 Poster: A snowHead
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This was my second ski trip to Jasper, the first being in 2018 (TR [url=]https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=3198077&highlight=jasper#3198077[/url]) , so you can assume I’m biased and love it!
We are 2 adults, intermediate level skiers. We found that very little has changed in Jasper from 2018 to be honest!
We booked through Crystal Ski at a cost of around £1,200 each for a week, including flights, transfers, accommodation and 6 days lift pass. A good price for what we got but much more expensive in the current climate (we could have got it £200 each cheaper if we’d booked sooner but missed the bus on the sale! Also, 10 nights was hardly any more expensive, but we couldn’t afford the time off work).
Flights were with Air Canada who include ski carriage. Flights were absolutely full but were fine – we flew into Calgary and were through the airport in 30 mins – really excellent!
The transfer from Calgary to Jasper took 6 hours with 1 stop and this was with good road conditions!
We stayed at The Crimson which is on one of the main roads through Jasper on the outskirts of the ‘downtown’ area. A very typical Canadian hotel, large rooms (ours had 2 king beds, kitchen with full oven, dining table for 4, a huge shower and a balcony). Hotel had a small indoor pool, hot tub, and a reasonable restaurant on site.
Buses run from most of the main Jasper hotels to Marmot Basin, 3 in the morning (8.50am 9.40am, 11.55am from our hotel), 3 returning afternoon (1.30pm, 3pm, 4.30pm – lifts close 4pm). Bus passes were included in our package, but otherwise a day return was around $18 each which could add up!
We arrived in the middle of a real cold snap, so only 1 small lift was running on the first day – we skied for a couple of hours on a couple of green slopes to get our ski legs back, with a couple of warm-up stops.
Day 2, all lifts opened around 12pm as temperatures just about got above -25…!! We skied for a few hours but it was frigid so stops for hot chocolate and coffee were required. The rest of the trip was warmer (but still chilly!) and skiing was unaffected further.
On the face of it, Marmot Basin is a small ski area. But for anyone unfamiliar with skiing in Canada, you don’t just have the marked pistes – everywhere within the resort boundary is skiable so there are almost limitless lines.
Canadian pistes are graded Green, Blue, single Black Diamond and Double Black Diamond. Not everything is groomed every day so the conditions can vary massively – usually greens are groomed daily, double black diamonds aren’t at all (from what I’ve seen). You can check the grooming report daily if you’re worried.
We did not queue for a single lift, even though generally all runs come back down to the same area and even on a weekend when the locals come for their skiing. On weekdays, we were frequently the only people on a run – Marmot Basin is genuinely the epitome of uncrowded!
I genuinely believe that this would be a wonderful place to learn to ski and it’s a great place for improving confidence and gaining experience on the wide open, quiet runs. The variety of conditions mean that you can push yourself in a controlled way – you can see lots of the runs from the lifts which I think is good for more anxious skiers (I count myself in this category).
In terms of food, you have to come back to the main lodge on the hill and the food is typical Canadian mountain food – poutine (chips, cheese curds and gravy), chilli, soups, burgers, cookies and cake. It’s fine but nothing special (you’ll crave veggies by the time you get home!!).
In the town, there are a variety of places to eat – we ate breakfast in Terra (smallish portions and a bit fancier than we were looking for), Papa Georges (good, hearty portions and a varied menu – our favourite breakfast), Smittys (good portions but average food), Bears Paw bakery (excellent coffee and pastries), Tim Hortons (really good value and sustaining).
Evening meals / apres – we enjoyed the Jasper Brewing Company with beer samplers and sharing plates (wings and nachos aplenty, plus some proper meal options), Earls was a bit fancier than last time we were in town but nice food, Emerald Lounge at Jasper Park Lodge expensive and not worth it (they bought us cold food, twice!!), Harvest – a bit more upmarket but still very relaxed and lovely food and service.
We saw lots of wildlife during our time – plenty of Elk around, Mule Deer and even a Coyote.
We really noticed that things were more expensive than our previous trips to Canada which is perhaps unsurprising, but it was quite significantly more (easily spending $40-50 for breakfast).
