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Hi Lianne, it was absolutely fabulous! wouldnt change a thing. Panorama was unbelieveable, when we arrived it was snowing and all the fairy lights lit up the place. 10 sec walk to the ski lift. Banff great, fox hotel excellent. (altho no fridge or microwave!) Skiied mostly at Lake Louise, so many runs, so many lifts, so many gondolas - where to start! so, thankyou so much. Flights all good, altho our original flight out of here was delayed 5 hrs, so we literally ran thru Vancouver airport to catch the domestic flight. Skis turned up on another flight! all well tho. Ski passes, shuttles etc all excellent. thankyou, well done, Donna

Day Two at Revelstoke was a totally different experience. Snow fell during the night and throughout most of the next morning, although not a lot, it made a difference and freshened things up. We left this morning for Nelson and will tackle Whitewater and Red Mountain while in this neck of the woods. One final word on Revelstoke though, the mountain has enormous potential, vast wicked terrain and undeniable vertical that won’t disappoint but it has hit a few financial speed bumps of late and due no doubt to the current worldwide financial crisis. Unfortunately it’s understaffed, the facilities on the mountain are incomplete and lacking in various areas, namely toilets and good signage! The new section of the Gondola is a great addition and allows one to park at the base area and no longer drive up to the day lodge as per last year, having said that there is a lot of incomplete construction at the base area and ones first impression of this resort is all a bit shambolic. Substandard guest services, no signage, porta loos that we thought were for the construction workers but as we discovered were for the paying guests! The new detachable Quad ( The Ripper )  installed this summer is great but it’s in an area away on it’s own that requires a tedious traverse to and from unless you’re capable of skiing into it via The North Bowl Area above, which is a free riding double black diamond area with marginal snow conditions this year. Overall a great ski hill that has massive potential, we didn’t see it at it’s best due to the lack of new snow, they have big plans for the future but with he current economic climate my feelings are that they will struggle and that the grand plan will take some time to come to fruition, none the less a wicked ski hill but not quite the overall glossy package that its pretending to be in its marketing package, a must visit but don’t expect too much in the way of frills or service. Revelstoke is a great wee party town, friendly and with some good bars and an excellent Sushi joint opposite The Regent Hotel on 1st street. We stayed in a nice well priced B&B ( The Inn On The River ) a short stroll from downtown with wonderful views of the mighty Columbia River.  The Goat.

WOW! Revelstoke lives up to it’s reputation and without exaggeration. We’re here in Revelstoke and skied the much anticipated new resort today. No fresh snow unfortunately but the grooming was impeccable and the terrain challenging. Boasting North America’s highest vertical and in it’s second season, Revelstoke is still in it’s early development stages and with much construction underway, some stalled. With big plans for new lifts that will open up further terrain currently only accessible via a cat skiing operation that is based at the top of the gondola. With very few skiers around this is a mountain that certainly tests ones nerves as well as ones skill, the terrain available requires a big mountain ski with big mountain legs. We ( 8 year old included ) skied non stop from the top of  The Stoke Chair to the base of the gondola today on a black run that totaled 5620ft / 1713 meters, it took 25 minutes and longer to recover! Tomorrow will involve a tour of the backcountry and the new North Bowl area accessed from the top of The Stoke quad chairlift, courtesy of an old ski patrolling buddy now working as a heliguide for CMH and living here in Revelstoke; I just know it’s going to hurt! Off to Nelson on Tuesday with Whitewater, Red Mountain and some Cat Skiing in our sights. Thankfully Southern B.C is now starting to pick up some of the regular snow that has been falling in Montana and the Northern US.  The Goat.  

We arrived here at Silverstar Resort yesterday from Big White via Vernon. They have had 37cm of new snow fall here in the past 7 days with 27cm of that falling in the last 72 hours!Upon arrival here at Silverstar you would think you had stumbled onto a large Hollywood film set as the architecture is unbelievably unique, a classic mixture of an old gold mining western town with a good dose of Disneyland mixed in, with a vibrant colour scheme consistent throughout the village, condos and private homes this is one resort you won’t forget. Silverstar prides itself on being a very family friendly resort with loads to offer all ages, a wonderful village atmosphere, ski school and a great selection of bars, resaturants and a wonderful Swiss Bakery with custard squares to die for!The skiing here on the front side consists mainly of Green and Blue Runs with a mixture of not so difficult Black runs thrown in for good measure. With five chairlifts servicing the front side there is plenty to keep everyone of all abilities happy and all the usual village amenities and ski shops at hand.Be warned, Silverstar has a Dark Side, known as The Black Side or Putnam Creek, this is not somewhere you want to accidently stumble into via a wrong turn at the magic carpet! A high speed detachable quad accesses some outrageous terrain that consists of Black and Double Black Diamond runs that are so long they almost make you cry, there is one blue run  - Eldorado which is 8km long and is basically a feeder back to the lift. This area is renowned for its excellent powder, shear vertical, massive bumps, steep narrow chutes and tree skiing, the runs have names to match too - Three Wise Men, Headwall, Freefall, Holy Smoke and Chute 5 to name a few that tested me today. This is no place for the faint hearted or those that can’t look after themselves, there are warning signs that state there is no easy way out!Overall this resort has it all, enough to keep the family and the hardcore happy, with it’s sister resort Big White near by there is no need to venture much further afield with the family and as in all Canadian resorts the service is efficient and super friendly!  I’ll be hard at it tomorrow trying to cross off the what’s left on The Dark Side before venturing up the road to Revelstoke where the real work begins and the nerves really get tested by all accounts.The Goat.  

