Panorama Resort Ski and Snowboard Terrain

Panorama Ski Resort is well loved by families, beginners, intermediates, freestyle riders, expert mogul lovers….the list goes on. The only type of skier or rider that isn’t particularly well catered for at Panorama Resort is the powder hound.

Panorama Resort BC has the 3rd longest skiing vertical in Canada at 1,300 metres (4,265 feet) and the vertical is pleasantly uninterrupted. It is a reasonable sized ski resort at 1,204 hectares (2,975 acres), which is about the average for a major western Canadian ski resort.

The ski and snowboard terrain of the Panorama Resort gets progressively steeper from the base up to the summit. Beginners’ runs are near the village and there are lots of long well groomed intermediate trails that run from the top of the Champagne quad chair down to the base. Single black diamond mogul runs are scattered over most of the vertical of the ski hill, for those that still have cartilage left in their knees. Expert runs are in the upper elevations of Panorama Resort, predominantly in the Extreme Dream Zone and Taynton Bowl.

Panorama Lifts

The lift infrastructure at Panorama has not been heavily developed and the peripheries of the terrain require long run-outs and multiple lifts to get back to the top. The mainstay of the lifts is 2 detachable fast quad chairs and 2 fixed grip chairs, then there’s also a triple, double, platter and 2 magic carpets. The other “lift” is the Monster X snowcat that provides access to high terrain on the Goldie Plateau, yet it only operates on weekends, weather pending, and attracts an additional charge.

Night skiing is available in a small area off the Toby chair lift, a couple of nights a week.

Lift Passes

Lift pass prices are middle of the road for a major Canadian ski resort, and lift tickets attract significant discounts if booked along with a Panorama ski package.

Discovery Zone tickets for beginners offer great value and provide access to the Discovery Quad, Silver Platter, Red Carpet, and Little Ripper Carpet.

Panorama is accessible off the Mountain Collective Pass along with the Lake Louise Plus Card (along with Lake Louise, Red Mountain, Castle Mountain, and Schweitzer).

Panorama Snow

Many a joke has been made about the “donut weather” of Panorama. It snows everywhere around Panorama but not actually on Panorama where the “hole” is. The official Panorama snowfall statistic in 2021 was 5.2 metres per season, whilst a decade prior the figure was much lower. This is partly due to an uncharacteristic bumper year in 2013/14 of 10 metres of snow that pushed the average way up, whereas the median snowfall for the 2010s was just over 3 metres. All in all, Panorama doesn’t get a lot of snow. For advanced riders, hopefully you love moguls.

There is snowmaking capability on 40 percent of the trails, and summer grooming on the main trails ensures that there is adequate cover even without a significant natural snow base. Off-piste is entirely a different matter.

Even though the Panorama snow volumes are not particularly high, the powder that falls is typically very dry due to the distance from the ocean and the typically low temperatures. The Panorama Resort has an aspect that is largely northwest facing whilst Taynton Bowl is primarily north facing, so the snow quality is well retained.

Beginner Skiing Panorama

Panorama doesn’t have a huge amount of beginner terrain, but it’s more than adequate for those learning and a big pro is that it has novice trails that progress nicely to dark green runs. First-timers get VIP treatment on the “Red Carpet”, a magic carpet that services highway 1. The nearby “Beginner” run serviced by the platter also provides segregated terrain away from the fast skiers. The next progression is to proceed up the Discovery Quad and the Mile 1 Express lifts.

Panorama Skiing & Riding - Intermediates

Panorama is perfect for intermediates with long cruisers that get the thighs working. Classically great groomers include Rollercoaster and Skyline. Anxious intermediates should steer clear of the Summit lift unless they have a hot lunch date at the Summit Hut. The aptly named “Get Me Down” is the only blue run off this chair, and is only a narrow winding cat track.

For an intermediate off-piste experience, head to the Sun Bowl. Runs such as Alive Glades provide gladed and open skiing opportunities on a gentle pitch.

Terrain Parks

Panorama is pretty good for freestyle enthusiasts. There are two parks, with the easier of the two illuminated at night. The main park almost goes for a mile with tonnes of hits. Whilst other resorts in the area have shied away from having jumps, Panorama has maintained some seriously big jumps but sadly there is no pipe.

Advanced Skiing Panorama

Panorama has plenty of advanced skiing and snowboarding terrain. The resort usually grooms a few black runs each night, which provide some speedy fun without getting chastised by ski patrol. The rest of the black “piste” (ie cut) runs generally have moguls, and there are also gladed areas that don’t bump up as quickly. As a general rule, the single blacks in the lower half of the mountain are easier than those up top.

For the Expert

The Extreme Dream Zone catches the snow nicely and has a variety of below-treeline terrain. The tree skiing is impressive, so long as the snow base is adequate, and the named runs are aptly rated as double black.

The showpiece of Panorama for serious skiers and riders is Taynton Bowl, which is a large zone of challenging terrain. Formerly heli-ski terrain, it is backcountry style skiing that is in-bounds. Due to the elevation and aspect, the snow quality is usually good. The chutes of the bowl are sub-alpine at the top and then as the vegetation becomes thicker, the bowl provides some great tree skiing. Downsides are that the run-out is painfully long and arduous, and it requires three lifts to get back up there.

The runs in close are lift accessed, whilst those further afield are serviced by the Monster X Snowcat on weekends, or via a hike on weekdays.