Where to Ski in Canada
Which Canada Ski Resorts to Visit?
You know that you want to ski Canada, but can’t decide which ski resort to go to for your next Canada ski holiday. Everyone has different factors that are important when deciding on the best Canada ski resorts. To aid in your decision making:
- See our “best skiing in Canada” awards for ideas on which resort may suit your needs.
- Check out our Canadian ski resort ratings which are broken down into many aspects such as: terrain for different abilities; the powder; lift infrastructure; family-friendliness; cost; nightlife; and the likelihood of finding “freshies”.
- See our Canada ski resort statistics which includes the proportion of beginner, intermediate and advanced runs, resort size and snowfall. Or see the summary tables below.
- See the information below regarding snow quantity and quality, and the size of the Canada ski resorts.
Size of the Canada Ski Resorts
Many Canada ski resorts are huge and offer significant vertical and skiable terrain. The table below provides an overview of the stats for the main western ski resorts in Canada with respect to vertical rise (lifted terrain), skiable terrain and number of designated trails.
Whistler Blackcomb is the largest ski resort in North America. The massive terrain also provides huge diversity for all ability levels including lots of gnarly steeps, and a range of alpine and below tree-line terrain.
Sun Peaks, Lake Louise, Sunshine Village, Revelstoke Mountain and Silver Star are also very big Canadian ski resorts, and are larger than most Colorado ski resorts.
| Canada Ski Resorts |
Vertical
Rise
(m)
|
Skiable
Terrain
(Hectares)
|
Named
Trails |
| Big White |
811 |
1,147 |
119 |
| Fernie |
1,082 |
1,012 |
142 |
| Kicking Horse |
1,260 |
1,133 |
120 |
| Lake Louise |
1,300 |
1,204 |
133 |
| Marmot Basin |
914 |
678 |
86 |
| Panorama |
1,300 |
1,204 |
133 |
| Red Mountain |
890 |
1,558 |
119 |
| Revelstoke |
1,713 |
1,263 |
75 |
| Silver Star |
760 |
1,328 |
132 |
| Sunshine |
1,070 |
1,359 |
115 |
| Sun Peaks |
882 |
1,728 |
137 |
| Whistler Blackcomb |
1,609 |
3,307 |
200 |
Where to Ski in Canada for Good Snow
The table below outlines the top 10 Canada ski resorts for snow volumes, and it may surprise you that it’s many of the lessen known Canadian ski hills that make the list.
As to be expected, it’s not just the amount of snow that varies but also the quality of the powder.
*questionable validity of stat
The annual snowfall in the coastal regions such as Whistler is very high, and as to be expected the powder is generally wetter near the coast, the snowpack more stable, and the temperatures slightly warmer. Heli ski operators in northern BC near the coast such as Northern Escape Heliski, Bella Coola Heli Skiing and Last Frontier Heli Skiing score massive snow volumes of 25 metres per year.
Many Canadian ski resorts much further east in Alberta have lower annual snowfalls (e.g. Lake Louise ski resort), but the powder is often drier and the snow quality is well maintained due to the altitude and low temperatures.
In the zone between the two areas is the Powder Highway in the BC interior, which generally has both quantity and quality when it comes to snowfall. This region is renowned for large quantities of light dry powder, so it’s no surprise that this area is home to many BC cat skiing and Canada heli skiing operators that make the most of all this powder.
Canada Ski Season
The Canada ski season tends to kick off a little earlier in Alberta compared to BC, with Lake Louise often opening in early November and the other ski areas such as Sunshine not far behind. Most of the BC ski resorts open in late November to early December.
The Canadian ski season generally finishes up early to mid April whilst Marmot Basin and Whistler Blackcomb (in the upper reaches) usually push into May. See the Canada ski resorts statistics for general season opening and closing dates.
Canada Ski Resort Accommodation
Sometimes a key decision when choosing where to ski in Canada is related to the type of accommodation available.
|
On-mountain
accom |
Ski in ski out accom |
Luxury
accom
|
Backpacker accom |
Nearby town
|
| Big White
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| Fernie
|
|
|
~
|
|
|
| Kicking Horse
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Kimberley
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Lake Louise
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Nakiska
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Norquay |
|
|
|
|
|
| Panorama
|
|
|
~ |
|
|
| Red Mountain |
|
|
|
|
|
| Revelstoke
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Sunshine
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Silver Star
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Sun Peaks
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Whistler
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Whitewater |
|
|
|
|
|
~ = partially or somewhat
A town nearby is considered to be less than 20km away. The luxury or backpacker accommodation may be located in the town, not on mountain. e.g. Sunshine