Table of contents for Winter 2026 - Vol. 54 #4 in Ski Canada

Pedantic instructors, steadfast mountain guides, young and old ski bums in the gondola, quirky writers and photographers, chatty skimakers, hoteliers and PR hacks…to quote Dr. Seuss (which seems to describe my time here at Ski Canada): “Oh, the places you’ll go! The people you’ll meet!” At lunch in Ischgl, Austria, back in November for instance, I bumped into Oliver Kern, whom I met at Big White many years ago. Oliver pointed out it was 16. To say Munich-based Oliver is good with numbers is an understatement. Chances are you’ve used Oliver’s research more than once to plan a trip somewhere in Canada or around the world. Launched in 1998, his website, skiresort.info, is Google for global skiers who are planning a holiday or settling a numbers argument about ski areas.…

As the grande dame of the 4 Valleys, Switzerland’s largest ski domain, Verbier is as famous for its massive freeride terrain as it is for its posh options for eating, shopping and nightclubbing. Verbier has long been the centre of attention for British skiers with coin, from one-time chalet girl Sarah Ferguson to long-time chalet owner Richard Branson. Indeed, English accents are commonly heard in this French part of Switzerland (less than two-hours transfer time from Geneva), although in recent years it’s been attracting more Americans, partly because of five-day Epic pass allowances. Granting access to sister ski areas Nendaz, a Verbier pass is good for more than 80 lifts and 400km of pistes within the 4 Valleys region. If opulent is in your ski holiday vocabulary, Verbier should be…

Eastern skiers could be forgiven for thinking the benefits of multi-resort passes were passing them by. Epic and Ikon get all the attention, but consider the logistics. While Ikon covers Ontario’s Blue Mountain and Quebec’s Tremblant, the seven-hour drive between the two hardly constitutes a fun road trip. There are plenty of Epic and Ikon resorts in the New England states, but as of press time they were still part of the union. Full-fare Epic passes do grant limited access to Mont-Sainte-Anne and Stoneham near Quebec City, but given that they cost upwards of $1,370, they aren’t designed for passing tourists. There is one multi-resort pass—the less-ballyhooed Indy Pass—that makes good sense for road-tripping skiers across Eastern Canada. Costing $599 this season, Indy passes grant access to two days of…

SILVERSTAR SOLD SilverStar Mountain Resort, near Vernon, B.C., has a new owner after being bought last month by Pacific Group Resorts (PGR). From a distance, the move looks to be a lateral one for SilverStar, the seventh-largest ski area in Canada. Both the new owner, PGR, and previous owner, POWDR, are based in Utah and own six ski resorts in North America. PGR, however, has a track record in Canada, having owned Mount Washington Alpine Resort on Vancouver Island for 10 years. SilverStar locals should feel good about the news, says Jade Keene, co-owner of Ski Tak Hut, a ski shop in downtown Courtenay, half an hour from Mount Washington. Mount Washington had been owned by a small group of local investors for 25 years. While there might have been…

“You know you’re skiing hard when you can feel your heartbeat in your calves,” observed Rhea. My niece, 16 years old and fresh off the plane from Ontario, had skied Revelstoke and Whitewater the year previous, but halfway down Panorama’s Taynton Bowl, she seemed to be discovering big-mountain skiing for the first time. She was all for it, though we did decide that her DIN ratings should be cranked a little after digging a second ski out of boot-high powder. The snow was a week old, but Taynton Bowl is just over 300 hectares in size, as much skiable terrain as Tremblant. Snow here lasts a long time. And there was a lot of it. We were coming in at the tail end of the best opening month that Panorama…

Each time I take my two daughters to Canada’s Wonderland, I hear the same plea: “Can we get Fast Lane passes?” I don’t blame them for asking. Regular queues at the country’s largest theme park can be horrendous, and because I want us to have a great time I’m sorely tempted—until I calculate the cost of our local day out ($500-plus) and reality wins. “Fast-tracking even two percent of skiers will inevitably make lift lines longer for everyone else.” So we wait and wait in line, and watch as Fast Lane-buyers breeze past us. As my daughters’ faces fall, I know what they’re thinking: “If only we had Fast Lane passes.” Then I think of the constant social media posts telling them they need X, Y and Z because beautiful,…

When visitors arrive at Revelstoke Mountain Resort (RMR), they quickly discover a destination designed for every kind of mountain experience. Set against spectacular scenery, RMR combines legendary snow conditions with a charming on-mountain village, expansive terrain, and a welcoming atmosphere that invites guests to explore their favourite pitch at their own pace. With more than 3,000 skiable acres and North America’s longest vertical at 1,713 metres, the mountain delivers long fall-line runs, alpine bowls, and gladed terrain, supported by consistent conditions and an average yearly snowfall exceeding 34 feet. “Revelstoke is still a fairly well-kept secret with a world-class appeal,” says Jeff Redmond, a die-hard Revy fan for nearly two decades. “Whether you’re building your skills, love long fall-line runs, powder turns or want to adventure with heli-skiing, Revy has…