California to BC/Alberta road trip advice

michael_bc

michael_bc

Active member
In January I'm planning a road trip from California (Mammoth/Tahoe) up to Whistler and then to Banff, ending in Calgary. I'm from Switzerland myself and have only skied in Utah and Colorado so far in the USA and it will be my first time in Canada.

I'm looking for advice for awesome mountains to ski along the way, especially in Oregon, Washington, BC and Alberta. Please fire away the places I need to look up and consider driving to.

Also, would it be worth it to continue from Banff down to Jackson Hole? Any places really worth visiting along this way?

I will probably have 3 weeks in total, maybe a bit more. Thanks for the help!
 
That is a hell of a trip for 3 weeks. Be prepared to be flexible on your plans as it would suck to roll into somewhere you've only scheduled a single day at when they haven't had snow, and then leave that night when it starts dumping.

On your way up the coast make sure to stop at Baker before you cross into BC. After Whistler on the way into the interior there is a whole bunch of great stuff off Hwy 1. Check Red Mountain and Whitewater (near Nelson), Revelstoke for sure, Kicking Horse. If you have no Real need to go into Calgary and want to head to Jackson I suggest heading south from Golden and hitting Whitefish on the way down. There are a few things in between with slight detours if you want and plan to do a very full day of driving between there and Jackson, though its a great drive.

Enjoy!
 
Though none of the places listed are really park resorts, besides Whistler so hopefully that's not you are looking for
 
hit up revy and kicking horse fo sho. You may end up staying there for a week if the snow is good. Sunshine won't be prime until later in the year so unless you really want to see banff then don't worry about it.
 
sounds sick man, my advice would be to not plan everything out yet and just go where the snow is flying at that time. make sure to hit whitewater / red / revy / kicking horse / banff. whistler if you plan on going that far north. you've got three weeks - your going to get some good pow.
 
Interior BC has way more to offer than Banff/Calgary area. Spend that time hitting everywhere BC has to offer, Kicking Horse, Revy, Red, Whitewater, maybe even Fernie.
 
If you're going through Banff/Calgary anyways, check out Lake Louise and Sunshine, and go wherever the snow is better, and when you're in Calgary definitely stop by COP for an afternoon if you have the time. 4 hour tickets are pretty cheap, and they have a pretty fun park and a huge halfpipe.
 
I did a road trip from calgary to vancouver/whistler a few years ago. it was a really great experience and i think u will really enjoy your trip. Canada is a wonderful place, you are in for a treat. My favorite mountains to shred in that area are whistler, revelstoke, RED mountain, and lake louise. Vancouver is also a great place to stop and visit, its a truely unique city/place and you wil find some amazing people, place and food there.

what exactly do you want to get out of this trip? what kind of riding do you like the most?

if u ask more specific questions, we can give better answers :)
 
well, as stated above, you have one hell of a trip planned for 3 weeks. personally, I think it's way too much ground to cover effectively for a ski trip. If you are starting in Mammoth, heading up to Whistler, over to Calgary and down to Jaskson you are hitting up every sick skiing region of North America other than Utah and Colorado.

I'm going to say this right now - if you are looking for a terrain park oriented trip - you aren't looking at the right areas - all you will get on this trip is sick terrain with the chance of deep pow. Do you have touring gear/knowledge? Can you afford to buy lift tickets every day?

again: as stated above, if you don't have to go to Calgary, don't bother with Alberta. So, start in Mammoth (June as well), head up to Tahoe (Kirkwood, Squaw/Alpine), from there you should go to Bend, Oregon and hit Bachelor, followed by Hood on your way up to Washington. In Washington hit Crystal and Baker in that order.

In BC you have a lot of options, I guess after Whistler, if you want to hit them all take highway 3 over to the kootenays and hit Red, Whitewater, Revelstoke, Kicking Horse, Fernie (in that order) before dipping back down into Montana. Stop in Kalispell to ski Big Mountain, and Bozeman to ski Bridger Bowl and Big Sky. Finally Jaskson Hole is just a couple ridges away to finish the journey.

This would be the ultimate trip with up to 20 ski areas, more if you hit up the smaller hills that you will be driving by. Obviously this is almost impossible for a three week trip. So after this way to long of a thread I will tell you that you have a lot of research ahead of you. Look into all the hills I just mentioned and figure out what you want.

Good luck, and have fun.

 
this guy just gave u a great response. you could spend a whole season doing this trip and it would still feel rushed so be careful, you may be biting off more then you can chew...

As mentioned above, if you DO have touring experience, then I highly recommend you do some touring in the interior of BC. Rogers pass if probobly the best place in the world to do ski touring IMO. Watch the movie Attack of la Nina for some good videos.

Also, you will not be hitting up every sick ski region in North America, northern BC, alaska and the Chic-Chocs are fucking un-real. not to mention a handful of others...
 
i've actually done this trip twice, i would go mammoth to squaw/alpine meadows, to mt hood meadows/ski bowl (only if it is supposed to dump snow) then to mt. baker for at least a week, then whistler, red mountain, whitewater (stay in nelson, canada is awesome), then revelstoke, banff, then calgary (ski some park at the COP), then whitefish montana, then bridger bowl / big sky, then JACKSON (its the best one) and i'd finish it off with alta just cuz thats an epic tour
 
Thanks for all this epic advice! I really appreciate it guys!!! These tips are priceless. I will print them and look into everything. I had no idea there was so much stuff to check out...

I am mainly looking for powder, with local friends and with avalanche gear, but in bounds and no touring. Some park days are welcome as well, of course, but I will have to prioritize, and I've already spent plenty of time in Breckenridge, Aspen and Park City in the past years.