And one of the most exciting things for me was the Aurora Borealis – there was a really strong aurora on one night which filled the sky, even in the town with the light pollution – I’ve never seen anything quite like it and it absolutely made my holiday! Totally worth missing many hours of sleep!
Our bus driver for our return transfer (Sundog Tours) was brilliant, and stopped a couple of times on the Icefield Parkway for photos – this drive was absolutely incredible!
I’ve said it before, Jasper is a long way to go for a week and I really wish we could have managed longer – 8 and a half hour flight and a minimum 6 hour transfer (plus a 3 hour drive to Heathrow for us), but if you cope well with travelling and jet lag (easier on the way out there!), then I’d highly recommend it.
I’m currently suffering from serious jet lag and post holiday blues, so thought penning a TR might help a bit…I need to book another holiday, fast!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Great report - really interested in this as our 15Y old (he's an excellent black run skier) is off to jasper in 4 weeks with his school.
I'll force him to read this 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@franga, we saw a few UK school groups whilst we were there, so it must be the place to go for some schools this year?! If he's used to European blacks, he'll hopefully find some really interesting options with tree runs and lack of grooming
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The Aurora, how cool is that?! So jealous. (although, there was a coyote in my yard last night)
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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My Lad 3 is there at term break in a few weeks with school too, so really appreciate the report. (Seems mad for a week, but as he said, he missed out on 2 years of school trips due to the pandemic so ….).
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| SLB79 wrote: |
| @franga, we saw a few UK school groups whilst we were there, so it must be the place to go for some schools this year?! If he's used to European blacks, he'll hopefully find some really interesting options with tree runs and lack of grooming |
Thanks very much, I’m sure he’ll have a great time and will fall in love with the Canadian inbounds approach, the glades, the hospitality and scenery etc.
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@SLB79, nice report. I have to ask though- why Jasper rather than Banff or Lake Louise which, on the face of it, are larger ski areas with much shorter transfers and less extreme arctic weather?
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8hr flight I can handle for 14 or at a pinch 10 days, but a 6hr transfer on top?!
But that price is astounding value, at least from my usual Canada costs to Banff, I don’t think I could get flight plus ski pass for that.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Orange200 wrote: |
8hr flight I can handle for 14 or at a pinch 10 days, but a 6hr transfer on top?!
But that price is astounding value, at least from my usual Canada costs to Banff, I don’t think I could get flight plus ski pass for that. |
We were amazed this year - 10 days in Banff, flights, accommodation at the Banff Park Lodge, Big 3 lift passes for us and our daughter - £1250pp with Crystal.
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@snowdave - we're Banff regulars too and love it there but Jasper is beautiful and so, so quiet - for us, it's worth the extra travel (occasionally! - probably Banff next year!). When the extra travel is down the beautiful Icefield Parkway, it's quite something. The weather isn't so different at Jasper - we've had the same extreme cold in Banff before (in fact, we've had worse with total shut down of the ski areas for a couple of days), so we take our chances wherever we go. There is more skiing in Banff but we're happy with a smaller area - there are still so many lines to be found.
@Orange200 - we go through the exercise every year of checking DIY prices vs Crystal prices and we generally cannot get anywhere near (that's for Banff too, if you book at the right time). We did Whistler in Dec 21 through the BA sale insanely cheap but I think that was a post-covid anomaly! Jasper comes out so cheap as generally Crystal do 2 for 1 lift passes for Marmot Basin (I think it's a partnership with the ski hill to get people out there). I just found the invoice for our 2018 trip and it was £800 each all included - bonkers!
@narbs - I don't know how Crystal do it - they are currently taking bookings for 2023/24 for similar costs that you paid but without lift passes, so I'll keep stalking and waiting for the prices to drop!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@SLB79, Jasper is a bit cheaper than Banff and since it's less of a honey-pot destination it's easier for Tour Operators to organise school tours there. Jasper is also miles from anywhere so that's why it's a bit quiet. Regardless Canadian Resorts are almost always quieter than European destinations, weekdays and weekends.
There are no Canadian school HT holidays in February so accommodation prices don't skyrocket as much as in Europe. The airlines obviously work on a slightly different pricing model though... 
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