Northern Rockies/Alberta Powder Highway Advice - So Many Options, So Little Time

[Lauren]

Originally looking at Europe (and Italy specifically) for a trip this year, my husband and I decided we wanted to book a trip with a little more reliable snow. I mean, it's named the "Powder Highway"...so it must get some good snow...right?

I've sifted though many threads, read a number of trip reports, found sound blog entries, and lots of "guides" on the interwebs. Now I'm turning to the great people of SkiTalk for recommendations and advice.

Things we are looking for:
- Snow, of the powdered variety. This is one of the main reasons for pivoting from Europe to BC. While I know you can't plan for the weather too far in advance, recommendations on whatever we can do to up our odds (location, time of year, or snow dance rituals), are greatly appreciated.
- Cat skiing. A 2-3 day cat skiing operation is of great interest. I understand (and see lots of places are already booked solid) booking well in advance is necessary, so I'm not sure if this will be an option...but if it is, we are interested. If multi-day operations are out of the question, a day tour would be good.
- Guides at resorts or backcountry touring. Basically willing to pay a local to show us the goods. Open to guided days on resort, or backcountry days (have touring gear that we can bring).
- Variety of terrain, with some challenge. We tend to like steeper, off-piste/ungroomed terrain. I'd like enough variety that if it's a bad snow year we can still have a good time on snow.
- Towns and places to stay. We like low key, no need to focus of nightlife beyond dinner and a couple drinks. Bed and breakfast style inns and lodging is preferred over large hotel chains. Walkable towns are a plus, but not necessary.
- We enjoy off the beaten path locations. I'd rather ride a slow triple with no line than stand in line for a fast detachable quad.
- We do not have an IKON or an EPIC pass...though we'll consider these resorts...we'd prefer not spending $200 on a lift ticket and another $100 on lunch daily. Basically, large multi-resort passes are not going to weigh into decisions.

Considerations:
- Currently planning on flying into either Calgary or Spokane, and renting a car (with snow tires . There appears to be a few smaller airports we could consider depending on the itinerary we finalize on.
- We'll have a group of friends with us, probably somewhere between 4-8 people total. This will need to be taken into consideration when booking transportation, guides, tours and lodging.
- We're looking at approx. 10 days total (including travel). This will give us 7 or 8 ski days.
- I think doing the whole powder highway referenced below is out of the question for the duration. I'd love some opinions on where to focus based on what we're looking for above. Options could be: Southwest (RED/Whitewater/Catskiing in the Selkirks) or Southeast (Kimberly/Fernie/Castle) or Northern (Sunshine/LL/KH/Revelstoke) or any combination of these?

Really just looking for open-ended advice at this point...

Map for reference:

 

[JoeSchmoe]

I haven't done much of the highway, but skied Banff this year. For your timeline, all things equal weather-wise I'd skip Sunshine and ski Lake Louise on the first leg of the trip out of Calgary. Sunshine is kind of meh in comparison.

I've hit most of the major resorts in CO and prefered Lake Louise to all of them (I still prefer SLC and Snowbasin to LL though).

Sunshine is shorter vert runs with a lot of above the treeline terrain. It's also a bit tricky to navigate around for a first timer. I'd consider it more of a local mountain than a destination mountain (albeit a really good local mountain with a long season and plenty of gnar). Lake Louise is a true destination mountain with 3000ft vert runs and better/more interesting advanced level terrain IMO. Despite not a lot of recent snow, we found some great powder pockets near the top of the front side of the mountain that no one else seemed too interested in.

