First Canadian Ski Trip - December 2013

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to this forum and would like some help from any experienced skiers and travellers from the Canadian area. My partner and I are looking to do our first overseas ski trip next year between December 2013 and January 2014, I would love as much help, feedback, tips and information you can all throw at me to get us started in the right direction. We are looking at leaving Australia on the 15th December and departing overseas around the 11th January. We want to know the best places to be, the coolest sights to see and the easiest way to do it all. Please help us out, I look forward to hearing back from you all!
<3 Jess

My advice, avoid Banff/Lake Louise at this time of year. Fun town, decent skiing but far too cold to be really appreciated at that time of year.

You will probably get more responses on a North American ski site like EpicSki.com

Welcome to the forum.

Your timing for Canada is not ideal, but by no means a show stopper. 15th of Dec is still quite early for Canadian resorts. Coverage should be ok. Groomers should all be ok and it will be very quiet and cheap outside of the Christmas and new year holiday dates. Coverage and skiability of the more interesting terain, trees, chutes etc.. will be hit or miss. Usually, by early Jan most of the terain is open, with the exception of special advanced areas that can take a few more weeks to build up a stable base.

It sounds like you have plenty of time so the ideal thing to do would be to hire a car and do a road trip. Make sure you have some accomodation booked for christmas and new year as all of the major international resorts will be very, very busy.

Realistically your choice of stops will centre around a broad arc between Calgary and Vancouver bordered by jasper and kamloops to the north and the US border to the south. There are a few resorts to the north such as powder king, smithers and a few others, but they would require a lot of time to get to that would eat into your time on the snow.

The resorts to choose from are as follows, (grouped into north south and roughly from Calgary to Vancouver):

Castle
Fernie

Nakiska
Banff tri area (=Sunshine Village, Norquay and Lake Louise)

Marmot Basin

Panorama

Whitewater
Red Mountain

Kicking Horse
Revelstoke

Silver Star
Big White

Sun Peaks

Whistler Blackcomb

Vancouver Local Hills

An ideal road trip might be to start off in Vancouver for a couple of nights before hitting Whistler Blackcomb for a few days before the hoards of Christmas week skiers get there. Then you could either party in Whistler or save some cash and move towards Sun Peaks or Big White/Silver Star, then either head towards Banff for New years partying or south to hit Red, Whitewater, Fernie. Either way, I would make sure you spend a decent amount of time in Banff and do a couple of trips out to Kicking Horse and Revelstoke. The Banff national park is very beautiful and you should look into driving the icefields parkway which is spectacular.

The following will be party central for Christmas and new years and will be very busy: Whistler Blackcomb, Banff, Big White. Banff will be almost empty when the New years crowds have gone back to work, but you will have to book a table ahead during the days around New years.

So it depends on what you are looking for. Either skiing and partying and burning cash, or more focus on skiing at the quieter resorts. There are many options to do a bit of both.

You will have a great time whatever you choose.

One thing to remember is just how much colder Canada is in relation to Australia. Temps in the minus 30'c area are not uncommon.
Do ditch all cotton clothing, do wear layers, mittens with glove liners are much warmer than gloves, either a neck gaiter/buff and facemask or balaclava will be a blessing. Vaseline for lips/exposed noses. If you don't do helmets then do get a hat that fits snugly over your ears.
You will need goggles not sunglasses.
We loved Canada, only did Banff big three but plenty of scope for a fortnight.
If you look in the Canada section of this site there are some trip reports and other advice to whet your appetite.

Expect temperatures to be around -10 c in the BC interior and Banff. If you are unlucky then you may get daytime temperatures of -20 or below but they usually only have a few spells every season where it gets that cold. So, yes it can be cold, but -30 would still be considered unusual.

Lilywhite's advice is good. You will want to ensure you have good quality goggles that fit your face well, especially beneath your nose.

My top tip for dealing with the cold is to buy a pair of silk inner gloves (you can get them for around 10 dollars on the internet). They ensure your hands stay dry and warm. Experience has taught me that i would rather wear a cheap pair of ski gloves with silk inners than the latest, expensive brand without inners.

On very cold days, you will also find that your boots are stiffer and you will probably only need to fasten them a couple of notches less than usual. Boot shell pastic is like most other materials in that its properties change with temperature. If you fasten your boots too tightly and constrict your circulation, you will have to take 30 mins to warm your feet in the coffee shop. Don't make the mistake of leaving your boots in the car overnight where temperatures are regularly below -20. Ideally, you should remove your liners every night to make sure they dry out properly. If you doubt the effectiveness of this then remove just one liner and see which foot gets cold the following day.

Layering will help you stay warm. Whilst cotton is not the best, layering is by far the dominant factor in staying warm. Alpine climbers who have been recovered from glaciers a hundered or so years after they fell, have been found to be dressed in many layers of cotton, shirts.

Don't let the possibility of cold temperatures put you off, you will get used to it very quickly and, with the help of some sage advice, learn to deal with it quickly.

Lilywhite's advice is good. You will want to ensure you have good quality goggles that fit your face well, especially beneath your nose.

Beneath your nose???

I think that's a SCUBA mask not Ski Goggles!!

Hudman wrote:

Lilywhite's advice is good. You will want to ensure you have good quality goggles that fit your face well, especially beneath your nose.

Beneath your nose???

I think that's a SCUBA mask not Ski Goggles!!

Ha ha - good point!

Of course - i meant across the bridge of your nose and at the sides. It is especially important in very cold temperatures that none of the moisture rich air you are breathing out gets into your goggles. (as it will condense and freze inside the lens and you will not see where you are going).