Patty

I'm planning a one week ski trip for December and looking for some suggestions. Skied Whistler a few years ago and loved it. I'm interested in trying something new - considering Banff, Lake Louise, Silver Star, or Sun Peaks. But also wondering if I should just go back to Whistler. Can anyone who's been to one or more of these resorts give a list of pros and cons or comparisons? Does any one of these places have better early season skiing than the others? Thanks for any advice or recommendations!

sandy

The other locations don't compare to Whistler, but if you like smaller, quainter towns, you'll still enjoy the trip. The snow conditions can very too - depends on the year - very hard to predict

x

stay in banff and ski sunshine & lake louise. but, as mentioned, check on conditions closer to the date and book early if staying over christmas/new years.

Patty

x,
Do you recommend staying in Banff even if skiing at Lake Louise? It's about 45 minutes away right? Would it be better to just stay in the Lake Louise area? How far is Sunshine from either area?

Robyn

While I'm only familiar with skiing the local Vancouver mountains and Whistler, I'd say try something else in the BC interior for a difference change. There's one website that might give you more ideas:

www.snowcanada.com

Hope this helps!

Peter Stanley

The best ski hill for intermediate skiing in the world is Kimberley, BC. For Black Diamond skiiers, Red Mountain in Rossland is probably the best.

x

if wanting to ski both lake louise & sunshine (15 minutes? out of town) i'd stay in banff and commute to both. there's much more choices in the evenings in banff re restaurants/pubs etc. however, having said that, i prefer lake louise and if you don't mind switching hotels, you could stay a couple nights in banff - skiing sunshine, then move to a lake louise hotel but these will probably be more expensive.

Heather

Banff area ski hills tend to have more dependable snow early in the season. Interior BC hills can sometimes suffer from less snow in early December.

Patty

Thanks for all the replies! x, why do you prefer lake louise?