 

[noncrazycanuck]

First you won't be spending 200 on a lift ticket, will be under 125, and most are under 100. Those are Canadian dollars.
Second if you plan to hit multiple areas I doubt you need a guide. There is plenty of in bound and easily accessible side country which is a fit.
Cat or heli operations are usually booked in advance. Could be a few last minute standby's available at some locations. For a group you certainly need advance booking.
For more than 2 couples arrange the lodging and suitable sized transportation first. Getting a couple of rooms at the last minute is easy, getting something larger for a group will more difficult.
Other than Banff most of our interior towns are fairly small and not towns one spends hours wandering about.

flying into Calgary look at Sunshine ,Lake Louise Kicking Horse first and either add Revelstoke or loop back via Fernie and Castle (Panorama and Whitefish are also possible if going that way)
Whitewater and Red will add more hours driving and you may as well fly into Spokane

 

[Lauren]

I haven't done much of the highway, but skied Banff this year. For your timeline, all things equal weather-wise I'd skip Sunshine and ski Lake Louise on the first leg of the trip out of Calgary. Sunshine is kind of meh in comparison.

I've hit most of the major resorts in CO and prefered Lake Louise to all of them (I still prefer SLC and Snowbasin to LL though).

Sunshine is shorter vert runs with a lot of above the treeline terrain. It's also a bit tricky to navigate around for a first timer. I'd consider it more of a local mountain than a destination mountain (albeit a really good local mountain with a long season and plenty of gnar). Lake Louise is a true destination mountain with 3000ft vert runs and better/more interesting advanced level terrain IMO. Despite not a lot of recent snow, we found some great powder pockets near the top of the front side of the mountain that no one else seemed too interested in.

Those views! Even in the clouds...looks gorgeous. Good tips on LL vs Sunshine. Thanks!

 

[Lauren]

flying into Calgary look at Sunshine ,Lake Louise Kicking Horse first and either add Revelstoke or loop back via Fernie and Castle (Panorama and Whitefish are also possible if going that way)
Whitewater and Red will add more hours driving and you may as well fly into Spokane

How do these routes compare? Would you recommend looping one way instead of the other? If you had to skip one section which one...fly to Calgary and skip Whitewater/Red or fly to Spokane and probably ski LL/KH area?

Whitewater has definitely caught my attention thus far...but I still know very little about it and the Nelson area to be sure.

 

[tch]

Friend and I did the Powder Highway 3 years ago, right before Covid hit. Unfortunately -- and amazingly -- we had 3+ weeks of no snow, so it was more the Groomer Highway for us. So we did not really get big opportunities to ski steep and off-piste. But...here's my take:

Red -- incredible terrain, low-maintenance town, I would definitely go back w/o question. Good off-piste possibilities and older, slow lifts. My favorite (DON'T spread the word about this place!) It has Big Red Cat skiing.
Whitewater -- had probably the best snow, but best terrain is OB, so good idea to get a guide or cat there. Town is farther away and bigger/more developed...but not too chi-chi.
Revelstoke was good, but lift system is a bit funky (you want to skip lower mountain if possible). We maybe liked the town best of the bunch.
Panorama was a bit high-end, in that area has dedicated base area rather than a town. Terrain seemed promising, but we heard (and experienced) that it has the least snow of any of the resorts. It was more of a "ski resort" kind of place rather than a town + ski area like the others.
Fernie was very good, though getting around mountain in tough conditions was a bit difficult. Terrain was some of the steeper stuff we encountered. Also a very nice town -- reminded me of a very low-key Steamboat or Telluride.
We didn't visit Kicking Horse, although I've heard good things about the place. We had to leave something out and given the tough conditions, we didn't think the steeps there would be a good option.

In no place did we ever feel any liftline anxiety. It may have been attributable in some part to the mediocre conditions, but the locals mostly confirmed that there was very (relative to the US) skier pressure.
I would definitely put Red and Fernie on a repeat -visit list .. and probably Revelstoke as I want to see how good snow might help. I'd revisit Whitewater for sure, but know that patrolled area is smaller than others and perhaps even spring for a guide OB.
I'd probably skip Panorama.

We drove up from CA area and drove west to east, clockwise. We are talking about another trip and I think we try to include the areas west of there: Big White, Silver Star, maybe Sun Peaks.

