Home to justifiably renowned snow, great weather, incredible terrain and outstanding ski resorts, Western Canada is sprinkled with some of the world’s top skiing and snowboarding destinations. It's an exceptional winter playground, with cruising runs, alpine bowls, terrain for all levels of skiers, and terrific Nordic (cross-country) skiing to boot. The season typically runs from late November to mid-April.
In the Canadian Rockies, Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper and Kananaskis are famous for fabulous skiing. Lake Louise is the largest ski area in Canada with 11 lifts that whisk skiers and boarders up four mountain faces offering a variety of easy and challenging runs. Sunshine Village Ski Resort, eight kilometres west of Banff on the Trans Canada Highway, has the best snowpack in Canada getting an average of more than 34 feet of natural snow per year.
Mount Norquay overlooks the Banff townsite and offers night skiing for those diehards who can’t get enough of it during the day. Nakiska, home to the alpine events in the 1988 Winter Olympics, boasts wide open runs groomed to perfection. Marmot Basin, 19 kilometres south of the Jasper townsite, offers stunning views, wide opens slopes for all abilities, 100% natural snow and lots of room to play and manoeuver.
In the Okanagan Valley, Big White Ski Resort near Kelowna is famous for its abundant light and dry Okanagan champagne powder, mild temperatures, and an exceptional variety of terrain. Silver Star Mountain Resort, 22 kilometres outside Vernon, offers up consistently mild temperatures and a diversity of terrain, spread over 3,000 acres. Apex Mountain Resort, 33 kilometres west of Penticton, receives about 20 feet of dry "Okanagan powder" every winter, and has the terrain and resort activities to use it to full advantage.
Located in the spectacular Coast Mountains of British Columbia, and just two hours north of Vancouver, Whistler has more than 8,100 acres of snow-covered slopes on two mountains. On Vancouver Island, Mount Washington is a powderhound’s paradise, with an average of 35 feet of snowfall every winter – the deepest all-natural snowfall of any resort area in the country. During the 2011 ski season, Mount Washington broke the world’s record of having the largest snow base of any ski resort in the world.
