Help me plan my trip of a lifetime .... - Page 2

of course there are foot passenger tickets -lots of people use the lifts to sight see. With the Peak to Peak she can walk off a gondola at the top of which ever mountain your skiing and do lunch. Or easier yet you ski to the base and lunch at your accommodation or a variety of restaurants.

just off the slopes.

If food/eating together is a major consideration- I've changed my vote back to Whistler. Sunshine also requires a foot passenger ticket as the only sensible place to eat is either at the top or the base of Goats Eye you would not want to waste your day skiing down to the valley there. Lake Louise has a nice base lodge but l think anyone waiting there all day for lunch would get pretty bored as there is nothing else there.

Go to Banff. Forget lunch. Ski the whole day. Meet your wife for apres ski, dinner and after dinner entertainment. Trip of a lifetime.

 

You didn't even mention anything about shopping in your wife's preferred activities, so you might even be happy staying in one of the nice hotels in Lake Louise. I believe the Fairmont Chateau has a nice spa, and while you won't find a beach, there is a big pool. Also, I think the mountain equivalent of sitting on the beach is sitting in front of massive windows that look out onto mountains/glaciers/alpine lakes (maybe with a glass of wine or a beer) - which is basically the lobby/lounge area of Fairmont. There are also several restaurants in the hotel itself for all that eating.

 

Your wife might not even want to leave the hotel, what with the incredible views and the activities there, but she could always get a shuttle or taxi to Banff. There are also a number of activities in the park (scenic tours, snowshoeing, etc.) that start right in the lobby and horse carriage rides around the lake. If you stayed at the Chateau, your wife could take the shuttle over to LL resort to meet for lunch (though I think that whole lunch stipulation is really dragging your trip down). It would be a quicker trip than from Banff.

Hi Vic

 

For quality of skiing in April and for non-ski activities, Banff is an excellent destination. As has already been mentioned, summer is the high season here, which means that the amount of non-ski activities available here are immense, while significantly bringing the cost down for hotel accommodation in the winter season. And April is known for some of the best skiing conditions of the season, for powder, base depth and sunny, mild days!

 

There are 3 ski resorts in Banff National Park - Mt Norquay, The Lake Louise Ski Area and Sunshine Village. Our resorts offer in total almost 8,000 acres of terrain, 26 lifts and a maximum vertical of over 1,000 metres. I strongly suggest purchasing the multi-day tri-area lift ticket; this lift ticket will give you direct-to-lift access to all 3 resorts. Most UK travel agents can package this in to your vacation for you. This lift ticket also includes door-to-door shuttle transfers (these run frequently every day) from most major hotels in Banff to all the resorts.

 

For more information on skiing in Banff National Park, check out our website at www.skibig3.com, or shoot me a PM and I'll try to answer any questions you may have. Good luck with your holiday planning!

 

Mark @ Ski Banff-Lake Louise-Sunshine

No, the bigger problem was Whistler and it's typical rainy and foggy conditions.  They had a great deal of difficulty running the alpine events at Whistler because of the weather, not because of the snow.

 

Don't base your trip decision on ease of meeting your wife for lunch.  That's insane.  Besides, she will have so much to do in Banff (especially if she's taking advantage of the spa at the Banff Springs Hotel) she won't even miss you. 

 

If she really wants to meet you for lunch, plan if for a day when you're skiing at Sunshine Village (because it's closer to Banff) and have her meet you at the Chimney Corner Lounge in the Sunshine Inn.  She'll need to take the gondola there (a 15 minute ride at a reduced rate if she isn't skiing), but it's a nice relaxing place to have lunch and she can hang out there in a comfy chair in front of one of the big fireplaces and read while you're skiing.  She could even go up with you in the morning and hang out at the Chimney Corner until you decide to come in for the occasional visit or for lunch.

Hey Vic,

 

I thought I would comment since I live in Whistler. I've skied all over the world and I've been skiing in Whistler for 20 years - so I could be biased. 

 

Like another poster stated, don't plan it based on historical weather - plan it based on the destination. Whistler has more immediately accessible terrain for the skier/rider and more thing to do for the non-skier/rider. Places like Utah and Banff have lots of ski areas, however, they are all spread out and require a commute to get to. I've never like these areas for that reason. In Whistler, you can walk out your hotel/apartment/condo door and be on the gondola/lift within a short walk.

 

If you want to meet your wife for lunch, she can get on the gondola and meet you in the Roundhouse at the top of Whistler or she can also take the Peak 2 Peak to Blackcomb and meet you in the Rendevous. Both Roundhouse and Rendevous have traditional cafeteria-style restaurants as well as sit down full service restaurants. That would require a sightseeing pass for your wife. She should do that at least once because the Peak 2 Peak is one of the most spectacular gondola rides in the world. You can also meet her at one of the many restaurants at the base of Whistler or Blackcomb mountain for lunch. These are not very crowded and are very civilized compared to the on mountain restaurants - especially during the holidays or on weekends.

