Advice needed - its Canadatime next December

Apologies if this has been asked before - but its a "once in a lifetime" type trip & I'd like some advice from you experts out there.

The bare bones of the trip are to fly to Calgary 14th December with 2 weeks to fill our boots. We're planning to rent a 4x4 - & we'd like to include heliskiing for 2/3 days at some stage.

My initial thoughts were to have a week in one of the bigger resorts & then go to Kicking Horse/ Revelstoke for the heliskiing.

Questions include is Banff/Lake Louise the best option for early skiing, any other reorts to consider? and any thoughts on heliskiing?

thanks in advance for replies

Very jealous! Never been heliskiing and I need to improve somewhat before I do! Don't forget cat skiing is an option too and a little cheaper. Banff/Lake Louise/Sunshine are all lovely areas, Lake Louise is the better on a stormy day as you can still ski amongst the trees for a bit of shelter while sunshine is lovely in the sun if its not crazy windy but not as warm as its name would suggest!
I'd be tempted to see what the snowfall is like nearer the time before deciding on an itinary.

Thanks Lilywhite, would you base yourself at Lake Louise, or Banff, all other things being even? I'll check out the cat skiing, sounds an interesting option, did you try?

Hmm... I think if I were coming on your trip I would probably follow highway #1 and go wherever it takes me:

Lake Louise for first couple of days to enjoy beautiful Rockies and get your legs warmed up.

Drive over to Revelstoke for a few days: its awesome value for money, you can stay in a hotel right on the slopes for a bargain! They had some of the best long lasting snow I've ever ridden & the lift lines were empty. Maybe do a days cat-skiing here?

Now Christmas holidays are upon you and all ski resorts are busy!

Sun Peaks & Silverstar are both a couple of hours drive off the highway #1 if you want to stop at them... Or you could just drive straight over to Whistler!

Whistler & Blackcomb are obviously my favorites :D you can ride in resort, get a guide to take you backcountry, go cat-skiing or heli-skiing here. The coast mountains have the most stable snowpack so the safest heli-skiing area generally (although all heli operations are careful with guests!).

After Whistler you could take the ferry over to Vancouver Island to see Mt Washington (just to make your tour out west complete!). Then either drive back the way you came, or take the southern route stopping off at resorts like Big White, Red & Fernie too!

Might be a bit much for two weeks.... If I had to choose, Revelstoke & Whistler would be my top two.

Hi - If this is a once in a lifetime trip I would consider postponing it to late Feb or early March. (probably not what you wanted to hear, but it is the truth)

Kickinghorse and Revelstoke will have only just opened in mid Dec. If there is some decent early season snow, as there was this season, the coverage will be OK at best. December is always hit and miss throughout the rockies. Sunshine Village and Lake Louise will be open from late November but you could find that the full terrain is not open depending on early season snowfall.

I was in SSV during the beginning of Dec this season. The coverage was OK, but not that great considering they had an above average start to the season. Only about 40% of the skiable terrain was open and the skiing was mostly restricted to the pisted runs.

To get the most out of the Canadian skiing experience it would be best to wait until they open up all of the terrain as the resorts are best enjoyed when you are able to ski almost anywhere in-bounds, which is usually the case following the Christmas period. For those used to skiing mostly on marked pistes, this is one of the big attractions of the Canadian resorts. (all terrain in-bounds being avalanche controlled and monitored by ski patrol)

If you need to keep it to the off peak times, go for January, everything should be open by then.

Suggestions on where to go depend on what time of year you will be there. SSV, LL and Kicking Horse are the obvious choices. Also consider spending a couple of nights in Nelson, BC where you can ski Whitewater (Near Nelson) and Red (in Rossland, BC). They are fantastic resorts when there has been good snowfall (so probably not that great in early Dec). The terrain is very interesting and varied. Whitewater is a very nice local hill without the usual commercial guff that you find in most resorts.

What ever you do, make sure you take a day to drive the ice fields parkway (on a clear day). It is one of the most spectacular drives in the world.

Thanks Ride & Steve,

That's just the sort of info I was hoping for, however our hands are tied on dates, its just trying to make the best of our time there.

I guess its a matter of keeping fingers crossed for early snow (again) - I'm hoping that there's a better chance of early snow in Canada than anywhere else!

Early thoughts - it looks like we're going to start off in the Banff area, then 3/4 days each in Revelstoke & Kicking Horse. We've been to & enjoyed Whistler - but I'll check out the Nelson resorts, never heard of either, so I'm curious.

Do you know how easy it is to get reasonable accommodation on the day? - say if we just pre-book Banff & then go where the snow's best after that.

Your best bet for good snow at that time is sunshine village so you are doing the right thing staying in banff as your main base. Banff gets very busy around christmas so dont even think of not booking for the weekend before and I would be very uneasy if i had not booked for the week before. You are probably safer playing it by ear when it comes to kicking horse and revelstoke, especially if you are ok with staying in town.

Hi, late in I know but...my 2 cents' worth: don't bother with Whistler. You have so much choice close to where you will be and it's a long drive. I've done Silverstar too, it's a great resort, not huge but still plenty of choice. Don't go Big White (=big white-out). You can stay in Vernon and go up to Silverstar daily quite easily. Kicking Horse, I believe, is harder to get in and out when the snow is falling! Wherever you end up though you will love it, Canada rocks!! Shame it's so far from Oz :)