 

[Jim Kenney]

This isn't exactly the powder highway, but you're mindset sure sounds perfect for a trip based on the Indy Pass (still available for about $300). If you flew into Spokane you could do a number of different circuits such as 2 days Silver Mtn, ID, 2 days Castle Mtn, AB, 2 days at Apex Mtn, BC, and 2 days at 49 Degrees North, WA.

 

[Lauren]

Friend and I did the Powder Highway 3 years ago, right before Covid hit. Unfortunately -- and amazingly -- we had 3+ weeks of no snow, so it was more the Groomer Highway for us. So we did not really get big opportunities to ski steep and off-piste.

Bummer on the low snow, but sounds like you had a great trip regardless. And don't worry your Red mountain secret is safe with me (and everyone else that reads this thread ). Thank you for your summary of the different resorts...it's solidifying my curiosity for Whitewater, but also has pushed Revelstoke up the list.

This isn't exactly the powder highway, but you're mindset sure sounds perfect for a trip based on the Indy Pass (still available for about $300). If you flew into Spokane you could do a number of different circuits such as 2 days Silver Mtn, ID, 2 days Castle Mtn, AB, 2 days at Apex Mtn, BC, and 2 days at 49 Degrees North, WA.

Great minds think alike I suppose. Getting the Indy pass had crossed my mind for this trip. My only hesitation is that they're all pretty spread out...so wasn't sure if it would be more driving than necessary.

 

[dbostedo]

Just from a few posts I've seen on here, you might want to look at the Castle guide: https://www.skitalk.com/threads/unofficial-guide-castle-mountain-resort-ab.4764/

Or maybe here from @Castle Dave...

 

[Bad Bob]

If you fly through Spokane, what @Jim Kenney said.
An insiders note. 49 * North has traditionally been closed Wednesdays and Thursdays; this creates "Powder Friday" when Mother Nature cooperates. Flower Trail Road is the road to 49* North keeps going east and leaves you about an hour from Sandpoint at the base of Schweitzer if you opt to play here.

 

[Lauren]

Just from a few posts I've seen on here, you might want to look at the Castle guide: https://www.skitalk.com/threads/unofficial-guide-castle-mountain-resort-ab.4764/

Castle looks rad.

Maybe fly into Spokane....hit RED, Whitewater, Fernie, Castle...fly out of Calgary. Or some variation, 4 resorts in 8 days might be a bit too much if we want to get to know each place a bit.

 

[Lauren]

An insiders note. 49 * North has traditionally been closed Wednesdays and Thursdays; this creates "Powder Friday" when Mother Nature cooperates. Flower Trail Road is the road to 49* North keeps going east and leaves you about an hour from Sandpoint at the base of Schweitzer if you opt to play here.

Good to know. With only 7-8 days for skiing, how does 49 deg stack up to some of these other resorts mentioned in this thread? Worth a day, two days? Maybe just a 1/2 day to break up the drive north?

 

[noncrazycanuck]

Red Whitewater are both good hills but also the ones I ski the least, not because they don't have decent skiing but because they require a longer drive.
if that's where you prefer, I'd fly in and out of Spokane, arrange some Heli or cat skiing to accompany them.

for a first time 7-8 day BC/Alberta ski trip leaving/returning via Calgary there are plenty of options all within 2 hr of each other.
Would you perfer a few days on each or are you planning on moving every day ?

Sunshine, Lake Louise, and Kicking Horse are day trips from central Banff/Lake Louise or Golden lodging. Revelstoke is 2 hr past Golden.

If you add a southern loop you could also do Whitefish (nice little town) Fernie or Castle then 3 hr back to airport.

you also pass a few other hills
Nakiska Norquay, Panorama and Kimberley but might not be what you are looking for.

everyone has favorites of those mentioned I prefer Kicking Horse, Lake Louise, Fernie and Revelstoke.

 

[charlier]

Good to know. With only 7-8 days for skiing, how does 49 deg stack up to some of these other resorts mentioned in this thread? Worth a day, two days? Maybe just a 1/2 day to break up the drive north?

