Canada Ski Report
With the Winter Olympics slated to be held in Vancouver next year, this is a great time to familiarize yourself with everything Western Canada has to offer your ski clients.

The challenge in building a Canadian ski trip is choosing which of the many destinations is right for your clients. British Columbia, with the most ski resorts of any province, is a great place to start your search, with at least 55...

Canada Ski Report
With the Winter Olympics slated to be held in Vancouver next year, this is a great time to familiarize yourself with everything Western Canada has to offer your ski clients.

The challenge in building a Canadian ski trip is choosing which of the many destinations is right for your clients. British Columbia, with the most ski resorts of any province, is a great place to start your search, with at least 55 resorts offering downhill skiing. The region is blessed with tons of snow, light, airy powder, high mountain ranges and a moderate climate.

Grouse Mountain: 15 minutes from downtown Vancouver Each of the province’s six tourist regions has ski resorts, the most famous being Whistler Blackcomb two hours outside of Vancouver. The new Peak 2 Peak Gondola opened last season, linking Whistler and Blackcomb mountains and enabling skiers to easily access terrain on both mountains with a speedy and scenic 11-minute, 2.7-mile ride.

Whistler and Blackcomb rise up a mile out of the valley (5,280 feet) and access more than 7,000 acres of prime mountain terrain-including 12 alpine bowls, three glaciers and more than 200 marked trails. Some of the lengthier trails on Whistler Mountain include the Dave Murray Downhill, one of the world’s premier downhill racecourses; and Franz’s, named for Franz Wilhelmsen, one of the founders of the Garibaldi Lift Company, who originally developed the trails in Whistler. Over on Blackcomb, Couloir Extreme and Blackcomb Glacier are two of the more renowned runs, both originating in the high alpine region of the mountain. Whistler and Blackcomb competed with each other for two decades before merging in the spring of 1997.

Whistler Mountain hosts World Cup ski and snowboard races at the beginning of the season, while Blackcomb is the site of the World Cup freestyle competition in early January. (One of the novelties of summer is to watch freestyle skiers practice their routines at the foot of Blackcomb in a specially designed outdoor swimming pool). Both mountains share a common statistic: an average annual snowfall of 30 feet.

Clients can choose to stay in a number of locations around Whistler, including the Mountainside Lodge in Whistler Village, just 60 seconds from the slopes. This European-style pedestrian village is graced with an abundance of fine restaurants and unique shops. The Lodge offers a collection of intimate studio, spacious one-bedroom and lofted suites that feature fully appointed kitchens, gas fireplaces and jetted hot tubs.

The Crystal Lodge is also in the heart of Whistler Village. Its central location allows clients easy access to all that Whistler has to offer, including three restaurants, a lounge, two coffee shops and several retail stores right in the building. It is just steps from the base of Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, and from the Telus Conference Centre.

The Crystal Lodge has a large variety of accommodation choices to meet the needs of each individual, group or family, from its comfortable traditional hotel rooms (choice of King or Double/Double) to its newly renovated Deluxe Rooms (choice of King or Queen/Queen). For more luxury, guests can choose a Loft Room, Junior Suite or one luxurious Two- or Three-Bedroom Suite. Many rooms include a fireplace, full kitchen and balcony. The hotel also offers dog-friendly rooms.

Travel agents can use the GDS for bookings; contact General Manager Bryan Pilbeam at 604-932-2221, or bpilbeam@crystal-lodge.com.

For high-end clients, the Adara Hotel is Whistler’s first and only member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World. Steps away from the village’s best restaurants and nightlife, the designer boutique hotel allows clients to choose from four distinctive room configurations, featuring spa-like bathrooms, luxurious beds, “floating” fireplaces and artful design details-Superior King/Queen; Deluxe One-Bedroom Suite; One-Bedroom Loft Suite; and Two-Bedroom Loft Suite. All rooms offer stunning views of either the mountains or the village. Adara has a variety of bed-and-breakfast packages available, and commissions are 10 percent for agents.

Also in British Columbia, Panorama Ski Resort, which is framed by the Canadian Rockies and the Purcell Mountains, is known for its immense mountain and true slope-side lodging.

Panorama also has the best mountainside village in the Canadian Rockies: a pedestrian village with a variety of restaurants and post-ski options, including the giant Panorama Springs Hot Pools. The village is built for walking and has all the trappings of a high-quality destination resort: walk-to-lift accommodations, high-speed quad chairlifts and a relatively easy international gateway airport-Calgary International Airport (YYC) is the principal gateway serving all major carriers and ground transportation options (three-hour drive southwest from Calgary). Motorcoach transportation from the airport is available upon request, if booked 30 days prior to arrival. To book, call Panorama’s Transportation Coordinator at 250-341-4193.