Hi Sarah - Yes we are safely home and reliving our memories of a fantastic holiday. Niseko is truly a magical place.We arrived at the same time as a heavy snow fall ( the heaviest of the season according to the locals) which continued for our first day of skiing. We woke the first morning to the noise of a bulldozer clearing snow from in front of our apartment. So we were in waist deep powder on our first day. I think we were lucky with our timing as the weather warmed toward the end of our week and they haven’t had any big dumps of snow since.The locals reckon it is not the best  snow  this season so we are thankful that we got one big dump and experienced what Niseko is famous for. 

The slopes weren’t crowded during the day and practically empty at night.The accommodation was superb,great location,very comfortable,surprisingly spacious and had a good drying room and ski storage area that included equipment to tune our skis. The apartment was well serviced and the staff  were prompt in fixing the hot water which failed one morning. The apartment also had one built in NZ/Aust power plug which is better for recharging cellphones and cameras than using the local power plugs.

All our travel connections worked and were on time despite Chitose Airport being almost snow bound. I assure you watching a jumbo jet taxi to the air bridge ploughing thru snow half way up it’s wheels was a sight to remember!One point you might want to pass on to other NZers heading to Japan is NZ walkie talkies are illegal in Japan as they do not operate on the right frequency. So we couldn’t use ours which was a pain as they are a great tool for families to keep in touch when you’re spread out on the slopes. So Sarah many  thanks to you for making all the necessary arrangements.

We had a great time and the only downside is that the whole experience has ruined NZ skiing for me as skiing in Japan is so amazing. 

Walsh Family.

Apex Mountain Resort is in good shape! Like most Canadian resorts, they haven’t had snow for more than 2 weeks but this resorts isolation and low skier numbers has been it’s saviour. The terrain here is awesome, with only two chairs and a T bar accessing some extremely well groomed runs on the front side with decent vertical ( 605m ) very friendly locals and good reasonably priced food right on the hill!I skied some steep / narrow double black diamond chutes cut through the trees this afternoon, to my surprise there was some really nice boot top wind transported snow to be had, these runs have been closed for the past week due to instability and opened just this afternoon, very timely as no one else seemed interested in venturing of the groomed runs.The other bonus here at Apex is that there is no one here. I / we can’t have seen more than 75 skiers all day, we constantly skied straight onto every lift all day! With new snow in the forecast this resort will only get better, a real hidden B.C gem and worth checking out if your into steeps, trees and powder.The Goat. 

Well, we’ve arrived here at Apex Mountain Resort about 25 kms out of Penticton B.C after a 5 1/2 - 6 hour drive east from Vancouver on the Trans Canada Highway and then a very scenic drive on the Crows Nest Highway over the Alison Pass - 1300m.

Sarah, you have excelled yourself with the selection of the Saddle Back Lodge. Our 2 bedroom suite / fully self contained apartment is totally amazing. It sits at the base of the resort and the lifts are less than 100m from our front door, there are California King beds in each room, two bathrooms and a great kitchen. The home entertainment system in the lounge is amazing as are the audio set ups and T.V’s in both bedrooms!

We ski for the first time tomorrow and will report back with our thoughts on the snow and terrain, it hasn’t snowed here ( or anywhere in Canada except Revelstoke ! ) for almost 3 weeks but they have a solid base and by the looks of it good grooming. Snow is forecast by the end of the week so fingers crossed that the legendary Okanagan champagne pow arrives! 

The Goat.  

Hey Sarah,

Not long into Steamboat springs.Was dark when we got here at 7.30pm after 8hr drive, lots of roads closed but we sneaked in.

Condo is outstanding.Checked out local bar.7″of snow today. 20″ expected tonight.

Insane!!!!

Malcolm

Recently Ski Traveller help plan with Malcolm his father Rob and brother Gavin the ultimate boys trip to Jackson Hole,Steamboat and Brecekenridge.We could’nt have timed it better: Here are some updates from Teton Village - Jackson Hole Resort.

Day One - 25th January 2009 - ”Hey there -Wifi in the room which is very handy.Sensational resort. Condo quite far from main area, bussing it tonight.Was able to ski right up to front door though. 12 inches last 24 hrs. In heaven - skiied powder ALL day. Another foot due tonight.” (P.S I am pleased to report there is an actual shuttle that runs by the property that Malcolm and his family now know about).

Day Two - 26th January 2009- “7 inches overnight -12 @ top of tram. Powder thigh deep, pure dead brilliant!!”

I think this pretty much sums it up for conditions at Jackson Hole at the moment since mid December 2008 they have reported 14 ft of snow and 6ft alone in January 2009 and this was as of 21st January 2009.

Sarah - Ski Traveller

Arrived here in Vancouver on Sunday afternoon, snowing downtown this morning and throughout most of the day. Canucks NHL game tomorrow night then off to one of the smaller interior B.C resorts, Apex Mountain. I’ll update on snow conditions etc from there in a couple of days.                                                                                                                     The Goat.