A Complete Look at the Different Ski Resorts in Canada
Canada is a country filled with very diverse terrain. Much like the United States, you go from the east coast mountains and islands/beaches, to the flatter middle portion of the country, to the western rockies (the Canadian Rockies). Canada has MANY resorts located in the Canadian Rockies or British Columbia. These resorts, much like the western US, are wide, open, spectacular mountains filled with powder and LOTS of skiing/snowboarding. In this article, you will learn about all the different ski resorts in Canada.
This post is all about ski resorts in Canadian Rockies, ski resorts in Canada near Vancouver, ski resorts in Canada near Toronto, ski resorts in Canada east coast, best ski resorts in Canada, top 10 ski resorts in Canada, best ski resorts in Canada for beginners, Lake Louise Ski Resort, Whistler ski resort, and more.
This post is all about the ski resorts in Canada.
Ski Resorts in Canada :
Banff Sunshine Village Ski & Snowboard Resort
Banff (or Ski Big 3) is an awesome place to ski/snowboard at, especially if you like red runs. It is probably the most well known ski resorts in the Canadian Rockies and one of the best ski resorts in Canada. Now if you’re like myself and are from the east coast of the US, and don’t know what a red run is, let me explain. Red runs are in-between harder blue squares to easier black diamonds. So, I would say they are beginner black diamonds. Then, all the other colors follow the same rating system as the US does. Green trails are for beginners, blues are intermediate trails, reds are beginner black diamond trails, and black trails are expert rated runs.
For some geographic reference, Banff is located above the states of Montana and Idaho in the US. There are three mountains that makeup Banff, they are, Sunshine, Banff Mountain Norquay, and Lake Louise. Banff’s season is typically from late November to sometime in May, so lots of time to ski or snowboard. Here is an article further explaining Banff.
Fernie Ski Resort
Fernie is another great ski resort, located in southern British Colombia. It is a little further south (about 4 hours) compared to Banff on the map, and is right on the border with Montana (US) and Alberta, Canada. Fernie has amazing bowl skiing and has mostly the same terrain that you will see at Banff. It offers 2,504 total acres of skiing/snowboarding, with an average snowfall of 32ft. You can stay at the mountain resort of Fernie, at the base of the mountain, or you can take a short shuttle ride to and from the town of Fernie in Canada. Their seasons last from early December to mid April. Here is a website with further information about skiing/snowboarding at Fernie.
Jasper Marmot Basin Ski Area
Jasper is also another great resort, it is about 6 hours north of Banff. It is home to the largest National Park within the Canadian Rockies, and has an extremely friendly town of Jasper, that you and your family can stay at. Jasper Marmot Basin ski area is home to amazing scenery with mostly black runs and almost no lift lines. Open from late November to early May, receiving about 15ft of average snowfall with a total of 1,720 acres of skiing/snowboarding. To stay here, you can stay at the mountain resort, the town of Jasper, or just outside of Jasper, in the town of Crimson. Here is another website explaining more about Jasper.
Kicking Horse
This is NOT a beginners mountain, 60% of its terrain is advanced to difficult runs. The steepness of this resort is REAL. It’s only 2 hours from Banff, thus if you want to stay at either Banff or Kicking Horse, make sure you make a trip to both. Or you could stay 15 minutes from Jasper, in the town of, Golden. Their season typically runs from mid December to mid April. They receive about 25ft of annual snowfall with a total of 2,825 acres of ski/snowboard terrain. Ski Independence offers day trips to Revelstoke, which is another great mountain you can add to your list, while at Kicking Horse. Here is a website with even more information about the ski resort.
Lake Louise Ski Resort
Lake Lousie offers mostly red runs, with 4,200 total skiable acres and an average of 15ft of snowfall. The season typically lasts from early November to mid May. Ski Independence also offers daily shuttles to Banff and Jasper from Lake Lousie. Many people stay at the town of Lake Lousie or the mountain resort. Lake Lousie is also only 40 minutes from Banff ski resort, thus Banff is a great place to stay at too. Here is a website further explaining skiing/snowboarding at Lake Louise.
