NorthwestMale

Hi,

Just in case someone sees this and can respond overnight:

I'm in the Seattle area and on Saturday a friend is leaving for a week of snowboarding somewhere just south of Banff, Alberta.

I piqued her interest in the West Edmonton Mall and it seems likely that they'll make a side trip there. I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations as to what route and what other attractions they might do well to see and visit.

I'm aware that it is about 260 miles from Banff to the Mall (via the Calgary area), and roughly 400 via Jasper.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any quick advice about whether the Jasper route is worth the extra distance, and any other details you might want to add.

Thanks in advance!

nospam

The Columbia Icefields are worth the visit, and they are on the way between Banff and Jasper on the Columbia Icefields. There is a large and uncrowded ski mountain called Marmot Basin, which would also be good for snowboarding. Your friend might want to go north from Banff to Jasper, stay overnight, the next day hit Marmot for more snowboarding, stay overnight, and then drive from Jasper to Edmonton (approx. 4 hours or so in the winter). Your friend could stay overnight at the hotel at West Edmonton Mall, check it out the next day, and then travel back to Calgary (approximately 3.5 hours by car). I personally think that the Icefield Parkway is worth the trip, as is a day or so in Jasper, then on to Edmonton. Go to:
http://www.canadianrockies.net/icepwy.html
and
http://www.skimarmot.com
and
http://www.westedmall.com
for more information.
Good luck!
Just a thought!

ltt

it is quite a "big" side trip for a mall. but, if interested, then i agree with the above poster that driving to jasper is worth the trip if she has the time. they could stay in jasper for 2 nights or if time is tight, stay the night you arrive, then ski marmot the next day and head off from there to edmonton. jasper is a nice town. there is a town called edson in between that many people use as a place to take a break. if you left the ski hill by 4, you'd be in edmonton around 8-9 p.m. it is an easy, fast paced drive unless the weather happens to be bad. once done edmonton, take hwy 2 back to calgary - 3 hours.

ltt

p.s. if they like waterparks, the one at west ed is great.

Borealis

If your friend is travelling this weekend, I would advise against driving the Icefield Parkway from Banff to Jasper. There has been new snow recently and the road reports state that it is in poor driving condition. Check out this website (just Google "AMA Road Reports" if this link doesn't work) - and scroll down to the maps:

http://www.ama.ab.ca/cps/rde/xchg/SI...=/Highways.jsp

It's much faster to drive through Calgary - it's an hour from Banff and 2.5 hours from Edmonton (city limits to city limits).
Once you get to Edmonton, just follow the signs to West Edmonton Mall (WEM).

The Jasper route is gorgeous and worthwhile if the road conditions are good (and that can change on a day-to-day basis), but don't take unnecessary chances this time of the year. (as for the time to travel the Banff-Jasper-Edmonton route - it will take approximately three to four hours to drive Banff to Jasper and another 3.5 hours to drive from Jasper to Edmonton, and WEM is on the city's west end so you'll get to the Mall almost as soon as you are in the city).

Good luck!!

NorthwestMale

Just wanted to thank all for the replies, I remembered my post here and got the info to them in the nick of time.

The young woman is REALLY excited about seeing the mall, and I told her she should be!

taggie

I'd be interested in hearing how she liked the mall. That's a huge side trip to something pretty dreadful in my book! Especially for someone who has access to much better shops in Seattle than what the tired old WEM has to offer. But to each his own.

jimmoi

Do NOT do the Icefields Parkway in the winter unless you have a deathwish. It is one of the most spectacular drives in the world, but in the SUMMER only. I live about a mile from West Edmonton Mall, and I avoid going there at all costs. It was built in the late 70's and has not been updated since. It really is only half the size they say it is because almost every store (all of which can be found in any mall in North America) is repeated there twice. To me it is an emabarassment to an otherwise decent city (*i.e. Edmonton) which deserves visiting only in the summer, and only if one has another reason for going there. In other words, a nice city, but there are about 500 other nice cities in one can visit without travelling so damned far!

ShelliDawn

Driving the Icefields Parkway in the winter is like driving any mountain highway in the winter, doing so depends on the weather/road conditions. It certainly isn't a "deathwish" situation. If the road conditions are that bad, they'll close the road. However, I strongly advise having winter tires for winter driving, especially in the mountains.

Tootsall

I've driven the Icefields Parkway a couple of times in late winter. As Shelli says, you MUST have good winter tires and/or carry chains (they may check and can refuse access to the highway if you don't). Drive with reasonable care and attention and you should be OK. The only "dodgy" spot that I've ever hit is right at the top where there is a bit of funnelling of the wind and can be some heavy drifting. Other than that you'd wish you had a chauffeur so you can keep your eyes on the scenery. I've still got the memory of a pair of wolves slogging along through the snow beside the river from one of our family winter trips to Marmot Basin.