Sponsored SNOW

BLACK FRIDAY IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES..

Imagine a place where the best ski trip deals 0r, Black Friday was a daily occurrence. A spot on the globe where Cyber Monday was a weekly event. A land of big mountains, pointy peaks, pristine glaciers, and incredible feather light powder snow – ON SALE – all winter long!

This is no fantasy folks; it’s reality for American skiers and riders headed to three of Canada’s most spectacular ski areas nestled in the Banff/Lake Louise region of the majestic Alberta Rockies thanks to a very strong U.S. Dollar that’s about 30% beefier than its Canadian counterpart.

Located in breathtakingly beautiful Banff National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), Mt. Norquay, Sunshine Village and The Lake Louise Ski Resort are an uber-easy and super-scenic 90 minute drive from Calgary Airport, one of the most traveler friendly airports on the planet in our humble opinion – where luggage carts are both plentiful and free, bubbly volunteers greet you in white Cowboy hats, and rental car firms are actually on site with zero necessity to board a bus, shuttle or train to pick up your vehicle.

banff-dealsYou’d think ski areas located in a national park teeming with wildlife (one our editors saw a lynx pitter-pattering his way down a snowy hill on the side of the highway on his way to Lake Louise last season) would be tough to access right? WRONG!

Thanks to the miracle of flight in the jet age, there are 40 American cities with direct daily service to Calgary Airport. Yes direct, as in you didn’t miss your connector and landed 3 hours after leaving Chicago, 2 ½ hours post departure from Los Angeles, or 4 hours and change after taking off from NYC.

Why go this year? Well, in some ways, this winter is brewing up to be the perfect storm of travel deals in this neck of the woods. When you factor in the Greenback’s exchange rate at a 10-year high (the US dollar is worth about $1.30 Canadian these days) and a ski are known for dependable snow and a season that usually stretches out to May, you will get a whole lot of bang for your skiing and riding buck in Banff and Lake Louise.

And what will our robust “Murican” buck get you when you ski and ride “Canada’s Big 3” (the local nickname for the Mt. Norquay, Sunshine and Lake Louise ski areas)?

For starters, you’ll get a ski pass that’s good at all three ski resorts for a total of 7,748 acres of skiing and riding, 30 feet of dry Canadian powder every year, 26 chairlifts (including the Teepee Town XL chairlift at Sunshine Village – Canada’s first ever heated quad), 2 gondolas, and 1 brand spanking new dine-in Sushi restaurant Kuma Yama at The Lake Louise Ski Resort.

But the deals don’t stop there.

How about a sleeping in the lap of luxury at a British baronial style castle (The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel), or a European chateau (The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise) and a spot of high tea after a day of ripping on the slopes at a bargain basement prices? Room rates at these two ski palaces and all other hotels in the Banff and Lake Louise corridor are at least 50% off during winter compared to summer when it’s high season.

If proximity to the slopes is more important to you than feeling you’re on the set of an episode of Downton Abbey before and after you go skiing or riding, then you’ll want to try the slopeside accommodations at the cozy Sunshine Mountain Lodge in Sunshine Village perched high atop the snowy peaks of the Continental Divide at 7,200 feet above sea level.

 

No matter what your ability level is, beginner, intermediate or expert, there’s a fresh line waiting for you every morning at Banff/Lake Louise and Sunshine Village, and there’s nothing more refreshing than powder in the morning that’s both deep and deeply discounted (at least for now)!