Category Archives: ski holidays canada

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All ski resorts in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies will be open this weekend and to celebrate, we are offering a FREE 3-day Tri-Area ski pass to one lucky Twitter follower (CA$279.09 value with tax). The Tri-Area ski pass covers Banff Norquay, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise ski resorts as well as the ski shuttles from Banff. Banff Norquay celebrated it’s earliest opening ever and is currently open weekends until November 30 2012. Sunshine Village and Lake Louise are set to open for the season this Friday, November 9 2012.

To enter, follow all you have to do is:

  1. Follow us on Twitter @HolidaysCanada
  2. RT the tweet below

One of tweeters who RT will be chosen at random to win the 3-day Tri-Area pass. The pass must be redeemed and used this season. Good luck and happy skiing!

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Rocky Mountain Holidays™| Reviews

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You should always research the travel company before you make a reservation with them.

We are proudly based in Beautiful British Columbia (BC) here in Western Canada which is currently one of the most heavily regulated Canadian provinces for travel companies. With this comes Consumer Protection BC, which by law, BC travel companies must be licensed with in order to offer you, the consumer, financial holiday protection. Our Consumer Protection BC licence number is 58516 or you can simply look us up by business or trade name. For those of you from the U.K. this kind of protection is similar to that of ABTA or ATOL.

rocky-peak Holidays | Rocky Mountain Holidays | BBB | A+

Another place to check out a North American business is the Better Business Bureau. We currently hold their highest rating of A+. Their ratings are based on a number of factors including time in business and consumer complaints.

Finally, the internet is a wonderful thing and you can easily find out a lot about a company by searching their company name online. If guests are not happy, they will likely complain online. If guests are thrilled with the service they receive, they will likely seek out review sites to let the world know about their positive experiences. If you can’t find anything on a company online, you have to ask yourself why.

rocky-peak Holidays | Rocky Mountain Holidays | 5-stars

We are thrilled that we are currently rated 5 stars on www.reviewcentre.com, this is their highest rating.  We are grateful that our satisfied guests have taken the time to review us online through various sites. If you were one of those guests who reviewed us, thank you!

Reviews for Rocky Mountain Holidays (rocky-peak Holidays)

We understand that most guest’s decision on who to book with is price – this is the bottom line for most and we understand this by keeping our rates competitive. We take care of our guests from your initial contact with us through to your feedback when you return and so you can always be rest assured, you will be taken excellent care of when you book through Rocky Mountain Holidays™, a trade mark of rocky-peak Holidays Ltd.

Thank you for choosing us!

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What’s happened to the Kicking Horse Powder Express?

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I can’t tell you how many calls and emails we have received over the past few weeks from return and new guests regarding the Kicking Horse Powder Express. There seems to be a lot of confusion over what the Kicking Horse Powder Express is this season. Where has it gone? What has replaced it? How much does it cost? We have already spent a lot of time answering these questions and to make it easier and to save us some time answering individual calls and emails regarding this topic, here are some questions and answers below.

All of our guests seem disappointed and frustrated about these changes. Feel free to comment on this post as we would like to hear your thoughts.

Okay, let’s start with the questions and answers below:

1) Is the Kicking Horse Powder Express operating this season?

The Kicking Horse Powder Express with the dedicated return transportation and lift pass included at a rate of about $100 including all tax is no more.

2) Is there a replacement to this service?

Yes. There is a scheduled service which is about $100 plus tax return for just the transportation and in addition to this, you must purchase the lift pass. There is no discount on the lift pass – you must pay full price making this ski-away day quite pricey compared to the old service.

3) How is this service different?

This service is not a dedicated Powder Express ski shuttle as in previous seasons. It is a scheduled service connecting Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise, Golden and Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. The advantage of the scheduled service means that minimum numbers are not required.

The return time of 3:30pm means that you do not get to enjoy a full ski day on the mountain but you do have the convenience of catching a one way shuttle for a reasonable price.

4) What is the schedule for this new service?

