5 Reasons to go Off Piste Skiing in Canada

Us skiers and snowboarders are somewhat blessed by Mother Nature when it comes to choice of destinations for the annual ski trip. But, unlike the Declaration of Independence’s description of men, all mountains are not created equal! Here’s 5 reasons why off-piste skiing in Canada is the way forward.

1) SNOW

Boom! Straight in there with the heavyweight of all reasons to choose Canada over anywhere else in the skiable world. Western Canada receives unprecedented amounts of the white stuff during the winter months. Fernie, BC for example last season received in excess of 39ft of snow! I personally visited Fernie in the last week of the 2010/11 season and was blessed with 120cms of fresh snow in the week I was there alone! Second to last day of the season and I was riding with powder well above the knee, getting face shots in April!

Photo: Henri Georgi

2) TERRAIn

I would have no issues just leaving this article with the one reason already mentioned, as that alone should be enough to tempt you to Canada. However if you need more reasons then what about the simply epic terrain Canada provides?! Cold temperatures mean that skiing through the alpine layer is common place at nearly every mountain, providing quite simply the best tree skiing you could ever hope for. I can’t think of one mountain in Western Canada that doesn’t offer incredible tree skiing and variable off-piste. The mountains are rugged and untamed and, with extremely clever lift placement, you can access more off-piste in 6 lifts that you can in Europe with 60!

Photo: Lisa Hamilton

3) SAFETY

Ok, so this one makes it sound like I’ve gone from a gnarly off-piste extremist to a mothering, health and safety jobsworth, but bear with me because this is a good point! Unlike mountains in Europe where off-piste and on-piste are very clearly defined and you enter the off-piste at your peril, in Canada there are only two ropes to abide by and they are the outer resort boundaries. Stay within them and it doesn’t matter if you are hucking cliffs or straight lining gullies, you can do it all safe in the knowledge that you are well within a ski patrolled area. This peace of mind allows you to push yourself to new limits and that is not only exhilarating and satisfying, but it will also make you a better skier!

4) PEOPLE

Or nice people I should say! The Canadians have a very laid back outlook on life and that is never truer than when they are doing what they love on a mountain. There is none of this argy-bargy lift line chaos, with the angry father giving it the elbow as the annoying child cuts nice lines through your top sheets as they blithely skate across your skis. In Canada people are polite, they chat to you on lifts, they give way to you on the hill  and they are always happy to help you if you are lost of looking for the best areas! This is only a small point but once you experience how pleasant people can be on a ski hill, you’ll question if you can ever go back to the manic mêlée of the European lift lines!

5) EMPTY SLOPES

So this article needed a big finish and here it is! I experienced my first day skiing in France this season at Val Thoren. It wasn’t a school holiday, just a normal week in the season and as I made my way down the hill I got an insight of what it would be like to run down the middle lane of the M25 during rush hour. There were people coming at me from all angles and more often than not it appeared it was because they had little or no say in what direction they were going! Without wanting to labour the point, all I’ll say is pick a destination that maybe requires a little more travel time to reach in Canada and you will be rewarded with a mountain that can sometimes feel like it is all your own, leaving you free to kick back, relax and tear up the runs as you see fit. Check out Fernie, Red mountain, Revelstoke or Kicking Horse for a few ideas. (Better yet visit all four of these mountains on NONSTOP's excellent 2-week Snow Safari).

ENJOY!