 

When she's not meeting you for lunch, she can shop (we have lots of that), go to one of the many spas, go to one of the many art galleries, Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre (native), Whistler ski museum, go to the library (we have a large one), various outdoor activities such as snowshoeing, snowmobiling, bobsledding, zip lining, nordic skiing, ice staking and more. She might even consider taking a ski lesson - *gasp*! We have one of the smallest group lesson class sizes (maximum 4 people) that I know of. The prices are also very reasonable for the class size. There is more than enough to keep your wife occupied while you are skiing.

 

At the time of the season you want to visit, officially, the lifts open at 8:30am (you can usually start uploading at 8:15am) and last upload from the valley is at 4:00pm. There are often folks skiing down to the valley after 5pm. If you're too tired, you can still download until about 6pm. There is also our Fresh Tracks program - for an extra $20, you can upload at 7:30am, have breakfast and be the first to ski before the rest of the crowd. We are North America's largest ski area (think 3 Vallees) - but it is a better guest experience that it is in France or Europe - no rudeness in the lift lines. If you don't know where you're going on the mountain (the first few days, you might be disoriented from the sheer size of the resort), there are daily free ski orientation tours (last about 1.5 - 2 hours).

 

As for snow conditions, I wouldn't worry about it. In the last three seasons, we had some of the snowiest weather I can remember. Our snow base is generally around three metres. We hit four meters each of the last three years. We had so much snow that our glaciers actually grew. One of the worst years I can remember is 2004/05, where it rained most of January and February. However, come March it started to snow again and it didn't stop until May - it made us forget about the rain! This season at the start of April, we got 67cm in two days and 175cm in a week!

 

I would say the Pacific Northwest has the most snowfall and the most reliable snowfall. This season, we were blessed with an above-average snowfall while the rest of the continent wasn't getting as much as usual. We get our share of clouds, however, you can't have snow without clouds! When the sun comes out, it's always a memorable sight. Here's a good view from April...

 

 

 

Best day on skis for me so far. Whistler this year on April 4.

Yes, I know. Someone commented on the problem of lack of snow at the Olympics, which was not the case at Whistler, it was at Cypress, and snow got imported from the north. Please, feel free to misconstrue / misquote at your convenience.

 

I didn't misconstrue anything.  You said "the problem venue was Cypress".  I corrected you and said "the bigger problem was Whistler" due to the weather that caused alpine events and training runs to be continuously cancelled and rescheduled.  The Cypress problem was easily fixed by bringing in snow.  There's no way to control the weather at Whistler, and it was a huge (and bigger) problem.

 

What are you talking about? Whistler actually had some of the best weather ever for the Olympics...sun sun and more sun, plus plenty of snow.  Very little was reschueled and certainly there was never any "difficulty", as most things ran to schedule.  Sure it could have been an issue as it was for many early season WC events, but the weather in Whistler does change over the winter, the issues with running WC events in the early winter have no bearing on this thread or the Olympics which are spring and mid winter respectivley.  Plus what is OK weather for a WC DH, vs a holiday skiing are vastly different.

strange I was there, and I didn't notice any big problem? There are always minor timing issues of any any alpine event you have to schedule 2 years in advance. Didn't think it was as bad as the Calgary games and definitely better than Salt lake or Turin. But we are all biased.       

 

 

 

 

 

Here, let me help you with some remedial interweb comprehension . See quant 2325's comment, and my reply? He said Whistler had a snow problem, and I indicated they didn't. Simple, no? (well, apparently not).

 

And thanks for "correcting" me about something I didn't say, but anyway, as noted above, Whistler didn't have nearly as bad weather as they usually do (see my trip reports for visuals), and the events went off quite well, notwithstanding your "correction".

 

Thanks for playing, and try wearing your helmet next time you race.

I thought this was a thread to help find a guy a venue for a great trip and yet it has descended into this sniping. Pathetic!

 

Back to the thread. You have obviously gleaned that there are various views about the best place to ski in Canada. Wherever you decide upon it will be amazing. You can hardly make a bad choice. Good luck and enjoy the planning. It's all part of the fun.

I cannot say enough good things about Whistler. To make it truly memorable, I'd recommend the following:

 

1. Free ski your first day there. Plan to take a guided tour of the mountain. They are free and a great intro. Your mountain guide can also give you all sorts of tips about what to do and where you'll find the best skiing for your ability. I suspect you'll be heading to the alpine after you see our pics below ;-)

2. Assuming 6 days on snow, allocate days 2 and 3 for lessons. I suspect you're a pretty good skier so consider the Extremely Canadian steep skiing clinic.If you and your sons ski at about the same level and you want to dial it back a bit then consider the WB ski school's Max 4 lessons - great value and WB is a top notch school. 