This is the new schedule correct as of today:

FROM CANMORE / BANFF / LAKE LOUISE / GOLDEN TO  KICKING HORSE

Depart Canmore 5:30
Arrive in Banff 6:00

Depart Banff 6:15
Arrive in Lake Louise 7:15

Depart Lake Louise 7:30
Arrive Golden (Prestige Inn) 8:50

Depart Golden 9:00
Arrive Kicking Horse (Glacier Mountain Lodge) 9:30

FROM KICKING HORSE TO GOLDEN TO LAKE LOUISE / BANFF / CANMORE

Depart Kicking Horse (Glacier Mountain Lodge) 15:30
Arrive Golden (Prestige Inn) 16:10

Depart Golden 16:10
Arrive Lake Luoise 17:40

Depart Lake Louise 18:00
Arrive Banff 19:15

Depart Banff 19:45
Arrive Canmore 20:00

5) When does the above new service operate?

Daily: December 20th, 2011 through March 31st, 2012.

6) Are there other ski-away options out of Banff?

Yes, the Panorama ski bus is operating again this season with a minimum of 4 required to guarantee a departure. We are finding most guests are booking this ski-away day instead this season to experience another ski resort in the Canadian Rockies at a fraction of the cost.

7) Will the original Kicking Horse Powder Express be offered for the 2012-2013 season?

We have no idea but hope so! If it does, we will be sure to get the word out!

❓ How do I book this new service?

➡Contact Ski Holidays Canada.

Happy Holidays to you all and thanks for reading. We hope that we have answered your questions okay? Remember to visit www.SkiHolidaysCanada.co.uk for ski package deals and specials.

Looking forward to your comments!

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New travel domains, Canada

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Below are a few new travel domains utilizing the new .co domain extension.

Rocky Mountain Holidays now has the following:

Ski Holidays Canada now has the following:

Thanks for reading and enjoy all this snow we have been receiving!

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Good Bye Summer, Hello Autumn

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The summer seems to have flown by this year.

It’s September 30 2010 and less than 2 weeks ago, the ski resorts in the Canadian Rockies received 20cm of fresh snow and we experienced way below average temperatures. The Canada Ski Blog posted some photos of this September snow. This last week, we have experienced above average temperatures (in the 20s°C) with sunny skies giving us another opportunity to take advantage of the many summer activities in the Canadian Rockies. This is typical of the Canadian Rockies as we are in the mountains at higher elevations.

Just check out the colours in the recent pictures taken in the Canadian Rockies. This is what we love about the autumn.

Autumn in Canmore

Cascade Mountain, Bow River, in the Autumn

The Rocky Mountaineer train departing tomorrow from Vancouver, October 1st 2010, is the company’s largest departure in their history, and will set a record for largest passenger rail train in North American history – a total of 1331 guests! This is one of the last Rocky Mountaineer train departures for 2010, but we already have 2011 packages in place with early-bird savings of up to $1,400 per couple.

50%OFF Panorama Lodging early-bird deal ended today but we have many early-bird deals for the 2010-2011 winter season, some of which are soon to expire. We are seeing some of the best ski accommodation deals in Banff this year with free nights accommodation and free ski deals for stays of 7 or more nights.

The early-birds will definitely be getting the best deals on ski packages and summer packages.

We hope you had a great summer and we thank you for reading our blog. We always love to hear from our readers so please feel free to post any relevant comments you may have.  Wishing you safe and happy travels.

banff norquay, Canada, Fernie, jasper marmot basin, kicking horse, kimberley, lake louise, nakiska, panorama, ski holidays, ski holidays canada, sunshine village, whistler blackcomb

Ski Holidays Canada

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Thinking of a ski holiday in Canada? Considering visiting any of the following ski resorts: Banff Norquay, Fernie, Jasper Marmot Basin, Kicking Horse, Kimberley, Lake Louise, Nakiska, Panorama, Sunshine Village, Whistler Blackcomb? Then read on!

Things to consider before deciding where to go on a ski holiday in Canada. The following is based on statistics gathered direct from the ski hills by rocky-peak Ski Holidays.

? Price

We all have a budget to stick to, well, most of us anyway!

