L. Louise/Marmot/Sunshine March 25-April 11 ???

Even though Patrick is our resident Canadian, I'm the one who has skied these other areas west of Lake Louise/Jasper. :P

Panorama: Terrain is to GPaul's liking, along with the on-site lodging. It's mostly north-facing, so the skimpy snowfall rates be to more an early than late season issue. Nonetheless I would be cautious and try to get a reliable first hand report shortly before going there.

Kicking Horse: Undergroomed in its early years, the lower runs were excellent the last 2 years. But they have the same snowfall issues as Panorama, less snowmaking and face east rather than north.

Revelstoke: I did ski there when it was just cat skiing. Long fall lines, west facing on the lower mountain. If it's like the early years of Kicking Horse GPaul won't like it. But I'll be there in a month and then can report on how much grooming they do.

Sun Peaks is an intermediate paradise, with all the lodging onsite. A lot of it faces south, but then again so does Lake Louise and Sun Peaks is probably not any warmer.

Patrick and I agree about Sunshine, Lake Louise and Jasper. GPaul hasn't stated how much driving he's willing to do over 17 days and/or how long he needs to stay in each place. My suggested itinerary had multiple night stays in each place except Golden, with short drives except for the full day on Columbia Icefields.
 
Tony Crocker":2xfitg9s said:
Even though Patrick is our resident Canadian, I'm the one who has skied these other areas west of Lake Louise/Jasper. :P
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Yes, but I'm the geographer and has driven from Vancouver Island to Banff twice, once in winter. I even stayed near Mount Mackenzie in Revy for a few days (what it was called back in 96) visiting a good friend and old ski buddy that has now been a BC resident/skier/instructor/guide for over 20 years.

However I do agree with your description of the areas, even if I didn't ski them personally.

Tony Crocker":2xfitg9s said:
GPaul hasn't stated how much driving he's willing to do over 17 days and/or how long he needs to stay in each place.
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The fact that he initially mentioned so many days in Banff got me thinking that he wasn't in the same league as you or me in regard to Safari.

Tony Crocker":2xfitg9s said:
with short drives except for the full day on Columbia Icefields.
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No-brainer. One of my favorite and most scenic places I've seen and it's the route between Jasper and Louise.

Thanks Admin. =D> =D> =D>
 
One general principle to keep in mind driving in western Canada. The north-south routes tend to be in broad glaciated valleys, straight roads you can drive fairly fast if the weather is good. Examples: Route 93 from Cranbrook to Golden, Yellowhead Hwy Jasper to Kamloops, even Columbia Icefields. The east-west routes tend to be winding and slow in the mountains, notably Route 3 near the US border. The Trans-Canada Hwy is tough where it's not 4 lanes and in the mountains: Rogers Pass west of Golden and also sometimes between Golden and Lake Louise. The latter was in process of being widened last year. But one way we had to take a 3 hour detour via Radium because of a big rig accident that closed the road for nearly 12 hours. The one north-south route that is slow is from the Red Mt. or Nelson area north to Revelstoke, which also includes a ferry crossing.

I agree with Garry Klassen that the tougher sections should be avoided after dark if you can arrange it.
 
I think a lot of these plans are a little intense for our Carribean friend.

He would have a ton of fun in Banff. (Althought I would just base myself in Banff - the Sunshine hotel never impressed me. And Lake Louise is boring/isolated. Why bother with either?)

Personally, I think he would like Panorama - regardless of snowfall. Yeah, it's like Keyston/Sun Valley snow-wise. But those resorts succes are just grooming some nice terrain - and Panorama does that. Most of Panorama's runs have plenty of snowmaking at the base.

I think he should skip Kicking Horse. Most intermediates just get stranded at the top on the on 1 quad serving 1 run.

**I am suprised Gpaul does not realize how unique the Icefields Parkway is.....it's better than Banff. Totally need to drive it one day.***
 
ChrisC":1bianti5 said:
He would have a ton of fun in Banff.

**I am suprised Gpaul does not realize how unique the Icefields Parkway is.....it's better than Banff. Totally need to drive it one day.***
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Considering that he going to Edmonton, it's screaming MARMOT & ICEFIELDS PARKWAY. I believe Banff (the 3 areas) are a better fit.
 
–" Ski Canada Magazine: The longest uninterrupted fall-line corduroy cruisers in Canada" This from Panorama website. Aye or Nay?

Okay amig@s, the push for Marmot is on. I've looked at website for few days and grooming is limted (25-30 trails), a lot of it green :? I will heed your advice to ABSOLUTELY ski this place, IF y'all agree that the steep groomers are really long and worthwhile vs. Panorama, LL, and Sunshine... Ski Club of Great Britain states "not steep enough"... But you guys know more, so there's gotta be something I'm missing???

Great advice on leaving Edmonton towards end of trip, will certainly do that if possible.

Went to Sun Peaks 4 yrs. ago, and REALLY enjoyed it, 'cept not steep enough in general. This trip will be all about Banff et al.

Chris, with all due respect, aren't the Icefields just a glacier full of ice...? OF COURSE, if we go to Marmot we will take the Icefields route, IF we go to Marmot...

Muchas Gracias for School break info., we'll just have to deal with it :cry:

Thanky!
 
Gpaul":6eiydfd6 said:
Chris, with all due respect, aren't the Icefields just a glacier full of ice...?
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Of course...in the same way that Yosemite is just a bunch of rock, and lobster tail is nothing but a source of sodium and protein.
 
I guess I deserved that :brick: Okay, how much time should we allow to really see it all? Any other interesting spot/detour between Banff and Jasper? Tks.
 
Perhaps I should have earlier referred GPaul to my TR from Marmot in February 2007. It includes pics from both there and the Icefields Parkway. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2811
The steeper cruisers are above, served by the 1020 vertical Paradise lift that emerges just above timberline.
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But the point of Marmot is the great diversity of terrain within a midsize area. Thus it might be a good place for him to broaden his horizons. At any rate, he'll be skiing just a couple of days there and there's enough to keep him happy that long. One full non-ski day to drive from Jasper to wherever you're going next will be fine.

–" Ski Canada Magazine: The longest uninterrupted fall-line corduroy cruisers in Canada" This from Panorama website. Aye or Nay?
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Yes, they are very long, and no question if the snow is good Panorama is definitely GPaul's type of area. But those cruisers are mostly man-made snow, and if it's been through a few melt-freezes it will be more like eastern than western spring skiing. :snowball fight: You'll know the difference after Sunshine, which is one of the top ski areas anywhere for preserving natural winter snow well into spring. And unlike some of the others, the Continental Divide area that preserves best is primarily intermediate cruisers.
 
Good morning,

Sorry for hijacking thread but you guys have so much good information and i have a few questions that are somewhat relevant to this thread.

I am flying into Calgary on Feb 8th, landing at 11:30 AM and if the weather is good, plan on driving straigt to revy, how long of a drive is that? I am guessing, good weather, 5 hours? Prelimanary plan is to hit Revy monday, tuesday, drive to Golden tuesday night, hit KH on wed, thursday, drive to LLouise or Banff thursday night and hit LLouise and/or Sunshine friday and saturday and flying out redeye from Calgary on Saturday night.
It sounds that staying in Banff would be more fun that at Lake Louise in terms of restaurants/bars? Not looking for latenight nightlife just good food/pubs.
The biggest thing that i have learned from this thread is that i have a car and i am flexible. Depending on weather and snow conditions am willing/forced to change plans. We are all solid intermediate boarders looking for good trees and in bounds terrain to bring it to the next level which i know that these places can more than deliver. Any thoughts on the logistics? Thank you!
 
crippitylip":5d0kro67 said:
It sounds that staying in Banff would be more fun that at Lake Louise in terms of restaurants/bars? Not looking for latenight nightlife just good food/pubs.
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Absolutely.
 
crippitylip":12zl47t1 said:
I am flying into Calgary on Feb 8th, landing at 11:30 AM and if the weather is good, plan on driving straigt to revy, how long of a drive is that? I am guessing, good weather, 5 hours? Prelimanary plan is to hit Revy monday, tuesday, drive to Golden tuesday night, hit KH on wed, thursday, drive to LLouise or Banff thursday night and hit LLouise and/or Sunshine friday and saturday and flying out redeye from Calgary on Saturday night.
It sounds that staying in Banff would be more fun that at Lake Louise in terms of restaurants/bars? Not looking for latenight nightlife just good food/pubs.
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1) Drive Calgary-Revy
2-3) Revy
4-5) KH
6-7) LL or/and SV

I don't see any wrong with it. Some people might want to stay more days at particular place, but for a Safari type tour, it's sounds fine to me. Two days (1 day each at SV or LL) isn't much to get a feel for the place (if you've never been).

Banff is a town, so there are restaurants/bars/museums (Western Ski Museum exhibit is in a Mall) and Hot Springs.