Panorama Ski Resort
Alright, now jumping back to the west coast and the Canadian Rockies, Panorama, is another great mountain for advanced skiers. About 55% of their terrain are red runs. Also, they offer 2,975 acres of skiing and snowboarding with a season lasting anywhere from early December to mid April, with an average snowfall of 16ft. For places to stay, you could always stay at the mountain resort at Panorama or Kicking Horse Resort which is only 2 hours away if you want to stay there instead and ski at a couple different resorts. Here is a website with further information about skiing/snowboarding at Panorama.
Revelstoke (Revy)
Being one of North America’s newest resort and having the the longest vertical in North America, at 5,620ft. This IS the mountain for you if you LIVE for adventure and our an EXPERT skier/snowboarder. Revelstoke or Revy, is a very technical mountain and offers lift, cat, heli, and backcountry skiing all from the base of the mountain. This mountain is mostly red and black runs, so I DO NOT suggest coming here if you are beginner, you will NOT enjoy yourself (only 7% of their terrain is beginner).
In addition, it offers 3,121 acres of total terrain, an average of 38ft of snowfall per year and has 3 lifts. Their season lasts from early December to mid April. Revy has one hotel in it’s downtown resort area. Thus if the hotel is too expensive, I would stay at or near Kicking Horse because Revy is only two hours away. Here is a website with more information about skiing/snowboarding at Revelstoke or Revy.
Silver Star Ski Resort
Silver Star is British Columbia’s 3rd biggest resort with LOW crowds, not many people know about Silver Star. It is a quick flight from Vancouver, Canada. It offers mostly advanced terrain and is located north of Washington state in the US. Their season lasts anywhere from late November to early April. There is 3,282 acres of total skiable land with 23ft of average snowfall per year. Here is a website with further information about Silver Star.
Sun Peak Ski Resort
Sun Peak is Canada’s second largest resort. It is a great family resort, offering mostly intermediate terrain. Their season lasts anyway from late November to mid April, 4,270 acres of skiable land, with 20ft of average snowfall. Sun Peak is only two and a half hours north of Silver Star. To stay here, Sun Peaks resort offers many different hotels and condos that you and your family can stay at. Here is a website with more information about Sun Peak.
Whistler Blackcomb
Last but certainly NOT least, Canada’s probably most well-known resort and a top 10 ski resorts in Canada, is Whistler. This is one heck of a ski/snowboarding mountain. Whistler is a MASSIVE mountain, with 12 alpine bowls, 3 glaciers, OVER 200 trails, and 8,171 acres of skiable terrain. Their season typically lasts anywhere from mid November to late May, with an average snowfall of 38ft per year, and offers mostly red runs (intermediate to advanced). Whistler offers many resorts on the mountains and nearby hotels. It is about a two hour drive from Vancouver, British Columbia. Here are some more great ski resorts in Canada near Vancouver. Thus, you could stay in Vancouver as well. More about Whistler can be found here.
Ski Resorts in Canada East Coast
Now, let’s jump all the way to the other side of the country to the east coast of Canada.
- Mont-Tremblant : is the biggest ski resort on the east coast of Canada. It offers mostly black runs, with 665 acres of terrain with an average snowfall of 15ft per year. Their season usually runs from late November to mid April. Mont Tremblant has a great ski resort you can stay at, which is located at the base of the mountain. Also, you could stay in Montreal, which is about 2 hours away. In Quebec, people do speak both French and English, but mostly French. Thus, I would be aware of this and maybe lookup some basic French before you go. Here is a website with further information about Mont Tremblant and here is a list of other east coast mountains within Canada.
- Blue Mountain : this is a great ski resort near Toronto.
- Hockley Valley : this is another great ski resorts in Canada near Toronto.
- Horseshoe Resort : this is another great ski resorts in Canada near Toronto.
More Places to Stay
I mentioned some places to stay, but here is a better list of where to stay and how far away some of the resorts are from one another, and more central locations of where to stay.
- Vancouver is a great city to stay at and explore, if you only plan on skiing or snowboarding at Whistler. It is about a 2 hour drive from Whistler ski resort, which is the closet mountain.
- For Fernie, I would stay in Fernie, BC, Canada, or you could stay at the mountain resort.