3 Get your NSW a non-skiing pass so she can take the Peak-2-Peak gondola. Have her meet you and the boys at the Meeting Place on Blackcomb for lunch one day - it'll force her to take Peak2Peak across. Pretty sure you can have dinner on the mountain as well but check with guest services.

4. If you're there for Easter hols, take your lessons that weekend - it'll get crowded and the instructors can cut the lines so reduces your wait time. they also know where the stashes are.

5. If you hit a powder day, get in line for Fresh Tracks at 07h00. 07h30 may be too late!

 

 

I've supplemented SeflTitled's pic with a few more.

 

Harmony Bowl yes? About 09h30/09h45? 

 

 

Do yourself a favour and get to Fresh Tracks at least once during your visit. Well worth getting in line at 07h00. I skipped the breakfast to enjoy the view - and duck the rope as soon as they rang the bell.

 

 

At about 08h10 they drop the rope and the mountain is yours!

 

 

The red arrow points to my track - the snakey super-g line. 2 more lucky people are on their way straight at me. There's more folks to the right of the frame on the "tracked out" line...

 

 

The second of those lucky peeps. You should've seen the smiles on their/our faces!

 

 

Back on the "main run". I think this was on my 2nd lap.

 

 

Secret's out! Time to head in to Symphony Bowl... (BTW, this is what the lineup is like on an average Saturday in January at Blue Mountain near Toronto and Harmony Bowl alone has more skiable terrain than the entire Collingwood area - anyone wonder why I don't ski in Ontario anymore?)

 

No doubt there were a few other bears besides Selftitled and me that day. This is what skiing in April on 175cm of fresh is like. They'd gotten 65cm over two days the previous Wednesday/Thursday and April 2nd and 3rd we got the rest. The alpine had been closed since at least March 31st and maybe even a few days before. 

 

Epic skiing!

The size of that line up in canuck1w1's last pic is why I don't ski W/B.

 

This pic embodied everything I hate about Whistler.  So many people.  There is enough terrain that it's easy to find trails to ski on that don't feel crowded, but at some point you have to take another lift along with a thousand other people.  I'm pretty sure Whistler has the longest lift lines I've seen in any western N.A. resort.  I do love Whistler, but I also kind of hate it at the same time.

 

Perhaps I just don't know the mountain well enough to know how to avoid people and ski interesting terrain at the same time.  I've definitely found Blackcomb to be better in that respect (except for the 7th heaven area), but still not great.

The OP said he likes tree lined runs so even if he did get a snowy (lucky!) or cloudy day there are plenty of those types of runs to ski on both sides at Whistler if the Alpine isn't open.

Have been there 3 holidays now totalling 40 days and we have never had a day we got bored of skiing the terrrain available.

If you use ski in ski out accomodation you can ski down to your wife for lunch anyway but I agree with the posters above, get a sightseeing pass for her and take her across the Peak to Peak and have lunch at Roundhouse. The flash restaurant there is only a lttle bit more $$ wise than the cafe prices.

Also what they said above about starting early is true too. It's weird on the weekends cause you can ski pretty much where you want to if you start at 8.15 until about 10.30 and then people seem to start appearing. At home it's rammed from first lifts always on the weekends.

I have experianced queues like at Harmony in the picture above (not usually mid week though) but the place is so big you just move around. E.g On a day like that unless you wanted to ski the ridge or bowl, you can just ski off from there down to the Gondola mid station or down to Garbanzo.

Hopefully you have more than the 4 days of Easter so you can get a mid week day anyway all to yourself?

Edited by snala - 5/29/12 at 1:34pm

If it were only about the skiing the Whistler suggestions would have merit. But its a trip of a lifetime with a NSW. If i were her walking around an Intrawest village and a peak to peak ride wouldnt cut it... Not close. A trip to Banff National Park was life changing for me, and I was there at seventeen and I didn't even ski!

As well, this is an April trip, which means lower Whistler likely won't be worth touching. Most of better terrain will be above the treeline.

don't let a picture of a mid morning rush for the most popular lift on a bluebird powder day put you off. That is usually a timing event. Blasting and the anticipation crowd. It's easy to just go somewhere else and have no lines. Or if the bowls are still lightly tracked maybe the waiting time is  worth it to you 

The high speed quad moves the crowd faster than you would think. Personally I go to my other powder haunts I don't like waiting for anything.    

to joeshmoe (like the tag)

I also agree with Banff as a holiday - views are wonderful Banff/Yoho is one of my favorite places but for nsw, eating together etc. Whistler is easier.

But "no skiing below mid mountain in April" ? Try end of May. I always ki to valley to end of May - last 1000 feet in May likely will  be freeze/thaw/corn/slush leaving a mere 4500 good skiing but all 5500 on 2 different mountains in April is great and no crowds. Best month for Whistler.    

