Where would you ski...

[Mike Harvey]

if you had three days in Alberta in between work commitments and no partner for BC? Sunshie Village/Banff? Marmot Basin/Jasper? Kicking Horse/Golden? Any beta would be great...thanks.

[frenchy]

Hey Mike, when will be there? I may be up around Roger's in March for a week or so and would be fun to catch up and do some skiing.

Haven't those areas, just BC. Kicking Horse would probably be my vote if I were to pick one.

[Mike Harvey]

I am going to be there from Feb.9-Feb 13 that would be killer to ski with you. I have heard that Rogers is epic. I am hoping to find someone to ski with out of bounds but I may end up riding lifts the whole time. I have heard mixed things about Kicking Horse. I have heard the good terrain requires long laps down some low bs and that the layout is not very good.

[KSC]

I don't know much about the area, but I was in Banff for a week for work last April. I skied a day at Lake Louise & a day at Sunshine (preferred Sunshine). From talking it up on the lifts with some locals I heard raves about Kicking Horse more than once though.

If you end up at Sunshine, bring your avy gear - they have a gated inbounds area where they require a transceiver, probe, shovel, & partner. That's where I found the best turns.

[soylent green]

Definitely go to Rogers Pass. Amazing terrain up there. About 3 hours from Calgary. The hotel is great and the 3 meals a day deal is great for skiers. They will make you a sack lunch. $25 for 3 meals. The skin track is right behind the hotel. You should book in April for the famous wife swapping/swinging weekend. Very big stuff up there that can make a CO boy feel small and inadequate(the mountains, not the swingers ). Make sure to ask for skiers discounts. Check out the guidebooks. One is out of print, but I found it on Amazon.

[BillyD]

Going up as well. Feb 11 to 19. What about Fernie? Looks like it has the most snow in the area. Heard its a great town with good terrain. Anyone been, that wants to shed some light.

[danger]

fernie's a good time for sure! when i lived in whitefish, mt we used to make day trips up there. fun hill with great steeps. also fernie's the closest b.c. resort to alberta i believe. red mountan and whitewater are the next two on my list of places to hit up. both are a bit farther in central b.c.. and lastly, there was this rumor of great turns to be had at castle mountain in alberta if the snow comes. one of those "sick terrain" but less than ideal snow totals mountains. also, the big mountain is only a couple hours south of fernie. go where the snow is!

-dan

[GAtoCSU]

I just got back from a week in Alberta and I would have to say that Sunshine had better snow than Lake Louise. But, the Terrain and Louise and the scenary as well is sick. If you're looking for trees, hit Red Mtn. I hear it's the best stuff in Canada.

Scott

[jk]

Hey Mike:

Was in BC for 4 days 3 years ago on teles with snowboarding son. We did 3 days at Louise and 1 at K Horse. It was late March, low snow year, tough conditions (no new snow; melt/freeze cycle). Still found great (in bounds) hike-to terrain at both places; good steeps, a few narrow chutes at Louise; a few super steeps at K Horse and a long narrow tree run; Louise is closer and still retains a CO ski area in-the-70s feel to its base area, though upgraded with terrain parks and super pipe. Kicking Horse is more rustic still; think Crested Butte in the late 70s. Only had one fast lift to the top (gondola?) which can get crowded when it really dumps, but awesome terrain. Have fun.

Jay

[Mike Harvey]

Back from this trip. Thanks for all the beta. I skied three days in solid high pressure conditions (like here at home, eh?) (oh yeah I say "eh?" now after every statement). Skied one day at Sunshie Village where I took full advantage of the loose ropes in Canada skiing the Dive (steep cirque, 2200' vert with lots of lines, and skiing some epicly shitty descent back to the base area from the backside of the mountain. One day at Kicking Horse in BC where I followed some cool locals out of bounds and toured in the area adjacent to the ski area (by the way Golden is where I am going to retire in like 6-8months). One day touring by myself off the icefields parkway which was great skiing with unbelievable views. So good trip. I also speant three days running model tests on some whitewater park features in a private hydraulics lab in Edmonton ( I will post pics) great learning experience.

On another note...I finially sucumbed to RDNCK's constant harrassment and skiied Cottonwood with those boys off of their sleds. You should all give them a call and check it out. Great terrain and with spring stability coming even better stuff to check out. Plus those two are good entertainment as they huck themselves off everything in site on thier sleds.

Allright...I can't spell...