- For Kicking Horse and Revelstoke I would stay at either resorts, because they are pretty close to one another (two hours driving) and both have different resorts.
- Also, Lake Lousie is only about an hour and a half from Kicking Horse and Revelstoke. Panorama is also only about 2 hours from the Kicking Horse Resort, so again I recommend staying at the Kicking Horse Resort or Golden, if you want to ski or snowboard at a couple different mountains.
- Good places to stay at for Silver Star Resort, is again the resort itself, or in Vernon or Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Silver Star is about 30 minutes from Vernon, and about an hour and 15 minutes from Kelowna. Kelowna does have an airport, so traveling might be easier, if you stay in Kelowna.
- You could also stay at Vernon, if you plan on skiing at Sun Peak, Vernon is just over 2 hours from Sun Peak. You could also stay at Kamloops, which is about 50 minutes from Sun Peak, and about an hour and 45 minutes from Vernon.
- For skiing at Banff, I recommend staying at their resorts or at nearby towns, such as, Calgary or Airdrie, which are both about an hour and a half away.
- For Jasper, I really recommend staying at the resort, or the town of Jasper or the nearby town of Crimson.
- For Mont Tremblant, again, I would stay at the mountain resort or Montreal. Montreal is about a two hour drive away from the mountain.
- You could always stay at the different resorts and road trip from the different mountains. However, if you want to road trip them, I would have Mont Tremblant as it’s own trip, with some of the other east coast resorts also on the way. Then, I would do the western mountains of British Columba. I would then make a separate trip to Vancouver and Whistler, as they are pretty out of the way too.
Expenses
The typical price of a standard lift ticket is 120 Canadian Dollars (about $94 US Dollars). You can also get a deal with a 5 day lift pass being about 520 Canadian Dollars (about $410 US Dollars), if you plan on skiing/snowboarding at only one resort. If you plan on doing this, then, I would suggest investing in the Ikon or Epic pass. Mont Tremblant, Banff (or the Big 3), Revelstoke, are all on the Ikon pass along with some other Canadian mountains which can be found here.
Whistler is apart of the Epic pass, which also includes, Fernie and Kicking Horse, here are the other Canadian mountains apart of this pass as well. Both the Ikon and Epic pass run for about $1,200 US Dollars. If you are going to ski/snowboard at all these mountains or live out west, this is a great deal. In addition, if you’re just visiting it almost makes more sense to just buy an Ikon or Epic pass if you’re staying for more than 5 days.
It’s up to you and your trip which pass you want to get or you could always get a 5 day(or 4 or 3 or 2 day) lift ticket pass, up to you. The hardest part about skiing and snowboarding is always how expensive the lift tickets and gear are, but the mountains are usually worth it.
National Parks of Canada/Banff
Another option is backcountry skiing in one of Canada’s National Parks. Canada has 46 different parks, that are all ran by the Canadian Federal government. Here is a great website that lists all the different national parks, with linked websites about each park. You can do a lot of backcountry skiing here but you just need to follow some rules. Some of the rules include, obtaining a permit for certain parks, not camping in undesignated areas, and some more, that you can find here. Here is another website explaining further of what National Parks are great to backcountry ski/snowboard at. In addition, here is a great article explaining even more AMAZING backcountry places and mountains to ski and snowboard at within Canada.
Another great place to go is Big White ski resort. This is one of the best ski resorts in Canada for beginners, as it offers a variety of different types of runs and a good beginner area. Mount Norquay is another great mountain about 15 minutes from Banff ski resort.
Further Places to Go
Overall, Canada has some pretty sweet mountains as you can see from the list above. Much like the western United States, the Canadian Rockies are a sight to see, even better to ski/snowboard at. These were just a handful of all of Canada’s mountains, here is another list explaining even more mountains to ski/snowboard at that have EPIC powder and backcountry skiing/snowboarding, enjoy!
This post was about ski resorts in Canadian Rockies, ski resorts in Canada near Vancouver, ski resorts in Canada near Toronto, ski resorts in Canada east coast, best ski resorts in Canada, top 10 ski resorts in Canada, best ski resorts in Canada for beginners, Lake Louise Ski Resort, Whistler ski resort, and more.