I have set aside enough money to pay for a ski pass every day. This is the last thing I want to worry about. This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, just driving around and exploring. It's also not just about skiing, but also about seeing a part of the world I've never been to! Very excited about this!
 
If you come through interior BC, stop in Kelowna. Big White which is about a 50 minute drive from Kelowna is a really good mountain.
 
You guys skip over Moonlight Basin, is MLB just not worth it or what?

Here I am thinking of trying to do this trip over several mini-trips. (e.g. Whistler - Revelstoke - Red. Fly in to YVR. Out of Spokane)

Then a trip dedicated to Bozeman (MLB, Bridger Bowl, Big Sky).

And then I probably wouldn't dedicate a trip to any other areas. I may be perfectly content with just visiting Jackson Hole/Targhee, SLC, Bozeman, and B.C. in regards to skiing in North America. Telluride/Silverton look wicked, and if I were to check out any Colorado area it would be those first, and then if I got loaded and I could just name places and start going I would pick Aspen and Mammoth.

Anyone care to critique this? Am I missing anything?

 
I just consider Moonlight Basin to be part of Big Sky. That is why I didn't mention it. It's like the Blackcomb to Whistler.
 
Personally, i think big sky's way better than moonlight--way bigger with more varied terrain. Moonlight's cool n all, but Big Sky's got so many options on a pow day it's ridiculous. Bridger beats them both hands down on a pow day though. the only problem is it can get pretty crowded and gets skied out fast, but if you're hiking and the weather's working for you, you can find freshies a week afterwards if you're going to the right places.

Some will say otherwise, and I haven't skied moonlight that much, but for me it's the last out of the three. Also, bridger's way closer to bozeman, but Big Sky's definitely worth the drive if you haven't been there.
 
Given the stuff you'll have access to on that trip there is no reason whatsoever to ski in Banff. Lake Louise is fun and all but spend the extra days in Washington or at Revy or KH or even add a day to Whis if the snow is good there. Or see if you can do a cat day while you're in the interior. Lots of better options, trust me.
 
compared to all the other hills he has lined up, big white would just be a waste of time.
 
I think I want to do 1 day of touring Vancouver/getting to Whistler. 3 days in Whistler. 1 day to Revelstoke. 2 days skiing Revelstoke. 2 Days in Kicking horse. 1 day travel to Red. 1 day Red Mountain, 1 day cat skiing, night time drive to Spokane, flight out the next morning.

12 day vacation. 9 days skiing. Too bad I won't be doing that trip any time soon.
 
Would it make sense to fly from California to Seattle, and skip the mountains in Oregon, thus getting more days in BC?
 
That depends. I love the act of road tripping, so I would say no - but that is simply opinion. From Tahoe to San Fran isn't that bad of a drive, so it wouldn't take very long, but it would be a very long day to Tahoe down San Fran, fly to Seattle, then drive up to Whistler.

The drive (in the summer in good weather) up the I5 can zip quite fast. You can make it from Northern Cali (like, Shasta area) to Vancouver in a day (a long day, but a day none the less). If you are thinking of skipping Oregon but still interested in driving, the Oregon coast is a really beautiful drive. That being said, to get to the Oregon coast from Tahoe, up the coast to Washington, then up to Vancouver is a three day trip if you want to do it right.

If you have blinders on for BC then sure, fly, but the PNW is a beautiful place if you have patients.
 
three months would be plenty of time, as for flying from CA to seatle, since your trying to see a cool part of the country, i would recommend starting your trip in like reno, ski tahoe and then mammoth, then drive to san diego and drive up the entire california coast on the pacific coast highway (route 1) from san diego to portland, (theres a few parts you skip but its obvious on a map) but that is probably the best drive in the country and a nice couple day break from snow in the middle of the winter
 
super windey, and will take forever. once you see 5 straight days of ocean you will never want to again.

would suggest just cruising 101 and then dipping onto 1 for the cool stretches(pismo, big sur, lost coast etc.) it will save time, and you really wont miss anything.
 
I was wondering how you are going to finance this. How long did it take you to save enough!? Anyhow this is def gonna be a trip of a life time, I'm so jelous! Do a video blog or something!
 
Well, I was thinking of flying from Reno to Seattle, and then doing Crystal/Baker > Whistler > Revelstoke > Kicking Horse > Fernie > Whitefish > Bozeman > Jackson Hole.

I've decided that I will travel exactly 1 month: 1 week around Tahoe, 1 week Washington/Whistler area, 1 week interior BC, 1 week Montana and 3 days in Jackson Hole before heading home. This route also lines up really well with meeting some old friends.

Anyway, I will not have enough time to do everything, and I will have to skip parts. What is important to me is that I see some very different regions (like Cali, BC, etc..) but only focus on one or two towns/mountains per region so I don't spend each day on the road. I've been doing some research and looking at photos, and somehow BC, Montana and Wyoming get me more captivated than Oregon. Does this make sense? Or am I delusional and is Mt. Hood way better? Is Oregon very different from Washington anyway?

I will most definitely do a photo journal of this trip!!

About the money: I work a full time job, and my job is actually getting me a free plane ticket to the USA. I also have a bunch of frequent flyer miles saved, which I can use towards internal flights and car rentals. I should be able to couch surf at least half of my trip, so most of the money will go into gas and ski passes.

Speaking of couch surfing... any tips for cheap accomodation or hostels along my way are very very welcome!! Thanks guys for all the advice so far. Newschoolers can sometimes be an incredible source of information.
 
winter tired would be highly recommended. From my experience, it's hard to find a rental car with good winter's, but they make the difference of night and day.
 
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