I think most people here know I am a Whistler guy, but having said that.....I do gotta say for your circumstances the Banff option is definatley worth looking into.  I do love Banff.

Do you really feel superior acting like such a d-bag for no reason? Don't see anything in that minor argument that warranted that level of condescension, but whatever helps you feel better about yourself.

 

Back to the actual thread...

 

OP: Out of curiosity, what's with the whole lunch obsession? A skiing trip of the lifetime should entail exactly no time wasted sitting down to lunch, except maybe in Europe where it's part of the local flavor. Over here, well...that's why ski jackets have pockets. Why can't you just meet after skiing for late lunch/early dinner/apres ski, have more flexibility and not worry about the added cost?

All this lunch talk at Whistler has me wondering when they stopped serving lunch at lake louise. What's the deal?

whats the importance of lunch? (see post 26) I guess it is, funny to base a trip around it. everyone has different priorities.     
 

And not just a "trip", but a "trip of a lifetime".

 

I am also having a difficult time understanding the whole lunch thing, but it is obvious this is on top of their priority list.

Hi Vic,

 

I from the UK (Snowdonia) I live in Chamonix, but have worked (to ski) and or skied in most of N America, so I have a slightly different perspective on things.

 

First Whistler is out as a once in a lifetime destination - it was a Zoo back in 98'-'99 when I lived there it's now a badly overcrowded zoo - and it's smaller than Megeve!

 

My choice would depend on is this about the trip the, ambiance, the location etc. or just wanna put some miles on the planks in somewhere far away? 

 

For the ambiance (as others have said) like no other - Go to Banff - It's like the Alps but with 95% of the people missing! Really mind blowing mountains - Stay in the Banff springs or elsewhere in Banff not up in the Chateau Lake Loiuse, your NSW will get bored - The spring skiing is good but not huge, so go on a days heli and or Cat skiing

 

 

If its all about the miles on the piste go to Tahoe, stay either North or South Lake, NOT Reno - Ski a different area every day - you will end up wishing thay would join them up just like the Portes du Soleil  - Spend a day in San Francisco on the way home, for the sake of the NSW if you've never been it's kind of a special place - it's America but different (Don't fly or stay in Reno)

 

Hmmm.  Tough to combine beach, museums, and great restaurants with skiing.  At least one or two of those options will be sacrificed.  I haven't read through the whole thing, but I suspect you'd be best served by a split vacation -- a ski resort that's a reasonable drive from a warm place.  

 

Assuming that you can get your US issues worked out, the place that jumps out in my mind is Mammoth for skiing combined with Southern California or Las Vegas for sun, both of which are about a 6-hour drive.  Actually, Mammoth is generally pretty sunny, but in the March-April time frame, average high temps in the town of Mammoth Lakes are in the 50s, so she wouldn't really be sunning herself on the shores of the lake.

 

Depending on whom you ask, Mammoth is either one of the best places, or unequivocally the best place, for spring skiing in North America.  (In fact, for a variety of reasons, the earliest I've ever skied there was mid-June, and most of my Mammoth skiing has been over July 4th.)  In March and early April, the entire mountain should be open, with little chance of precip on the mountain falling as rain rather than snow.  And the place is just gorgeous.

 

For the non-skiing part of the vacation, your wife's preference for museums would favor the LA area, but beach would probably be a bit better further south, towards San Diego.  Fantastic cuisine can be had in either SoCal or Vegas.

Thanks so much for interjecting yourself into an argument that had nothing to do with you. Were you at WB through the 2010 season and know what was going on. I didn't think so, nor did the guy I was addressing. And, of course, as far as a valuable contribution to the OP's question, nice of you to tell him what he should like, speaking of superior d-bags.

 

Right - back to the actual thread.....

 

Those WB pictures are lovely, but with 15 years at 20+ days a year (this year 34 as most other places were awful), they don't give a real good feel of what the WB experience is often like, in my opinion probably 50% of the time, which is of the "ski-by-braille" type of weather. Multiple days-on-end of fog/cloud/fog/rain/fog is NOT unusual, and as much as I love the place, if it's really a trip of a lifetime, with a significant potential that the weather could be REALLY crappy, it might be something you'd want to seriously consider.

 

While those lines in the picture were pretty real this year with the lousy conditions elsewhere and the large influx from seemingly everywhere else, you can usually find a way around it. I posted probably 6-7 trip reports here on WB trips this year, with a fair number of pictures that you may want to take a look at. As great as an area it is, I'd have to give it a second thought for a major life experience. Good luck.

 

 

Not a problem, my man.

 

 

 

 

For someone that's so particular about comprehension, you're pretty lacking. I asked the OP (who asked for help, btw) questions and made suggestions. I didn't tell him what to like or dislike at all - that would be ridiculous and futile.