J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Trav

So me and my buddies are heading to Canada for some riding in about 8 months from now for the whole season. We were gonna go to Banff, but are thinking the terrain at Kicking Horse and Revelstoke is looking pretty good. It just appears to be a bit more back country like than a typical resort. We of course are boarders and drops, hits, lips and ridges suit us a lot more than the plainer hills if you know what i mean.

Problem is that we are just basing this off trails maps and photos from the website. So please help us if you can with the questions below.

1. Do these resorts just do a better job showing off these kind of features?

2. There is no terrain parks at either of these resorts? correct? this seems odd but i cannot see them on the websites

3. Is there just as much crazy terrain at the 3 in Banff?

4. Should we go to Banff and just plan a trip there?

Also, if anyone can put some perspective on the size of canadian resorts that would be great. They are mostly in the viscinity of 3000 acres and 800-1200 vertical, but resorts tend to do this to make themselves look better and in reality you only ride half of that most of the time, anyone guilty of this?

I think all round whistler would be the best for us but we are trying to steer clear of the olympics plus we are not gonna work which i hear could make whistler difficult.

cheers for your help.

Trav

Hey Ross,

What do you call getting there early and before the hoards? When do most people that are doing a season arrive?

Here in Oz people tend to arrive at the hill the night before. I don't know when they are trained though, we tend not to have much if any snow at opening though so maybe they do it then!

I figure you wouldn't want to get there more than a week before opening because there would be noone there to meet and rent a house with and most jobs would coincide with opening.

Trav

So they have powerpoints everywhere at the resorts so you can park your car?

Awesome thanks for the help everyone. Answers though it seems have just given me more questions. I'll just go for it and ask everything i can think of. hopefully other people can find it helpful.

I don't think i will want to come home Karen but unfortunately like everyone i have to balance professional responsibilities and leisure. I wish we could all just live like rockstars and forget about work but it ain't gonna happen.

As always good feedback ross, we're lucky to have you around thanks!

I agree with you, banff seems like a cool place to go, i dont think there would be too many other options this close in a holiday sort of town unless i was in staff accom.

i was thinking of renting a place with some people, with a kitchen and stuff. i have backpacked south america and got sick of eating out all the time. from what i can tell this seems realistic? what do you think? i will try rope some friends up at hotham this year to coming across to banff instead of big white as well.

i would work an evening job just to get to know people but experience tells me it shouldn't be too hard to sort this out. do you think i could find this kind of evening job?

With the car i kind of expected that answer. whats with the buses? slow? late? crowded? infrequent? is it a different pass that includes buses (ie pass + bus) or is it just the standard one?

what is your tip on a car? in oz we just take a 4WD because we don't have snow tires and they always make you fit chains to 2WD's but in another thread i saw someone recommend just getting a small front wheel drive with snow tires? is parking free at the resorts? what is with cars freezing? do you need a garage at night? how does it work?

i like the gym idea ross, never thought of that. i love the gym at home but take 3 months off every winter cos i'm too knackered to go, but maybe i will just use the pool!

cheers

Trav

Hi guys,

I'm weighing up taking some unpaid leave from my full time job and doing a season in Banff.

I have two ways of going with it.

A. Get a job and stay in staff accomodation or in an apartment in town. or
B. Get an apartment in town and live off my savings and ride every day!

so here are my questions...

1. What is a reasonable budget per week? lets say renting a unit with others and eating in most of the time (not counting lift passes)

2. Do you actually have to have a job to stay in a lot of the cheaper dorm style accommodations? are there any or are they ran by resorts for staff?

3. Does a tri-area season pass cover the buses to Sunshine, louise and norquay or do you buy a season pass for that as well? or should i just buy a car?

4. Is the accomodation scene better or particularly good anywhere else like fernie or kicking horse? (avoiding whistler because of olympics)?

Thanks for your help

and btw, i know some of you may think it a bit arrogant or something to do a season and not work like this but i'm 25 went straight from school to uni to a full time job and have so far missed out on thins kind of thing. i have been doing the math and can't really justify working at entry level wages when i have the cash to not work. But maybe the working is part of the fun?

cheers

Trav

Thanks for the reply james.

I'm thinking Calgary now, i actually work in the oil and gas industry so would be a bit more limited for work in Van. I am from australia and in winter we teeter around freezing so ride crap snow a lot of the time so will be stoked no matter where i end up. As long as i get some pow i think i can handle not going to van.

So kicking horse and revelstoke are drivable? or more like overnighters?

What about castle mountian? any good?


What is the scene like in the summer (mountain biking, kayaking, hiking, rafting)? are these activities as prevelant as they seem to be in BC? although i'm thinking it won't matter cos the winter is so damn long!

thanks for your help

Trav

Hi All,

I'm trying to decide whether to move to Van or Calgary. I will work in the city but plan to go boarding a lot.

Van has the obvious advantage of having some really close mountains but i can probably get transferred to calgary and not have to quit my job. Is driving to Sunshine village once or twice a weekend from calgary realistic? (I would find a place in the west of calgary to make it easier)

The other question is night skiing? Van would obviously be better for this but is there fun to be had in the park at the olympic park?

What about the crowds? Is cypress and whistler overcrowded? What about sunshine village?

Where do you think i should go?

Thanks for your help.

Trav