Over five-thousand miles away from The Alps, Canada is an untouched skiing arena for most Brits but with ski-pro Jacob Wester,recently listing a Vancouver resort as one of the best places to go play and Holiday Autos supporting travel arrangements for skiers in the country, it could see an influx flying over through winter.
Westerjust picked out Whistler in Vancouver as a range that is so vast, there are points you can reach where it ‘doesn’t feel like you’re in a ski resort anymore.’ Wester is from Sweden and has been skiing since the age of five, so he knows a thing or two about where to find the bestslopes.
Whether his backing of Canada will cause an avalanche of skiing Brits to enter the country, only time will tell – but the resorts themselves put forward a pretty good case:
Whistler
This mountainous terrain on the Pacific coast of Canada is not only favoured by pros like Wester; thousands of skiers fell in love with Whistler after it was chosen as the main stage for the 2010 Winter Olympics – as soon as you get lost in its 7000 acres of raw, skiable territory, it’s not hard to understand why.
Best slope
Whether you take the zipper-line down the middle of the Horseman Glacier or try and carve your way around its edges, this is one of the best valleys for remote skiing in the world. Wester described its 2.6km peak as a place you would think only accessible by helicopter but you can actually hike it or take the ski lift.
Downtime
Chilling out in the après ski area of the resort is equally as awesome. The nightlife here is exactly what you want from a skiing holiday – fire lit bars full of skiers and shredders alike, swapping stories about their experience on the chutes or their kids learning the basics on the mini slopes.
If the main pistes are whiting out with blizzards or the snow isn’t great one day, you can always try some tricks on the terrain park at Whistler – there won’t be a day here when you can’t ski.
Directions
Whistler is a two-hour drive away from Vancouver airport and the route is awe-inspiring in itself. Through the city centre and across the Lions Gate Bridge gets you to the Trans-Canada Highway. From there, it takes fifteen minutes to reach the Sea-to-Sky Highway –its cliff-lined corners and hairpin roads wouldn’t look out of place in a Bond film. It all makes up ‘Route 99’ and following the signs for this all the way will bring you right to Whistler’s doorstep.
Car rental
With a multi-purpose vehicle fitted with ski racks waiting for you at Vancouver airport, you can set off to Whistler, on the road trip of a lifetime from the moment you collect your luggage. Plus, you can get 15% off Holiday Autos car hire in Canada and the USA, for bookings made up until the end of November.
So, with a massive, pro-endorsed and Olympic-worthy ski resort waiting across the North Atlantic to be chopped up by extreme mountaineers, and the ski car hire arrangements covered– Vancouver might just become invaded by a mass of adventurous Brits this winter.
