Need help with trip to Fairmont Hot Springs in January
 

Hi, we are planning a family ski vacation in January at Fairmont Hot Springs.
We would like to fly into Kalispell and then travel to HS spending one night along the way.
Can we travel the "Going To the Sun Road" in January - or is another road recommended?
We would rent and return our car in Kalispell. We plan to stay 9 days, 8 and the resort.
We would love and welcome any suggestions / recommendations from the experts.
Thank you!

I don't believe the road is open and if it should be I certainly would not recommend driving it. I think if you look at a map you might find Spokane an easier destination and the road up through Cranbrook #96 is easier (I think) than highway 2 west from Kalispell picking up #96 at Bonners Ferry. We live in Calgary and have made this trip more times than I can count and Spokane is where I would fly into. Do some research into Fairmont Hot Springs and their skiing. there was a terrible mud slide there this summer and maybe things are disrupted. I also don't think winter driving on #93 out of Kalispell would be so great but I don't know how you drive, where you drive , and are you prepared for winter mountain/windy prairie conditions?

Sorry,# 95, not #96. 3.5 hours from Kalispell, 4 from Spokane. And you might consider Calgary as a destination..Time is roughly the same but again mountains..not divided and winter conditions taking longer to get to where you are going..That being said the locale is georgeous!!

Thank you! We traded our timeshare and love BC! Fairmont looked like great skiing, and will check about the mud slide, thank you. We are flying in from Virginia and have two free tickets within the US, and wanted to use them. My husband and I have both lived in places with lots of snow, Oregon and upstate NY, and feel OK driving, but want to be safe. We will do Spokane if it is easier. Are there other ski areas close that you would recommend?

I'm not a skier but there is Fernie in BC on highway #3 which according to my skiing family members is very good.Some have come from Colorado to ski there..Switzer Basin east of Spokane at Sandpoint ID. Banff, of course, Lake Louise also and the driving time is about the same for all except Sandpoint..nearer to Spokane and Banff,L.louise farther away from US air ports. Oh another place is Big White in MT. Look them up and you will probably not be disappointed in any of them. All the winter driving will be much the same on any of these mountain roads and the weather can be a crap shoot at best.

I am a skier and can offer some suggestions. I haven't skied at Fairmont HS, but the hill there is limited by comparison to many others in the vicinity. I don't know what your level of skiing is, so perhaps it may be just fine--certainly it will be a good place to start and get your ski legs.

If you want to try other resorts, there are several up and down the Columbia Valley from Fairmont HS.The nearest major ski resort is Panorama, outside Invermere and about an hour's drive from Fairmont HS. It has a great variety of runs for all levels of skiers. Kimberly is a bit further if you want more. Fernie is a great ski area, but it would be about 2 1/2 hours away, a bit far in my opinion for a day trip, but certainly doable. In the other direction, Kicking Horse near Golden has huge terrain for experts and advanced skiers, but not much for beginners. It's about two hours north. The advantage of these resorts is that they are all accessible from Fairmont without crossing any mountain passes.

Further away on the other side of the Rockies are the Banff/Lake Louise resorts--Sunshine, Lake Louise, and Mt. Norquay. However I think that you might want to save them for a future trip.

If you are not set on staying at Fairmont, then there are many other possibilities. One would be to fly to Spokane and drive north (about 3 hours) to Rossland BC where you could ski at Red Mountain. Lots of great powder skiing there.

BTW Big White is not in Montana, but in BC, outside Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley.

Thank you for all the great advice! We have a five year old who has only skied in Virginia. It looked like Fairmont was wonderful for little ones. That being said, we would start there and then move to another place mentioned above as we all get our ski legs.
We love the looks of the timeshare at Fairmont, and have never been to that part of BC.
From the advice, we will fly into Spokane and drive to Fairmont. We would like to spend one night along the way, any suggestions? We will most likely drive back to Spokane in one day.
Thank you again!

My face is red...Big white!!! What was I thinking???. Thanks for helping out these travellers...Isn't there another ski area near Invermere? What do i know as I said I'm not a skier.