Canadian Skiing BargainsGreat skiing opportunities in the Canadian Rockies have gotten even better with increased service on Air Canada from LaGuardia, Newark and other eastern U.S. cities to Calgary.It also means that skiers looking for the challenge of exciting new runs can plan vacations at the emerging resorts of Panorama and Fernie. Both are easily accessible through the Calgary gateway. The price is right, too. A full week's ski vacation at Panorama is priced from only $670 per person (based on double occupancy) and includes round-trip airfare via Air Canada from LaGuardia, Newark and many other eastern cities to Calgary. Also included are airport transfers, seven nights' hotel accommodation, six-day lift tickets, Sunday welcome reception, Calgary Airport improvement fee, and all taxes. A similar weeklong package at Fernie is priced from $720 per person (based on double occupancy). And, of course, a favorable exchange rate continues to make vacations in Canada even more affordable. It gives you an extra 50 cents Canadian for every American greenback you exchange into Canadian funds. This can stretch those apr�s-ski dollars and bring some big shopping bargains. "Big vertical" is perhaps the most appropriate way to describe Panorama, which has emerged as the best known of the "little-known" British Columbia ski resorts. Its awesome 4,000 vertical drop is highest in the Canadian Rockies, and affords some of the longest continuous runs in North America. Truly a mountain for everyone, Panorama is famed for uncrowded, wide open and exceptionally groomed cruising terrain that is ideal for intermediates and also provides great novice trails. With more than 2,800 acres of skiable terrain, it has over 100 trails served by 10 lifts. Situated on the warm side of the Canadian Rockies, Panorama offers a mild winter climate where the average January temperature is 21F. For more than a decade Fernie has been a sleeping giant, enjoying cult status as a ski resort known mostly for its powder skiing. But this powder paradise of the Canadian Rockies has undergone a major expansion and now provides exceptional ski experiences at all levels on an awesome array of bowls, chutes, and trails. Fernie offers an ideal terrain mix: 30 percent beginner, 40 percent intermediate, and 30 percent expert. Two quad chair lifts have opened up the vast Timber and Currie bowl areas, doubling the skiable terrain to 3,200 acres. A 2,800-plus feet vertical drop provides 92 trails plus glades and five bowls that are served by eight lifts. Skican also features value-packed vacations at world-famous Banff/Lake Louise. Three ski areas in the Banff/Lake Louise area are available, allowing skiers to vary their daily runs. Mount Norquay couples its greatly expanded intermediate terrain with a variety of expert and beginner slopes. Sunshine Village, one of the best-kept secrets in the Canadian Rockies, often is buried under more than 30 feet of natural alpine powder and offers more than 3,100 skiable acres. Lake Louise offers stunning views and the largest single-mountain skiing in Canada, with over 4,000 acres of long gliding runs, bowls, moguls, gullies and a skiable vertical of 3,365 feet. A week's ski vacation at Banff/Lake Louise is priced from only $705 per person (based on double occupancy) and includes round-trip airfare via Air Canada from LaGuardia, Newark and many other eastern cities to Calgary. Also included are airport transfers, seven nights' hotel accommodation, five day tri-area lift tickets, ski area transfers, Calgary Airport fee, and all taxes. Skican Ltd., 443 Edited by Dave Shultz |
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