If you decide to fly into Spokane and rent a car, drive to Canada without stopping (other than gasoline and duty free). Red is 2 1/2 hrs from the airport and Nelson is about 3+ hours from the airport. FYI, on big powder days, Kicking Horse gets skied out within a day or less. Revy will have a line-up, so get to the lifts early. Lake Louise has spectacular views and wonderful terrain; it’s located in the Rocky Mtns, so powder is not as common as the B.C. ski areas and is generally has much colder temps than ski area along the powder highway.

 

[scott43]

Lake Louise is basically a ski hill..no on-hill lodging but still nice day lodges. Closest hotels are across the highway beside the gas station. Or the Chateau.. No village to speak of..unless you day-drive from Banff. Beautiful place, just limited in some ways w.r.t. lodging. You can skate on the lake though if that's appealing to you.

 

[Lauren]

Would you perfer a few days on each or are you planning on moving every day ?

I'd prefer not moving every day. Unless it's a small mountain, I like to spend one day getting to know the mountain, then a second day being able to make the most of it. Add on a third day if it's big enough and really worth it (vs. moving to a new place). So we're probably looking at exploring 3 (ish) mountains over 8 days.

Banff or Golden definitely has some appeal for the aspect of having multiple mountains without necessarily needing to move accommodations.

 

[noncrazycanuck]

none of the hills are small.
The northern area isn't "the powder highway" but that's only a marketing slogan.
While less snow falls it preserves very well. At the Lake, Kicking Horse Sunshine and Castle a 5 cm dusting or even a bit of wind shift can be fabulous in places.
Revelstoke, Fernie and Whistler are where your far more likely to see fresh snow and the variable conditions that accompany it.

Banff is by far the nicest town, Lake Louise is very quiet, Golden is a work in progress.

 

[Bad Bob]

Good to know. With only 7-8 days for skiing, how does 49 deg stack up to some of these other resorts mentioned in this thread? Worth a day, two days? Maybe just a 1/2 day to break up the drive north?

49 is not particularly steep, it IS the 2nd largest area in WA and has perhaps the finest tree skiing I have ever encountered. It gets very light skier traffic so the fresh snow can last for days. Also very easy to navigate since you can see pretty much all the zones from a chair. Absolutely worth at least part of a day.

It is about 1 1/2 hours from Spokane International and less than 2 hours from Red; so if you have a late morning arrival it will give you the opportunity play for at least part of a day. Would not increase your drive by much, it is an easy10 miles up the road from the highway you will use to go to Red and White H2O.

Our little corner of the world has 5 really good ski areas (and very few people even know we are here) a group can do a week here and not get bored. It does not compare to the Powder Highway, but it would be a really easy shot for a cheap ski vacation.

 

[fatbob]

49 N is definitely worth a day if there's snow if you're on your way up from Spokane. Just a cool area where everyone will be your friend. I liked it so much after accidentally hitting it ( driving through Chewelah saw the sign and thought why the hell not rather than rocking on through to Rossland) that I grabbed a motel in town and did a second day.

 

[JoeSchmoe]

Lake Louise is basically a ski hill..no on-hill lodging but still nice day lodges. Closest hotels are across the highway beside the gas station. Or the Chateau.. No village to speak of..unless you day-drive from Banff. Beautiful place, just limited in some ways w.r.t. lodging. You can skate on the lake though if that's appealing to you.

I don't know if I agree with you with the limited lodging. Yes, there's nothing right at the base but the Chateau Lake Louise is probably the most scenic hotel in skiing (though not the B&B style the OP is looking for). There are several other nice spots, including the Post hotel as well.

Furthermore, down the highway is the town of Banff which probably has the best selection and best value lodging (low, mid, high end) of any area in NA. This is all because Banff is a summer peaking tourist destination. Yes, it's a bit of a drive, but I'd do that drive 365 days a year if I could. Doing it for a day or two would be a pleasure for someone making a stop on the powder highway.