rebecca

we are canadians living in the US for many years, & want to vacation next winter in alberta or BC. what downhill ski resort would we consider for our family next year? we would like to avoid extended lift lines (which i know is difficult, at least here). average to advanced skiers, two adults, two pre-teens.

traveller

Check out Fernie, BC. Close to the Alberta border and Westcastle which is mostly advanced skiing but still fun. For some entertainment and beginner/intermediate, you could travel to the small hill at Elkford, BC.

rebecca

thanks for the info. i had thought about fernie & heard that it was a good place! will check into elkford.

A.M.

The 3 mountains around Kelowna are unique and have as much, if not more, powder than in the States.

xxx

silver summit above vernon, b.c. is well known for a good family hill. not too difficult. <BR>whistler is VERY expensive.<BR>i personally would choose to go to banff, alberta. you can ski sunshine and lake louise and if you had time, take a drive to panorama, b.c. and ski there. (or drive to fernie for a few days.)<BR>

Marilyn Rice Davies

Fernie is good. It always has the most snow. But for the best intermediate ski hill in the world, Kimberley BC can not be beat. Also, there is accommodation on the hill. Line ups are short. It usually has good snow, but not as much as Fernie. It is head and shoulders above Banff and Panorama.<BR>Jasper is nice, but there is no accomodation on the hill.

A.M.

Actually, because you now live in the U.S. you will find that Whistler is comparatively much less expensive than most ski resorts in the U.S. The lift lines are reasonable, the accomodations varied, the mountain huge and the apres ski plentiful. It's only drawback is finicky weather at the base, skiing up on the mountains is always good, in my experience. So don't discount Whistler, it does have something for everyone. We love it.<BR>A.M.<BR>A.M.

rebecca

thank you all for your ideas! i hold special memories of whistler ~ and in the romance, don't recall long lift lines. however, my memory tends to be so selective! i have heard good things about fernie & appreciated the endorsement. i also remember spectacular snow at vernon & kelowna in the early 80's! we've plenty to chose from & i do appreciate all the good thoughts! thank you all for your suggestions.

maria

Rebecca,<BR><BR>Our family just returned from a week skiing in Kimberley...fabulous!!! Kind of extreme Spring conditions, that is, morning cold with very crispy conditions up top on the groomed runs with steady warming and softening and then early afternoon "mashed potato" conditions on the bottom third of the hills. Last year we spent a week skiing at Panorama during the same time period. Absolutely loved Panorama also but it is different in a number of ways.<BR><BR>This year snow was much, much more plentiful everywhere in the area which was helpful. The two hills are kind of laid out differently which was good in some ways and bad in others. Criticism of Panorama: the top portions of the mountain are really tough to get to...no chair lifts, only a tow rope and VERY steep making it nigh unto impossible for our snowboarders and less experienced skiers. Although the Panorama mid mountain runs and lifts are great and same for the lower mountain runs. Panorama seemed to hold up better for late in the day conditions than Kimberley which was total mush very early in the afternoon. Criticism of Kimberley: the configuration of the runs do not allow access to the big quad chair unless you go all the way to the bottom of the mountain and then encounter lots of crowds crossing this bridge to the bottom. We never waited more than 30 seconds in line at either location during Spring break so no complaints there. Panorama seemed to groom more runs than kimberley every day although we learned that part of the problem at Kimberley was that they were not very good about listing groomed runs completely, that is, we would have skiied the whole morning avoiding runs which were ungroomed and, we believed, too skied off and icy, only to find out that they had, indeed been groomed but not listed as such on the posting!!!<BR><BR>Let me know if you have more specific questions than I have provided answers. Next year we are going to try Lake Louise as we have heard lots of great reports about it.<BR><BR>Maria

Maria

Rebecca,<BR><BR>Oh, I forgot to mention....our discussions with others familiar with the various ski hills in the BC Rockies all agreed that Fernie is much more suited for the more "expert" skiers...a great mountain but offering less for those of us who will forever be stuck in the "intermediate" category.<BR><BR>Maria