2024-01-03 09:53:24
A white maple leaf on a green background shows the way across the second largest country in the world. The Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) stretches around 8,000 kilometers from the Pacific in the west to the Atlantic in the east. It is the second longest national highway in the world after National Highway 1 in Australia.
But for ski fans, the clear number one is the TCH: Dozens of ski resorts are lined up along the highway with the maple leaf sign – especially in British Columbia (BC), Alberta and Quebec. If you wanted, you could check them all out and take a vacation of several months to go on a transcontinental ski trip.
But combining several resorts is also possible on shorter routes; some providers have bookable trips in their program. The pioneer is the German Peter Stumböck, who sent groups of holidaymakers on such ski safaris in BC and Alberta more than 30 years ago. Even after his death in 2000, his idea remains a recipe for success. Like surfers chasing the waves, Stumböck and other travel groups are always chasing new skiing and nature experiences as well as the best “powder”, the powder snow on which skiing and snowboarding are almost weightless.
Source: Infographic WELT
The quality is best inland, but more snow often falls on the coasts, especially on the west coast in the so-called Coast Mountains. Heli-skiing providers such as Bella Coola and White Wilderness with numerous lodges are also based there.
Lots of “powder” in western Canada
Even on Vancouver Island, the westernmost starting point of what is probably the longest ski safari in the world, gigantic amounts of snow of around eleven meters per year often fall. Mt. Washington is considered an insider tip simply because of the view of the Pacific.
Mount Washington on Vancouver Island is the westernmost starting point of what is probably the longest ski safari in the world
Source: dpa-tmn
Foreign guests rarely venture into the small resort, which is an hour north of the highway. “The ski area with around 80 runs and a skiable area of seven square kilometers is ideal for families and for anyone who wants to go off-piste,” says ski instructor Nigel Harrison, who lives at the foot of the mountain.
Unlike in Europe, in Canada you are allowed to leave the slopes and ski anywhere within the ski area boundaries if approved by the Ski Patrol. “We therefore don’t look at the number of slopes, but rather at the skiable area,” explains Harrison.
Right in the middle of the snow. In many places in Canada, skiers are allowed to leave the marked slopes
Source: dpa-tmn
The largest ski resort in North America, covering an area of 33 square kilometers, is a five-hour drive from Mt. Washington – a stone’s throw by Canadian standards. From Nanaimo you take the ferry, which is part of the TCH, over to Whistler. Whistler has been world-famous since the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.
Whistler is a skier’s dream
“Wide pleasure pistes, fast descents and, above all, endless off-piste terrain – Whistler is simply a dream,” enthuses Canada’s former freestyle champion Darryl Bowie, who runs steep slope camps for the Extremely Canadian ski school.
Whistler is a magnet for visitors. Some come just to ride the Peak2Peak gondola once. At the middle stations it connects the two mountains Blackcomb and Whistler Mountain over a distance of 4.4 kilometers. The gondolas float 436 meters high above the valley.
The Whistler-Blackcomb ski area offers wide pistes for pleasure and fast descents
Source: dpa-tmn
Whistler’s pioneers included Canada’s racing icon Nancy Greene and her husband Al Raine, before the two moved east on the TCH and built a new resort, Sun Peaks. It didn’t become a second Whistler.
The resort is smaller, the mountain is not as demanding, the panorama is less spectacular. Sun Peaks scores with long, wide runs through dense forests and village charm.
A paradise in the middle of British Columbia
When it comes to height difference, Revelstoke is number one. At 1,710 meters, the resort is the record holder in North America. The town on the Columbia River is also “Canada’s heli-skiing capital” with lodges from providers such as Selkirk Tangiers, CMH and others. The Selkirks and Bugaboos mountains are famous for the finest powder snow.
The resort, which opened in 2007, is growing just as the town, which is closely linked to the history of the Trans-Canada Railway, once did. The Canadian Pacific Railway, completed in 1885, served as a model for the Trans-Canada Highway. The Rocky Mountains were the biggest challenge for both transport routes. To this day, Rogers Pass is often closed due to heavy snowfall.
