Canada’s Alberta is a world known skiing destination for beginners and experienced powder hounds alike, spoiled with endless bluebird skies and an extraordinarily long season.
Lifts typically open in November and can run until late May, depending on the snowfall each year – that’s seven months to carve to your heart’s content.
Pair your trip with one of Alberta’s famous winter festivals such as SnowDays in Banff, Chinook Blast in Calgary and Jasper in January and you’re in for the (winter) trip of a lifetime!
Lake Louise Ski Resort
USP: Alberta’s largest ski area, offering well over 4,000 acres of slopes
Located in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, the Lake Louise Ski Resort is Canada’s third largest ski area. With 4,200 skiable acres of world-class terrain and four mountain faces to explore, it has something for all skills and ages. The unique layout with beginner, intermediate and expert runs from every chair allows families and groups of varying abilities to share the experience together. There are also endless chutes, glades and gullies, gentle slopes, cruising runs, remote bowls, as well as some of the most challenging terrain in the Rockies.
Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort
USP: Runs straddle the continental divide – you can ski Alberta and British Columbia at the same time!
Laying claim to ‘Canada’s Best Snow’, Sunshine’s three sprawling mountains provide uninterrupted views, while its privileged location on the Continental Divide at 7,200 feet (2,200 metres) ensures Champagne powder conditions last until its legendary end-of-year party, Slush Cup, in May. Less than 10 minutes from the town of Banff and with more than 3,300 acres of diverse terrain, from easy greens to challenging double blacks, Sunshine offers the longest non-glacial season in Canada and is home to Banff’s only ski-in, ski-out hotel, the Sunshine Mountain Lodge.
Mt Norquay Ski Resort
USP: Norquay offers the only night skiing in the Alberta Rockies
Banff National Park’s deep-rooted ski culture started at Mt Norquay in 1926. From the legendary ski racers that have claimed their glory on Norquay’s slopes for decades to beginners clipping on skis or a board for the very first time, the resort has something for everyone, with over 60 exciting runs to choose from. Known for its family-friendly vibe, the fun does not stop when the sun goes down – on Friday and Saturday nights the Cascade chair is fully lit, including the entire terrain – while Norquay is also home to Alberta’s largest tube park.
Marmot Basin
USP: Marmot Basin enjoys the highest base elevation of any major ski area in Canada
Marmot Basin is located in Jasper National Park, only 20 minutes from the charming town of Jasper. The northernmost ski area in the Rocky Mountains, it retains a pristine, uncrowded feel and offers 3,000 vertical feet (914 metres) of superb skiing. An average of 450 cm (15 feet) of natural snow blankets the mountain annually, allowing skiing and snowboarding from November to early May. At Marmot Basin you can explore a wide variety of runs, from novice to expert, on four mountain faces spanning 1,720 acres of skiable terrain.
DID YOU KNOW THAT… the three ski resorts of Banff National Park (Banff Sunshine, Lake Louise Ski Resort and Mt Norquay) are conveniently accessible with just one ticket? The SkiBig3 Lift Ticket make sampling all three resorts effortless and includes additional pass perks such as free ski shuttle and hotel pick up/drop off.