A suggestion, you might want to sleep an extra night in Golden and drive the next morning to ski Lake Louise (if you're staying in Banff)
 
Thank you for the replies. I guess it doesn't make sense to leave Golden, drive to Banff then to go back to Lake Louise, good point. It is all prelim still, airfare is done and that is it. Want to go to Revelstoke first then take it from there. I am not worried about crowds midweek but on that last Saturday i would expect much more traffic. What resort closest to Calgary would get the least amount of Saturday traffic or is that not really an issue at these mountains? Thank you!
 
crippitylip":1zf76olu said:
Thank you for the replies. I guess it doesn't make sense to leave Golden, drive to Banff then to go back to Lake Louise, good point. It is all prelim still, airfare is done and that is it. Want to go to Revelstoke first then take it from there. I am not worried about crowds midweek but on that last Saturday i would expect much more traffic.

crippitylip":1zf76olu said:
What resort closest to Calgary would get the least amount of Saturday traffic or is that not really an issue at these mountains? Thank you!
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I don't think there is much of a difference crowd wise between LL and SV. I would think that skiing at SV would make most sense if your catching the redeye (at midnight right?). IMO Lake Louise (Larch and Ptarmigan areas) has more fun trees than Sunshine.
 
I agree with most of Patrick's comments. The itinerary is very reasonable to both of us. I've flown out of Calgary 6-7PM and it makes sense to ski the closer Sunshine when you do that. But if it's a late redeye you have plenty of time to get there from Lake Louise. For the Saturday, the key at either area is to get there very early. Particularly Sunshine where everyone has to start on the same lift.

On both of my February trips (2004, 2008) Lake Louise had much better skiing than Sunshine. Sunshine is cold, wind-exposed. The single blacks on Goat's Eye were firm, and the extreme stuff (Delirium Dive, Wild West) weren't open yet. It's only an average year in 2009, so I would expect no better than when i was there last year, and possibly worse. Louise's steeps face north and are on the leeward side from prevailing winds.

I'm also not reading good comments about Kicking Horse. Since you're forced to ski top-to-bottom it's a real PITA when the lower mountain is sketchy. So I'd set up only 2 nights in Golden. If your first day at KH is mediocre, blow off the second one and drive the hour to Lake Louise. I think it's very likely that you'll want 1 ski day KH, 2 days lake Louise and 1 day Sunshine. Louise is by far the largest area even if conditions are similar.

Check this site for eyewitness reports: http://www.powderwatch.com/snowreports/snowreports.php
 
Great website, thank you!! I will keep reading that one daily. My flight is 1am out of calgary to montreal on westjet so i have all day to get to airport. Is Panorama too far out of the way, worth the trip? Thanks!
 
crippitylip":3o9s1o70 said:
Great website, thank you!! I will keep reading that one daily. My flight is 1am out of calgary to montreal on westjet so i have all day to get to airport. Is Panorama too far out of the way, worth the trip? Thanks!
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If you goal is to see the most ski area, it's very possible. It depends what you want, not sure if you would want to limit yourself at 1 day at most places you would hit. LL deserves at least 2 days.

It would be something like this: Revy 2 - KH 1 - Pano 1 - LL -1 SV -1 unless you drop an area from you initially list?
 
Panorama is about as much a detour in a different direction as Revelstoke. This is only a so-so year in Canada so far, not as good as my 2004 or 2008 trips. Panorama was good but lots of obstacles on the steep stuff in 2004, so I'd be very skeptical this year. You only have a week, and given this year's conditions I think you're going to the right places. Some years I'd be pushing Fernie/Castle instead of KH/Revy, but not now.
 
It would be very helpful to get a report from crippitylip's trip. I'm updating my progress report after 2 weeks, and I think GPaul should seriously consider redirecting his trip to a region with more snow.

1) Lake Louise has had 83 inches season to date and only 3 inches in the past 4 weeks.
2) Reported base depths at Marmot and Panorama are 14 inches. These places may claim to be in full operation, but off-trail has to be a minefield. Steeper on-trail too, or else bulletproof manmade.

No question in my mind if GPaul stays with his plan that he should go to Revelstoke instead of Panorama. Sunshine will probably be OK too given its consistent spring track record. But I can't be comfortable recommending anywhere else in that region for late season based on where we are now (Fernie/Castle reports are lackluster too). And notice the current storm track: California, Utah, Colorado, just like some earlier ones this season. For a trip as long as GPaul envisions, he should be looking at Utah or Colorado.
 
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