Kicking Horse is a venue for the Freeride World Tour, where the best freeriders in the world throw themselves down extremely steep slopes
Source: dpa-tmn
Anyone who makes it over the pass will be rewarded with a challenging ski area and a beautiful ski hut in Golden: The “Eagles Eye” towers over Kicking Horse like an eagle’s nest: The resort is a venue for the Freeride World Tour, which brings together the best freeriders in the world fall down extremely steep slopes.
If you’re looking for more variety, take a detour south. The diverse Panorama ski area is located there. Experts can be driven to distant peaks and freeride slopes in a converted snow groomer.
Skiing in the winter wonderland of Banff National Park
If you continue east from Golden, the TCH leads up into the Rockies past the famous spiral tunnels of the railway line. These change direction within the mountain by 288 degrees. So you can watch from the highway as a long train leaves a tunnel in one direction while its end enters the tunnel in the opposite direction.
Lake Louise is located in the middle of Banff National Park. The lake with the famous hotel “Fairmont Château Lake Louise” below the Victoria Glacier is to the south, the Lake Louise ski area is directly north of the highway. It is varied and, for many, the most beautiful landscape. Hundreds of peaks rise from seemingly endless forests. Tucked away in a high valley next to the highway is Banff Sunshine, home to the only mountain hotel in the middle of a ski resort in Canada. Sunshine also offers the Delirium Dive off-road run, one of the steepest on the continent.
Lake Louise is north of the highway
Source: dpa-tmn
It’s only a 25 minute drive to Banff. The most famous resort in the Rockies is located directly on the TCH. The first lift ran on Mt. Norquay in 1927. Today, thanks to the SkiBig3 network, skiers can use Mt. Norquay, Banff Sunshine and Lake Louise with one ski pass. Between Banff and Calgary, Nakiska, along with Lake Louise, was the venue for the alpine ski races at the 1988 Calgary Olympic Games. National teams regularly train there on the eastern flank of the Rockies, at the foot of which the prairie begins.
The provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are known as cowboy and farmer country. With Ochapowace (Saskatchewan) and Asessippi (Manitoba) they still offer mini ski areas on the TCH, as does Ontario with Mount Baldy on Lake Superior. However, the skiing fun there is limited given that there are only around ten kilometers of slopes with an altitude difference of just around 150 meters.
Quebec offers French charm
Further west in Québec it goes higher again at 230 to 875 meters and into the French heart of Canada. Savoir Vivre is very important at the gates of Montreal. “Skiing may be important, but so is après-ski,” is the motto. Mt. Tremblant is the largest ski resort in Quebec and the favorite address of connoisseurs. But it’s also sporty: it’s not for nothing that the area with 14 lifts and more than 100 marked runs is the venue for two giant slalom races in the World Cup.
Further east, Mont-Sainte-Anne and Le Massif des Charlevoix, Quebec’s other two large ski areas, are located on the highway on the other side of the St. Lawrence River. If you want to put on your skis in every province on the long route from the Pacific to the Atlantic, you will find “local hills” everywhere. The snow may be getting less and worse, but the enthusiasm of local ski fans is huge.
More holiday tips for Canada:
New Brunswick, which is famous for having the highest tidal range in the world in the Bay of Fundy, offers 20 kilometers of slopes on Crabbe Mountain, and Brookvale Ski Park on Prince Edward Island has five. Cape Smokey in Nova Scotia only has six kilometers of slopes, but it also offers a magnificent view of the Atlantic.
From there to the easternmost ski resort in Canada it is another 1000 kilometers, some of which can be bridged by ferry. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Trans-Canada Highway passes through the small White Hills Resort. It marks the end of what is probably the longest ski safari in the world, from powder in the west to icy, hard slopes in the east.
Tips and information:
For ski fans, a road trip on the Trans Canada Highway is legendary. Ski safari pioneers offer shorter trips with highlights in Alberta and British Columbia Stumböck Club and many other organizers as guided group tours and individually. Other providers are Hagen Alpine Tours and Canusa.
Arrival and entry: Air Canada offers the most flights to Canada. For German citizens, a valid passport and an electronic travel authorization (eTA) previously obtained online are sufficient to enter the country.
Further information: Destination Canada
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