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Family Sking - Resort Choices, in Six Regions

By , About.com Guide

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Family Skiing in Canada

Photo courtesy of Sun Peaks Resort.

Photo courtesy of Sun Peaks Resort.

short-cuts: family skiing in New England, PA, NY State, CO, UT.

It's not called the Great White North for nothing. The giant country of Canada has some great skiing ops.

Family Skiing in Eastern Canada

Mont Tremblant is a well-known ski resort in Quebec about 1-1/2 hours from Montreal, with a respectable vertical drop of 2116', and a village with shops and lodgings that include a Fairmont hotel with ski valet.

Mont-Sainte-Anne, meanwhile, is just a 1/2-hour from the charms of Quebec City -- think mini-trip to Europe. Stay in Quebec City and shuttle over, or stay at the mountain at ski-in, ski-out lodging.

And don't worry: you'll have no trouble speaking English even though Quebec is French-speaking.

Canadian Rockies

For much bigger mountains, head a few thousand miles west to Banff /Lake Louise, about 90 minutes from Calgary. Sunshine Village has three mountains, 3358 acres skiable terrain, vertical of 3574'. Lake Louise has 4200 skiable acres, major off-piste, and 3250' vertical. Smaller ski resort Norquay bills itself as "Banff's best family ski resort"; vert is 1650 feet.

British Columbia

Whistler-Blackcomb -- about 1-1/2 hours from Vancouver -- is often ranked as the top ski resort in the world, with a winning combo of terrain, village, and apres-ski. Mountain stats are huge: over 8000 acres, nearly a mile of vertical drop; and ski season lasts into June. Families will find kids programs, on-mountain Kids Adventure Zones, terrain garden, "Ride Tribe" for teens. Dog-friendly, too!

Okanagan BC
Why, then, why do so many Vancouver snowhounds head out of town in another direction? They're driving farther, to a different climate zone with "champagne powder", and four family-friendly ski resorts that are only "smaller" compared to Whistler. Sun Peaks, for example, has 3,678 acres on 3 mountains, and vert of 2891 feet.

See more about these Family Skiing Resorts in Canada.

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