SGoldwin

Hi. A couple of friends and I will take the long trip from Sweden to Canada in the beginning of 2012 for some real powder experience.
Unfortunately there is a lack of snow in my area in Sweden. Two years ago we went to Tignes in France for a great week of snowboarding. Lots of snow but not that much "champagne powder".

According to what I have read and heard the best powder is in Canada. So we have set a budget to 2300 Canadian dollars (15.000 swedish crowns). The flight from sweden will cost a little bit less than half which gives us ~1300 CAD to spend on accommodation, living and of course for ski lift tickets. If it can include cat-ski, heli-ski or other fun that would be great.

Whistler, Bannf and Kicking horse are some resorts we have found. In your opinion where is the best "champagne powder" experience?

Bones

Interior BC (Kicking Horse, Revy, Red Mountain) are probably your best bets for champagne powder.

$1300 for a week is very doable. 6 of us did a week in KH for $1150 (not including flight). That covered food, rental cars, gas, lift tickets and slope-side accommodations in a gorgeous chalet. Don't know if you're going to fit a heli-ski excursion in for that budget though.

Some great accommodation options are available thru "for rent by owner" websites. It all depends what you want to spend.

couch

Agreed. The interior of BC is where you are going to go if you want light powder. Very rarely on the Coast do we get temps low enough to qualify (but when we do...watch out). Resorts to look into would be SunPeaks (Kamloops), Big White (Kelowna), Apex Alpine (Penticton)as well as Kicking Horse. Good luck as that is the key factor with all things weather related.

Couch

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SGoldwin

Thanks for your quick replies.
Regarding costs is our goal to keep all living-concerning stuff to a minimum in order to get as much as possible on the snow-experience.

The "for rent by owners" is a great suggestion. I will look into it more, but if you have some suggested sites i would appreciate it.

Another question pops into my mind. What time of year is best chance for getting best condition?
We have a time frame from early February to late Mars.

couch

Mid week is always the cheapest time for tixs or accommodations. One thing you could consider is renting a motorhome and staying in the parking lots. I have done that and it was cheap and you can always park close to the hill. All three resorts (not Kicking Horse) are all within an hours +/- drive of each other.

Later in the year is better, the temp aren't that much different but you will have more day light in March.

Bones

VRBO.com is a good site to start a search for private rentals.

Problem is, with some places like KH or Revy, there isn't much infrastructure yet so there isn't a lot to choose from. The flip side, of course, is if you can find something that fits your needs then you don't have to battle resort-size crowds.

chupacabraman

The best powder is at Whitewater & Revelstoke. Period.

SGoldwin

I've found a package Including Revelstoke and Kicking horse that looks interesting.

What time of the year has the best weather condition for powder?

hikeswithdogs

To my knowledge the most and lightest powder in North America falls in Utah, last year snowbird got 731in(Vs 550 in Revelstoke) and the vast majority of that was "The greatest snow on earth" there's a reason it's the tag line for skiing snowboarding\skiing across the nation.

Does that mean I'd rather goto Utah than RevelStoke no(but it would be ALLOT cheaper) but that's not the topic of discussion

SGoldwin

Price is unfortunately a matter. Please explain more why you rather goto Revelstoke than Utah. And also why/what is a lot cheaper in Utah.