Best value ski resort: Jasper Marmot Basin

Most Expensive ski resort: Whistler Blackcomb

? Terrain (Based on % of resort)

Mostly beginner: Jasper Marmot Basin

Mostly intermediate: Nakiska

Mostly advanced: Whistler Blackcomb (Kicking Horse is close second)

Mostly Expert: Panorama

? Time of year

Earliest opening: Sunshine Village, Banff

Latest Closing: Whistler Blackcomb

Be aware that the coldest months are January and February. Some of the best rates of the season are in January and as long as you have plenty of warm clothes just in case, it is definately worth taking advantage of these rates.

? Duration

Longest season: Whistler Blackcomb (Sunshine Village, Banff close second)

Whistler Blackcomb opens November and closes in early June – how great is that?! Blackcomb Mountain also has a glacier which can be skiied on in the summer.

Sunshine Village, Banff closes end of May. If you are wanting to stay a season then go for the resorts with the longest season. If you are coming out for just week, it is best stick with just one resort, that way you will get to know the runs well. For two week ski holidays think about spending one week in one resort, and the other week in another.

If you don’t want to do the split resort ski holiday, Banff, for example, has access to Banff Norquay, Lake Louise and Sunshine Village and if you are prepared to travel a couple of hours, Kicking Horse onboard the popular Kicking Horse Express Ski Bus. Lake Louise also has easy access to all these resorts too.

? Snow Quantity

Greatest average snowfall: Whistler Blackcomb (Fernie is close second)

This might be why Fernie was rated number 5 best ski resort in North America in Skiing Magazine’s “Top 25 Resorts in North America”. Whistler Blackcomb was number one again!

If you are after deep powder, then increase your chances by visiting the resorts with the highest average snowfall. One thing to remember though is that you can have a powder day in most resorts if your timing is right (and you are lucky!), however, skiing while that snow is coming down is not that much fun as you can not see too much so don’t pray for too much snow at once!

? Snow Quality

Best quality: Sunshine Village, Banff

Quality not quantity comes to mind. Head to the higher resorts for the best quality snow. If the temperatures rise a bit, you still know you will be getting good quality snow, not that horrible slushy stuff. The higher the resorts, the lower the temperatures are going to be so that is something to bear in mind.

In my opinion, Sunshine Village, Banff has the best quality snow. It is ideally located on the Continental Divide and is a high resort and so Sunshine Village, Banff often receives snow when the other ski resorts aren’t.

? Best Powder

Kicking Horse without a doubt! Kicking Horse has it’s famous "champagne powder" that you can just cruise through. The air is so dry, you will find it is almost impossible to make snowballs out of this light fluffy powder. If it looks like the snow is going to hit Kicking Horse Mountain Resort while you are out here, be sure to hop on the Powder Express Bus to Kicking Horse.

? Racing

Do you like to Race?

The best for racing are Lake Louise and Nakiska. With their groomed runs you fly!

? Greatest Vertical

Do you like long runs?!

Whistler Blackcomb has the greatest vertical in North America (closely followed by Vail) and Kicking Horse has the greatest vertical in the Canadian Rockies. You will find your ankles will burn if you try to do the run from top to bottom in one go. It is certainly a buzz when you do a great last long run from top to bottom to finish your day.

? Skiable Terrain

Whistler Blackcomb comes first to no surprise. Lake Louise has the greatest skiable terrain in the Canadian Rockies. Both these resorts have enough runs for you to be finding new runs year after year!

? Family friendly resorts

All the resorts cater to families, some more so than others. Sunshine Village, Banff, Banff Norquay, Lake Louise, Jasper Marmot Basin and Whistler Blackcomb are all excellent for families of mixed ages and abilities.

? Accommodation preferences

You may want to decide what sort of ski accommodation you would like before you choose the ski resort as not all accommodation types are available at every resort. Larger resort homes are available in Whistler Blackcomb and Fernie unlike Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper which have just mostly hotel rooms. Ski-in, ski-out properties can only be found at Kicking Horse, Fernie, Kimberley, Panorama, Whistler Blackcomb, and Sunshine Village .

I hope I have been able to give you a few things to think about when planning your ski holiday in Canada. For more information and expert advice, be sure to contact rocky-peak Ski Holidays for your ski holiday in Canada.