Christmas on West coast - where?
 

Where in western Canada would you choose to spend Christmas and why?

Australian family thinking of a white Christmas but where and what else is there there to do?

If you want white Christmas + west coast + reasonable proximity to an international airport, the only place in Canada that I know of that could provide all that is Whistler ski resort, outside of Vancouver.

http://www.whistler.com/

http://www.whistler-blackcomb.com/

Whistler would be my suggestion as well, but Christmas prices are ghastly.

If you don't mind driving for, say, 4 or 5 hours, there are good ski resorts at much better prices in the Okanagan Valley region, such as Sun Peaks Ski Resort (Kamloops), Silver Star Mountain Resort (Vernon), Big White Ski Resort (Kelowna) and Apex Mountain Resort (Penticton). Try googling each resort's name for further info, as well as http://www.britishcolumbia.com/Ski/.
My family is looking at Sun Peaks for the holidays.

These mountains don't offer the same calibre runs of Whistler/Blackcomb but are close behind, and just fine for my family.

Good luck,
Linda

Sorry I haven't checked this in a while, but thankyou for your suggestions Judy and Linda. I'll definately look up these places.

What would you do if 1 family member doesn't want to go skiing? We are a family with 2 nearly adult children (I know, I know, there's a child in us all) but my husband is dead against skiing. I need to somehow convince him that a white Christmas doesn't necessarily mean freezing his b...s off and spending a fortune. I'm thinking a thaw out in Hawaii on the way home may be the lure.

Hi RhondaZ,

I'm a bit out of my depth in discussing the U.S., but I think the U.S. west coast may be closer to what your family is looking for, given that your family members sound divided on what kind of vacation to have.

I've been to the Palm Springs / Palm Desert area in January, for example. Where I was staying people were playing golf and tennis, but I heard that there were ski slopes within driving distance of there.

So I think California is at least worth enquiring about. You could ask at the Fodors United States forum if you haven't already done so.

not canada but have you considered lake tahoe, nevada. great skiing but plenty of nice sites for people who don't want to ski.

Thanks for the suggestions but have friends in Vancouver we'd like to catch up with.

We always have trouble finding a compromise. Hubby always wants something different from a holiday than me - guess that's why we haven't had many.

People are generally mistaken about the fact that "ALL" of Canada gets snow. With the exception of the odd year, BC doens't get much snow and infact Victoria (where I'm from) rarely gets ANY.
This year we barely dipped below freezing and have had record high temperatures and sunshine and cherry blossoms and tulips in mid February.Very warm in this part of Canada.

You would have to go to the mountains to get snow.

Victoria is lovely at Christmas...like a gingerbread village, but again, probably not a "white" Christmas.

We also have the "Victorian Christmas Festival" here from the end of November thru January.