Ski enthusiasts who don’t want to stray far from Vancouver can also find downhill skiing 15 minutes from downtown at Grouse Mountain. Many of the city’s top hotels have ski packages available during the season, with travel to Grouse Mountain included.

Plus, when the sun goes down, the lights go on, so your clients can keep on skiing and boarding into the night. This area offers great views, 22 runs from beginning to expert and four double chair lifts.

Alberta
Though you might know Banff and Lake Louise in the Canadian province of Alberta as summer destinations, you might be less inclined to think of them for winter vacations. But the region has some of the most beautiful ski mountains in North America, as well as two unforgettable Fairmont properties that are as splendid in winter as they are the rest of the year-and more affordable to boot, since winter is the low season here.

Sunshine Village: the larger of two ski mountains
surrounding Banff It’s also to travelers’ advantage that these hotels and ski areas all sit within the confines of Banff National Park, so views of massive rocky peaks or untamed forests are largely unobstructed. Nowhere is this point clearer than at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, which easily ranks as one of the most scenic combinations of hotel and surroundings in the world. The 554-room hotel is dwarfed by Mother Nature: directly behind the property sits a crystal-blue lake, frozen in winter, that’s framed by gigantic mountain cliffs and a glacier. Guests at the hotel can head out on snowshoeing excursions, cross-country skiing trips and sleigh rides, as well as enjoy a spa and eight bars and restaurants. When booking, insist that clients obtain a lake view; the seventh-floor Fairmont Gold section is a good choice, as rooms come with a separate concierge service, complimentary high-speed Internet, breakfast and hors d’oeuvres, and an honor bar.

When it’s time to hit the slopes, travelers will find Lake Louise Mountain Resort a short five-minute drive away. A seemingly endless sea of evergreens lies in the valley below, backed by rows of jagged, towering, gasp-inducing peaks. The skiing’s no slouch either, and at more than 4,200 skiable acres, it’s just plain massive. Four mountain faces are available, and some of them include powder bowls above the tree line. For everyone else, there’s plenty of terrain, including a dedicated kids’ area at the bottom of the mountain. For sales information, agents can contact Sales & Marketing Manager Jacqueline Birk (403-522-1305, jbirk@skilouise.com). For general information, call 866-611-5448 or visit www.skilouise.com.

The mountain town of Banff is a 45-minute drive down the Trans-Canada Highway from Lake Louise, and the classic Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel is about 1.2 miles from the town center. The 120-year-old, 768-room property evokes not so much the Alps as it does the Scottish Highlands, and it’s hard to think of a property outside of Scotland itself that could so completely create the feeling of an enormous baronial castle. Suggest that clients stay in the newer Stanley Thompson Wing, which provides picture-perfect views of the surrounding mountains and Bow Valley; rooms on the upper 13th and 14th floors should fit the bill nicely. Guests can indulge in more than 10 first-class bars and restaurants and plenty of winter activities. Off-site options include a walk through the ice-covered Johnston Canyon, available from local outfitters such as Discover Banff Tours (877-565-9372). A trip to the Willow Stream Spa is a must. A huge menu of treatments is available, but even if clients aren’t getting a massage or wrap, they’ll enjoy the series of European-style mineral pools, as much for the aesthetics as for the health benefits. For sales information for either the Chateau Lake Louise or the Banff Springs Hotel, contact Regional Sales Manager Kathy Dales (kathy.dales@fairmont.com). For general Fairmont information, call 800-257-7544.

Surrounding Banff are not one but two ski mountains, and both provide a compelling niche for travelers. Sunshine Village is the larger of the two; from the base area, guests are whisked up in a gondola, and following the 25-minute ride, they’ll find themselves amid more than 3,000 acres of terrain, with unforgettable vistas of mountain ranges in every direction. Guests can choose from a number of directions: They can stay among the snow-covered trees, where traditional trails for all abilities can be found, or they can head for the massive above-treeline areas, where they can test themselves on the open, European-style bowl skiing. Sunshine also is the only area ski resort to offer on-mountain lodging; guests at the 54-room Sunshine Mountain Lodge check their luggage at the base and ride to their lodging on the gondola. For sales information, contact In-Resort Sales Manager Dana Degeer (403-762-7883, dana.degeer@skibanff.com). For general information, call 87-SKI-BANFF.

Just outside the town is Mount Norquay, a smaller mountain that nonetheless has an excellent mix of beginner, intermediate and expert terrain. Two- or three-hour lift tickets are available for those who just want to dabble. Call 403-762-4421 or visit www.banffnorquay.com. Bus service provides transportation among the hotels and the three area ski resorts, and combination lift tickets are available for those who wish to sample more than one. Call 877-754-7080 or visit www.skibig3.com. For general travel information in the Banff/Lake Louise area, call 403-762-8421 or visit www.banfflakelouise.com.

Victoria is very nice

Victoria is very nice