Originally looking at Europe (and Italy specifically) for a trip this year, my husband and I decided we wanted to book a trip with a little more reliable snow. I mean, it's named the "Powder Highway"...so it must get some good snow...right?
I've sifted though many threads, read a number of trip reports, found sound blog entries, and lots of "guides" on the interwebs. Now I'm turning to the great people of SkiTalk for recommendations and advice.
Things we are looking for:
- Snow, of the powdered variety. This is one of the main reasons for pivoting from Europe to BC. While I know you can't plan for the weather too far in advance, recommendations on whatever we can do to up our odds (location, time of year, or snow dance rituals), are greatly appreciated.
- Cat skiing. A 2-3 day cat skiing operation is of great interest. I understand (and see lots of places are already booked solid) booking well in advance is necessary, so I'm not sure if this will be an option...but if it is, we are interested. If multi-day operations are out of the question, a day tour would be good.
- Guides at resorts or backcountry touring. Basically willing to pay a local to show us the goods. Open to guided days on resort, or backcountry days (have touring gear that we can bring).
- Variety of terrain, with some challenge. We tend to like steeper, off-piste/ungroomed terrain. I'd like enough variety that if it's a bad snow year we can still have a good time on snow.
- Towns and places to stay. We like low key, no need to focus of nightlife beyond dinner and a couple drinks. Bed and breakfast style inns and lodging is preferred over large hotel chains. Walkable towns are a plus, but not necessary.
- We enjoy off the beaten path locations. I'd rather ride a slow triple with no line than stand in line for a fast detachable quad.
- We do not have an IKON or an EPIC pass...though we'll consider these resorts...we'd prefer not spending $200 on a lift ticket and another $100 on lunch daily. Basically, large multi-resort passes are not going to weigh into decisions.
Considerations:
- Currently planning on flying into either Calgary or Spokane, and renting a car (with snow tires . There appears to be a few smaller airports we could consider depending on the itinerary we finalize on.
- We'll have a group of friends with us, probably somewhere between 4-8 people total. This will need to be taken into consideration when booking transportation, guides, tours and lodging.
- We're looking at approx. 10 days total (including travel). This will give us 7 or 8 ski days.
- I think doing the whole powder highway referenced below is out of the question for the duration. I'd love some opinions on where to focus based on what we're looking for above. Options could be: Southwest (RED/Whitewater/Catskiing in the Selkirks) or Southeast (Kimberly/Fernie/Castle) or Northern (Sunshine/LL/KH/Revelstoke) or any combination of these?
Really just looking for open-ended advice at this point...
Map for reference:
I've sifted though many threads, read a number of trip reports, found sound blog entries, and lots of "guides" on the interwebs. Now I'm turning to the great people of SkiTalk for recommendations and advice.
Things we are looking for:
- Snow, of the powdered variety. This is one of the main reasons for pivoting from Europe to BC. While I know you can't plan for the weather too far in advance, recommendations on whatever we can do to up our odds (location, time of year, or snow dance rituals), are greatly appreciated.
- Cat skiing. A 2-3 day cat skiing operation is of great interest. I understand (and see lots of places are already booked solid) booking well in advance is necessary, so I'm not sure if this will be an option...but if it is, we are interested. If multi-day operations are out of the question, a day tour would be good.
- Guides at resorts or backcountry touring. Basically willing to pay a local to show us the goods. Open to guided days on resort, or backcountry days (have touring gear that we can bring).
- Variety of terrain, with some challenge. We tend to like steeper, off-piste/ungroomed terrain. I'd like enough variety that if it's a bad snow year we can still have a good time on snow.
- Towns and places to stay. We like low key, no need to focus of nightlife beyond dinner and a couple drinks. Bed and breakfast style inns and lodging is preferred over large hotel chains. Walkable towns are a plus, but not necessary.
- We enjoy off the beaten path locations. I'd rather ride a slow triple with no line than stand in line for a fast detachable quad.
- We do not have an IKON or an EPIC pass...though we'll consider these resorts...we'd prefer not spending $200 on a lift ticket and another $100 on lunch daily. Basically, large multi-resort passes are not going to weigh into decisions.
Considerations:
- Currently planning on flying into either Calgary or Spokane, and renting a car (with snow tires . There appears to be a few smaller airports we could consider depending on the itinerary we finalize on.
- We'll have a group of friends with us, probably somewhere between 4-8 people total. This will need to be taken into consideration when booking transportation, guides, tours and lodging.
- We're looking at approx. 10 days total (including travel). This will give us 7 or 8 ski days.
- I think doing the whole powder highway referenced below is out of the question for the duration. I'd love some opinions on where to focus based on what we're looking for above. Options could be: Southwest (RED/Whitewater/Catskiing in the Selkirks) or Southeast (Kimberly/Fernie/Castle) or Northern (Sunshine/LL/KH/Revelstoke) or any combination of these?
Really just looking for open-ended advice at this point...
Map for reference: