J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by JamesA

Feb is a long way off conditions will change between now and then but... We have skied Jasper for the last five weekends and the conditions are perfect. I skied on November 15th the first time that i've skied Jasper in November in 20 year! The conditions were and still are excellent. THe cold seems to be staying away this year and all my weekends have seen temps in the mid teens during the nights and up to minus 4 or 5 during the days. That should continue into Feb for you.

Feb is the snow month here in Alberta Rockies so the snow will be worth it as even now we have more snow than we've seen in the last few seasons, some say the best January on record! There's a new chair that actually clears up every lift line. The new chair actually has seats for 400 people we figured. That's 400 people who aren't skiing the hill as there butts are in the seats. this equates to having fewer people on the snow reducing crowds every where. You will need strong legs to ski all day as I've found that you can get in 10 runs top to bottom in half a day easily. Thats some 15000 vertical feet or so. I get that in Powder sometimes if you ski Knob or Eagle chairs.

Feb is warmer for most part but it can get cold to minus 20 at night with high of mid teens. Want details on weather check out www.theweathernetwork.com seek Jasper AB they have two week forecasts that seem to be well researched.

Welcome, enjoy, rejoice in good fortune.

Good question. Shoes yup I have those. My wife says I'm the Imelda Marcos of men's shoes Last count at least 30 pairs! I have shoes for squash and tennis and volleyball and for just jazz dancing…no truly. I have dress shoes for my Tuxedo and for my office heck I have special shoes for Celtic dancing….. I can surely answer any shoe questions.

Snow in town is usually removed from walkways and the concrete will be passable in street shoes but... there's always a but; the temperature will be below freezing and possibly very cold from a European perspective. I wear good insulated shoes for my town strolling. An insulated rubber soled walking shoe will be the best. The dress shoes stay at home for the most part. If I am out for an evening of dancing I can carry my shoes in a bag and change once I get to the club.

If you are in the mood there is shopping in town that will sell you a pair of shoes. There are clothing shops in town that are actually reasonable. I can buy a pair of top quality shoes from Merrill for the same price as elsewhere. Consider buying when you get here, clothing is cheaper in Canada than in most European towns and cities. Really... my shoes would cost about 50 Euros as an example.

When it get to minus 30 or so you will be dashing between buildings just as we all do - cold feet will be the least of your worries. Take a taxi if you need to travel more than a kilometer or two.

It surprises me that many visitors think that Jasper is some small backwater with no services. Actually it is a small metropolitian town that happens to be three hours drive from a major city Edmonton which has 1.5 million people in it. The city has more services than say Glasgow Scotland. Jasper is 6000 people that are permanent residents and they have all need of all services - shoes yes they have those.

OK cold. Boots you'll need Sorrel the Canadian icon for foot wear. Google it and you'll see the cold gear.

Try the following too www.mec.ca for some ideas for shoes and costs.

Try www.totemskishop.com in Jasper too.

Best of luck.

Freckles
There are lockers at the hill but they are half sized and would not store skiis. Twey take "twonies" ($2.00) or credit or debit cards - cost two dollars per entry/exit of the locker. The ski bus from the town site to the hill has the capacity to carry skiis easily on exterior racks and all hotels to my knowledge have secure ski lockups. Ski thieft is not a big deal for rented skiis as they are not worth it to thieves to steal.

The ski rental shop personel at the hill might have a better idea of on site storage facilities. Just e-mail them at
Toll Free: 866.952.3816 Fax: 780.852.3533 E-mail: info@skimarmot.com
they will respond to any and all inquiries.

The ski season is off to a great start see my other stuff on this forum...

Cheers. James.

PS What's a twonie you ask? It's the affectionate name we Canadians give to our two dollar coin. OUr one dollar coin has an etching of a loon which is a common lake bird. The Common Loon is the provincial bird of Ontario and is depicted on the Canadian one-dollar coin, which has come to be known affectionately as the "loonie". Our two dollar coin is therefore a "twonie"

November 23 2009

I have been to Jasper the past two weekends and the conditions are beyond description for this time of year. THe snow fall to date is equal to a season mid Feb levels wiht a packed base at mid mountain of 95 cms. There is open skiing throughout the mountain with nary a rock in site.
I decided to skip work on Friday last and skied 2 feet of pow on several runs. Too bad my ski legs are still not all there. I skied my downhill gear as my tele legs would have been sooo useless. The upper mountain is all new as the new Quad chair has open up so much new skiing to the beginner and intermediate. The upper T bar used to chop the top of the mountain in two but now the whole of the upper part is open glade skiing with any line being straight down the fall line. The old tbar used to bisect the hill and some fall lines were interrupted.
On Sunday the are tried desperately to open the Knob chair but staff shortages and lack of personnel prevented that. The new snow was falling so fast that the staff were busy opening parking lots and plowing roads and couldn't focus on avalanche and boot packing. I expect Knob to open this week - mid week. Oh I wish that I were there and there is three feet of fresh powder all over the knob and only the patrol get to ski it!
Got to go skiing that is.....

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.)

Zonker...

Heading out on November 15th for a shake down day at Jasper. Wanna Hook up?

ICE GHOST - good luck we rented our condo for the Olympics to get away from all of that mess. The place went for $8000 per month for three months thats four times the mortgage value. the 18thou will pay for 9 months of costs. We rented it to a fellow who is a judge for the Luge event. The condo is in Squamish about 40 minutes south of Whistle.

no help but you've got your work cut out for you.

Yes there are seasons passes for RCR. There is also a discount card that gets you the third 5 and 7 days for free that sort of thing. You can also try the University of Calgary Student's Union. Ski Club they have discount books of tickets.

There is a group called DownhillRiders who sell discount tickets as well.
www.downhillriders.com/

THey will sell you tickets.

Even the grocery stores have discount tickets. Last year Safeway a large western chain sold the discount books for RCR.

I can get tickets at Alberta motor Association. You should ask around if you can borrow a membership card and scam some.

I also have success in approaching people in parking lots as they come off the hill at 2 or 3 PM If they are done for the day they might give you their day pass and you can go for a few runs at days end. The is a great trick in the spring as the lifts close later.

Reverse this get out early and ski til noon then flog your pass to someone in the parking lot... not really liked by the resort but hey a guy's gotta eat right. You need to carry a small set of pliers to clip off the plastic tags and have a spare with you. Take only cash and get balsy. I can get the full price sometimes or get to ski for four hours or so for half price. Heck I spend the afternoon in a bar most days anyway.....

I know of other ways such as getting up the to the higher lifts where they don't always check tickets and ski there but it's getting harder to do this as electronic counters are the norm these days.

Lastly buy some skins and AT gear and earn your turns. There is skiing at the road side if you are willing to climb for a few minutes. I have even skied for a day in the city laying tracks down various chutes. IN Calgary there was a ski hil at a golf course that now isn't used. You can ski all afternoon without paying a cent!

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.......