Seasonal accommodation CANADA

Hey everyone,

Myself and 5 others from Australia are planning on staying in Canada for the 2009-2010 ski season.
The problem is I am struggling to find any accommodation for 6 people for the whole season online.
The plan is to stay in Canada from early December to late February. Our first option was Whistler but we found out that it is either already booked or too expensive during the Olympics. The other options that we have are either Banff or Sun Peaks.

Also we want to know if it would be better to book accommodation in Australia or find a place whilst in Canada.

So if anyone could help us find accommodation, provide some useful tops or any other related info it'd be a great help.

Thanks

For the record, there are plenty other Canadian resorts to look at. Hostels in Banff could be worth checking out, YWCA for example (google it). Most seasonal lets in Banff require you taking it up in October, lots of demand and not a great deal of supply.

On the topic, i am coming to Banff for 09/10 with two friends for the season. At the moment we are due to fly into canada on the fourth of November. We based this on expecting the season to start on the fifteenth. The last post has got me worried. Will we be too late to find a seasonal let in Banff? Should this be fine or should we be looking at getting in earlier? if so, when?

Looks like TGR has you covered. There are quite a few users from Banff in there.

lso I've got these canadians at my work here in oz telling me Banff in crap and full of tourists, pow isn't as good, etc. I know fernie, reve and KH get mad pow and probably have less tourists, but still think banff would be a sweet place to base ourselves?

Yeh it is full of tourists, that's how ski towns make their money. Banff is a sweet town.

FLy into Calgary and start your search. You might be able to stay in Canmore or even Cochran and still be able to commute to the mountains/ You should be able to find solid transportation for around $3k dollars if that is shared by 3 or 4 blokes it's cheap.

Busses also run daily to Banff from both centres.

Don't worry you'll find a place. There is a large YMCA in Calgary that can serve as a base until you settle in. THey allow seven days last time I looked.

If you get stuck try the University residence at U of C they may also have short term spots.

If you were coming to Edmonton you could crash with me but..... I have no paranoia about being stabbed in my sleep... lol

Kamloops & Sun Peaks is easy too. You need to be at this end that's for certain. There are cheap motels that will act as a base until you settle in. THe hill is about 40 minutes from town. Again busses will run once ski season get's under way. Sun Peaks runs a staff bus from town as on hill housing is at a premium.

Just get on the plane....

Consider leaving your board or skiis behind and getting new at this end. It's cheaper here and you will wear out a pair if you are here for a season. Bring your own boots though fitting can get costly . I saw a snow board a Burtun mid line for $250 the other day. That's down from $700! THe US dollar is weaker and our's is almost at par so we are getting good deals on stuff.

I just ordered a new tele binding and paid little for it as it was a demo. Consider shipping a crate of stuff rather than carrying it all. If you need an Address I can help there too. Most ski areas will accept it for you as well.

Sounds exciting. WIsh I were going to OZ for the summer.......

Hey James,

Thanks for the response, we actually had to ditch the whole Canada thing because a friend who decided to come had an old drink driving which immigration just couldn't get past. We went through the whole process which took months and they charged him a couple of hundred in precessing fees but they still wouldn't let him in until at least five years had past since it happened. Seems a bit crazy and from what i could tell Canada is the only country that is that strict on it. But they are your laws and i'm not gonna sit here and bag them.

So now we are off to the good ol' US of A, it's actually worked out pretty well, we've already found furnished accomodation over the net. Our dollar is killing it against the green back as well so this is bringing costs down a bit.

Gear is way cheaper in the states, and although i'm bringing mine with me, i have brought it all over the net and ebay. I've paid 100USD on postage for a board and still got it half off our prices.

I way actually gonna move to Alberta for a while because i work in oil and gas, but when the GFC hit the jobs dried up a bit and a transfer wasn't really on the cards anymore. I work for what you'd know as Colt WorleyParsons if you've heard of them. They have big offices in both edmonton and calgary.

Out of curiosity, I was gonna try get into the Calgary office and still might in a year or so because of it proximity to Banff and the rockies, but what is edmonton like? my research suggests it is colder, flatter and further away from the hills than is really practicle for day trips? plus Calgary has the olympic park and nakiska pretty close.

cheers

Trav

Cheers,

You I have heard of COLT Engineering as several of my students have worked there ar are working there. I teach in Construction Engineering and project managers for the oil industry are major employers.

So sorry you got dissed by Immigration - well that's what a DWI get you over here - no driving or getting in. It sounds that things worked out none the less.

Calgary is a lot closer to the mountains but we still get there for 25 or so weekends of a season. WE find that weekend trips with a Friday and Saturday overnights works best. The pace is lots slower Saturday if you get to sleep in. I know I lived in Calgary for 15 years too and used to commute to the hils for a day but that gets tiring after a bit. The rush hour to Banff is crazy and the Sunday returns just as dumb. Remember there are almost 1 million people in Calgary with a huge skier population so in any weekend 15,000 go to the hills. Fortunately the hills are large enough and plentiful enough to take them all.

In Edmonton we have a lower skier population as the mountains are a 3.5 hour drive away. Remember Golden is 3.0 hours from Calgary so the travel times are similar if you go that far. Many Calgarians are travelling to Golden and Revelstoke (5hrs) to get past the crowds in Banff. It depends what you want. Night life and lots of company or a small rural town where there is only one bar that caters to locals and travelers on weekends. Week days the bars are stripper joints, to cater to the rig and forestry workers. I can appreciate that as I'm an old reprobate and love a good toot (Canadian for a tipple)

OK enough blabbering…. When you decide to get up here send a personal note and we can talk about place to dig in and where to find the best snow and such. If you get to the "Edmonchuck" we can have a barley sandwich together. (Edmonton is full of Ukrainians and most of the names ore Kolowchuck, Federchuk, Styparynk and such so I guess that's where the nick name derives from. The people of Edmonton who settled here after the first world war were from the Ukraine. They say the place reminds them of home – flat, cold, white, and wide.)