Vacations In Canadian Ski Resorts

Canada is one of the largest countries in the world (second by territory with 9,984,670 square kilometers or 3,854,085 square miles) and is located in North America, being bordered by the United States in south and north-west, the Atlantic Ocean in east, the Pacific Ocean in west, and the Arctic region in north. It has a pretty mountainous territory, especially in the western and southern area, featuring two distinctive mountain ranges: the Rocky Mountains, known also as the Canadian Rockies (part of the Canadian Cordillera, stretching from the Interior Plains in state of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench in province of British Columbia), and the Coast Mountains on the Pacific side of the country, occupying the region from the south-western part of Yukon to Alaska Panhandle and the whole coastal zone of British Columbia. With a such extended mountainous territory, it's obvious that ski resorts in Canada are present in large number. In fact, in this country are hundreds of excellent ski destinations, from which two are famous on the entire planet: Whistler and Banff.

Whistler is probably the most popular winter destination in Canada and one of the top-rated ski resorts in North America, the extraordinary quality of ski runs in area being recognized officially by designating Whistler as host of the "2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games" (together with Vancouver, situated at only 72 miles or 115 kilometers), competition that took place in the interval February–March 2010 and was attended by millions of winter sports fans. The premier ski area of British Columbia is known as Whistler–Blackcomb because the ski trails (stretching on over 8,000 acres) are spread on the slopes of two imposing mountains: Mount Whistler and Mount Blackcomb, connected since several years by a peak-to-peak gondola in length of about 2 miles (4.5 kilometers), a feature that made this Canadian ski resort even more popular on the local and international travel scene. A special characteristic is the fact that the Blackcomb Glacier Provincial Park is the only spot in North America where can be enjoyed skiing on a glacier (on the Horstman Glacier).

Banff is the second top-rated Canadian ski resort famous on the entire North American continent. Located in province of Alberta, the ski area is known by many skier as the "Banff–Lake Louise Mountain Resort" and comprises actually three ski destinations: Lake Louise Mountain Resort, overlooking a small village located on the banks of Lake Louise, Mount Norquay Ski Resort, and Sunshine Village Ski & Snowboard Resort. The last one stretches on three mountains (Lookout Mountain, Goat's Eye Mountain, and Mount Standish) and features not less than 107 amazing snowboarding and ski trails for sportsman of all levels. Characteristic for the "Banff–Lake Louise" ski area is the fact that it is located inside the Banff National Park, so anyone can imagine that the natural ambient is magnificent and the sights are breathtaking in the whole Canadian region.

All Canadian ski resorts mentioned above are very well developed for tourist industry and feature hundreds of hotels, vacation rental properties, restaurants, bars, pubs, entertainment venues, shops, and other points of interest that keep tourists busy day and night. The road network is very good in Canada, while the facilities for winter sports are quite impressive – there are hundreds of ski chairs, gondola, and trails for Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and many other sports specific to the cold months. Both in Whistler and Banff the ski season is very long because of the close proximity of Canadian Rockies, generally the peak season lasting from the second part of November to the first part of March. People interested in ski vacations in Whistler or Banff are beckoned on the fact that because of the high popularity of these Canadian ski destinations finding accommodation after beginning of the high season is a pretty difficult task despite of the presence of many lodgings. However, by booking early, travelers have chance to take delight in ski packages to the best-rated hotels in Canada. They can also save big money by taking advantage on the numerous travel deals and vacation packages offered by most tour operators in the interval September–October.