ski season in North America. Your Tri-Area ski pass covers all three and deals such as 7+3 days free and kids ski free end on DECEMBER 15 2012 and are currently available through the U.K. website SKI HOLIDAYS CANADA (you need to contact for rates).

This is fantastic news for skiers and snowboarders to Banff Lake Louise Sunshine.

Banff National Park and its three world-class resorts look forward to a season of fresh powder, great skiing and smooth riding in Canada’s Protected Playground, where open runs and iconic views come naturally to us :)

I hope you are as excited as us as regarding this announcement!

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort has been sold by its Dutch owners to one of the biggest ski hill operators in North America; Calgary-based RCR (Resorts of the Canadian Rockies)…

Full details: CBC News

I can’t say how pleased I was when I heard that Banff Norquay were reopening their tea house after decades of closure. The owners are doing a fantastic job making Banff Norquay even better than before with additional activities such as tubing, sightseeing from the tea house (you don’t need to ski down), snowshoeing and a big air jump with an inflatable landing!

The tea house was first built in the early 50s and is a big part of Banff Norquay’s history, “reborn”. You can now ride up the North American Chair to enjoy  picture perfect perspective of the town of Banff.

TEA HOUSE CHAIR LIFT RATES

Family $35 +tax
Adult $15 +tax
Youth/senior $12 +tax
Child $10 +tax

SNOW TUBING RATES

Standard Ticket Price  Adult  Youth (13-17)  Child (4-12) Must be 42inches in height
 2 Hours  $21.00  $17.85  $15.75
 Full Day  $25.20  $21.00  $17.85

Family pass 2 adults 2 children** of the same family 
2hrs 58$ +tax
Full Day 74$ +tax
Add on kids 12$+tax (combined with a family package)
**Children must be 42″ in height and 4 years or older to use the tube park.

HOURS OF OPERATION*

Monday 12pm-4pm
Tuesday 12pm-4pm
Wednesday 12pm-4pm
Thursday 12pm-4pm
Friday 12pm-4pm
Friday 5pm-9pm NIGHT (commencing 13th of January)
Saturday 11am-4pm
Saturday 5pm-9pm NIGHT (commencing 14th of January)
Sunday 11am-4pm

*Please note: Hours subject to change based on snow conditions.

GST (tax) is currently 5%.

You can visit Banff Norquay’s website direct for more information: banffnorquay.com

Banff Norquay resort statistics

Cheers to Banff Norquay!

We were a little disappointed to hear that the Kicking Horse Powder Express from Banff has been changed for the upcoming 2011-2012 winter ski season. The Canadian Rockies Blogger posted the details on their blog so I won’t duplicate:
What’s happened to the Kicking Horse Powder Express from Banff this season?

What do you think skiers and riders? Comment below and let’s get this conversation going…

Happy Christmas everyone and hope Santa brings you a nice new set of skis or snowboard!

Give yourself an early Christmas gift!

From now until midnight on December 8th, Kicking Horse is offering a Ski & Stay Package for just $45 (per person/per night based on quad occupancy). This holiday season, we want to make sure that you get everything you want!

72 Hour Flash Sale

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort is celebrating its opening week with this fantastic limited time offer.  Valid only from December 6 – 8, 2011.  Reserve now, save BIG.
From $45 per person, per night*

Package includes lodging and lift tickets.  Must be booked by December 8, 2011.
*accommodation in Golden. Package dates restricted to 9th to 18th December, 2011 and are per person, per night, based on quad occupancy (4 adults)

Visit www.kickinghorseresort.com for details.

What a great start to the 2011-2012 winter ski season across Canada!  Most ski resorts are already open with great skiing and riding conditions. This weekend is set to be epic with many of the ski resorts opening up more ski lifts and terrain granting access to areas of untouched powder……ahhhhhh

Some early-bird deals on lodging and lift passes are still available until December 15 2011 – drop us a line if you would like more information on where to go and which operators to use.

