# Canadian Road Trip



## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

Check some of our other threads here. I'd fly and and out of Calgary. Cal to Van is 12 hours assuming no roads are closed. There are enough mountains and things to do here to keep you busy!

A fun loop would be South to Castle, Fernie, stop at Lussier Hot Springs on the way up to KH and/or Revelstoke, then into Banff to play at our tourist mountains. I prefer Lake Louise but lots of people like Sunshine. Worth seeing both while you're here.

Bring your snorkel we get good snow at that time of year. It's not guaranteed but it's likely that you'll get good powder somewhere on the trip.


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## Penzer (Oct 25, 2010)

Grats man, you'll have a blast! 

I'd say fly in/out of whichever is cheaper (probably Calgary), the drive is comparable either way. If you do make it out to Van that does give you the option to check Whistler, which is an amazing experience but you'll have just as much fun or more riding in the interior, or Baker. Tons of people day trip from Van to Baker and it's easy to go there on your way east from Van. Depends if your road trip needs to be strictly Canadian or not but if you're in the pnw then Baker is amazing.

The Louise Plus card ( Louise Plus Cards - Lake Louise & Banff discount ski cards ) has discounts for Louise, Revelstoke and Castle and might be able to save you money. My friend and I are from Van and bought Louise Plus cards just for a 2 week road trip and saved money with them just on that road trip. We used them more at Revvy than Louise. Louise is better than sunshine and is a great mountain, worth hitting but definitely not as good as Revvy, KH or Fernie. I've never been to castle but have heard its a gem too if you're getting that card and it's on your way.

You can also buy discounted lift tickets for most of those resorts at Costco in Van or Calgary.


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## RagJuice Crew (Apr 8, 2012)

Stoked for you! 

Did something similar last season and I'd recommend looping from Calgary. We started in Vancouver and out Calgary for various reasons but a loop, from either point, would have been easier. Especially given you've 14 days for this. The drive from Vancouver to Revy is a longer one, whereas if you loop from Calgary you have resorts nearby to start/finish at. Loop from Van and you've a long start AND a long finish. That's pretty much 2 of your 14 days gone straight away.

Have a blast!


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## kaka (Aug 28, 2012)

Snow Hound said:


> I've been given the green light on my fantasy trip to celebrate/comiserate turning 40. Now all I've got to do is get her pregnant - how hard can it be?
> 
> 14 days max, late Feb early March, should we fly into Calgary and out of Vancouver or just do a big loop out of Calgary? I'm guessing the latter as KH, Rev and Fernie are all on my bucket list.
> 
> Any recommendations? I'm stoked.




Flying into/out of Kelowna might be a good option depending on where you are coming from.

If you have 14 days, I'd try and make it down to Red and/or Whitewater. Great trees and quality snow.


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

RagJuice Crew said:


> The drive from Vancouver to Revy is a longer one, whereas if you loop from Calgary you have resorts nearby to start/finish at. Loop from Van and you've a long start AND a long finish. That's pretty much 2 of your 14 days gone straight away.
> 
> Have a blast!


Doing a loop and using Calgary as the starting/end point is by far the easiest. You pretty much use a day's travel to get from Van to the interior and another to get back whereas you can ride the day you fly if you use Calgary and get morning and evening flights.


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## Snow Hound (Jul 21, 2012)

Thanks for the great info, looks like the plans are firming up - clockwise loop out of Calgary. Are there any holidays that might make it busier between 22 Feb and 8 March?


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## Banjo (Jan 29, 2013)

You will be catching the tail end of the university "spring break" here.

Also, I must agree with kaka....make sure you hit up Whitewater and/or Red. That area is a must ride on a snowboard loop.


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## knoxious (Feb 16, 2012)

Banjo said:


> You will be catching the tail end of the university "spring break" here.
> 
> Also, I must agree with kaka....make sure you hit up Whitewater and/or Red. That area is a must ride on a snowboard loop.


I'd third that! Both Red and WW are incredible. Cheaper, less crowded. Super cool. Red's just expanded it's terrain too. 

Nelson is a cool town and Rossland has a teeny town vibe but it's really sweet.


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## knoxious (Feb 16, 2012)

Also consider flying to Spokane, hiring a dad and driving up. It's not hard and may be cheaper? Maybe...


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## Snow Hound (Jul 21, 2012)

Just bumping this up because it's still very much on the cards but my buddy is worried that it might be ridiculously cold and is suggesting that we go a bit later in the season. 

My main concern is optimising our chances of powder.

I know the weather gods could royally screw us at anytime so just looking to give ourselves the best chance.


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## ARSENALFAN (Apr 16, 2012)

Stay in Calgary. Bring Laptop. Check snowforecast.com every hour or so. Verify data with mountain webcams. Decide at 10pm whether to drive to Sunshine, Lake Louise, Fernie, or Castle. The site is pretty accurate. Then take a couple days and stay in the Golden area and hit up Revy and Kicking Horse. I find the best powder is in Jan/Feb. http://www.snow-forecast.com


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## ARSENALFAN (Apr 16, 2012)

Snow Hound said:


> Thanks for the great info, looks like the plans are firming up - clockwise loop out of Calgary. Are there any holidays that might make it busier between 22 Feb and 8 March?


On the very busiest day of the year, the wait in a lift line at Sunshine is about 2.5 minutes. Yes. We have it made. :yahoo:


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## atr3yu (Feb 15, 2012)

I agree you must hit up White Water, nothing like it. And I am willing to bet that you will find no better food at a hill period.


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## RagJuice Crew (Apr 8, 2012)

Snow Hound said:


> Just bumping this up because it's still very much on the cards but my buddy is worried that it might be ridiculously cold and is suggesting that we go a bit later in the season.


I've never been as cold as I was in Calgary. In March. So no, don't wait until later in the season just for warmer temps!

(The inside of the windows in our RV froze! Inside! With heat on full all night long. I know it gets a damn sight colder than it did, and a hell of a lot colder further north, but damn...)


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

RagJuice Crew said:


> I've never been as cold as I was in Calgary. In March. So no, don't wait until later in the season just for warmer temps!
> 
> (The inside of the windows in our RV froze! Inside! With heat on full all night long. I know it gets a damn sight colder than it did, and a hell of a lot colder further north, but damn...)


Really?!? I was expecting the worst here, but haven't found it to be bad. I've had much colder snowboarding days in Vermont, Quebec. And the coldest I ever felt was in North Bay Ontario! 

So far I actually find Calgary kind of mild. A couple -35 days that hurt when you breathe, but otherwise not so bad! :yahoo:


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