Confirmed ski resort opening dates below:

  • Whistler Blackcomb - Opened Nov 24, 2011
  • Sun Peaks – Opened Nov 19, 2011
  • Big White – Opens Dec 3, 2011
  • Silver Star – Opened Nov 11, 2011 (Nordic) / Opened Nov 24, 2011  (Alpine)
  • Red Mountain – Opens Dec 9, 2011
  • Revelstoke – Opens Dec 3, 2011
  • Panorama – Opens Dec 9, 2011
  • Fernie – Opens Dec 2, 2011
  • Kicking Horse – Opens Dec 9, 2011
  • Banff Norquay – Opened Nov 3 for weekends.  Opens Dec 2, 2011
  • Lake Louise Snow – Opened Nov 5, 2011
  • Sunshine Village – Opened Nov 18, 2011
  • Jasper Marmot Basin – Opened Nov 11, 2011
  • Tremblant – Opened Nov 24, 2011

Please see the latest snow report [PDF]:

http://www.skiholidayscanada.co.uk/snow_reports_2011-2012/SnowReport24Nov11.pdf

 

Guest Blogger: Phil Purdie

The meteorite is en route and Bruce Willis’ gang of pro-drillers are not proving up to the task. We have 24 hours to live and I have some decisions to make. Suffice it to say, my final meal will be steak with every known variety of potato (chipped, mashed, roasted, dauphinoised etc) washed down by gallons of fantastic, robust red wine, but we’ll get to that later. Where will I go? What will I do?

And so we’re off to Banff…

Given the impending death and destruction that is coming tomorrow, I am very much in the “get-up-early-camp” and so The Sunshine Mountain Lodge, which is Banff’s only ski-in/ ski-out hotel, is the ideal place to take a hearty lumberjack-style breakfast. First track’s breakfast allows diners to eat and head out for…yes…first tracks before the punters arrive! We’ll plump for the traditional Canadian breakfast of pancakes, crispy bacon, maple syrup and icing sugar! Isn’t it just wonderful that the restaurant staff and lifties are happy to work and not spend the hours before Armageddon in the bosom of their families? Such is the industrious nature of Banffers!

I did my ski instructor course at Sunshine Village in 01/02 and, to this day, it remains my favourite ski resort – I like to think of it as the back garden of Banff, my spiritual home! To start the day, we’ll grab a chair and do some carving down some of Sunshine’s wide-open pistes. Continental Divide is always a good place to start to get the leg muscles pumping! After that, we’ll hit Mount Standish a few times with runs down black areas; Headwall, Garbage Chutes and Dirty Little Corner – short pitches but super-steep and pretty intense. Before breaking for lunch, we have time to explore Wawa bowl, dropping the cornice (lip!) into Paris Bowl and back through the always-icy Waterfall and a beautiful run through the trees on Shaken Not Stirred!

Now for lunch, taken in Chimney Corner which offers awe-inspiring views over the jagged peaks of Sunshine Village. It is a view that never gets boring! Sticking with the old Canadian favourites, I’ll be dining on Poutine: a wonderful dish of crispy fries topped by cheese curds and a chicken based sauce washed down by some Canadian Dry!

After lunch, we don our transceivers, pack up probes & shovels and we’re off up to Delirium Dive which plays host to, without doubt, the most insane in-bounds terrain in Canada, if not the world. We hit line after line of steep pitch with cliff drops, narrow chutes, wide-open bowls and a ton of fantastic natural hits. The whole area is covered in the lightest, fluffiest powder snow that provides us with endless face-shots as we whoop and holler our way down!

With tired legs, we ski down the final run and end up at Trapper’s Bar. As we move onto the terrace with an après-ski beer, the sun starts beaming and the temperature gauge on the mercury moves up to 25C. What a stroke of luck!

Not wishing to waste too much time, we head back downtown for a soak in Banff’s famous hot springs. There is nothing like lolling around in deliciously hot water to shake off the aches and pains of a tough day on the slopes.

For dinner at Saltlik (arguably the best steak-house in the world!), I will be joined by Billy Connelly, Smithy from Gavin & Stacey, George Best (I know!) and my best-mate-from-home, Jamie. Eva Longoria Parker will play the part of my love interest. She will sit at my side and gaze longingly at me all night. As indicated earlier, I shall be having at least one steak, but probably two, with a blue-cheese sauce and served with fries, roast potatoes, a little mash potato and a large dish of dauphinoise potatoes. The wine will be French, very old and expensive!

After dinner, we’ll party the night away in Hoodoos and Auroras before Eva and I repair to the Presidential Suite at the Banff Springs Hotel for a night that I will never forget.

The perfect day to see in the Armageddon…!

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