Archive for ‘Uncategorized’
Making the most of Whistler
Most people who ski or snowboard have heard of Whistler Blackcomb. Since 1997, when Whistler and Blackcomb mountains joined forces, the resort has attracted well over a million skier visits every season.
The resort is well known for its incredible variety of terrain, insane average annual snowfall, vibrant village and an après scene that bucks the trend of North American conservatism. This is obviously a ski and snowboard Mecca, so in addition to Whistler’s impressive array of Early Booking Offers, how do you make the most out of what is on offer?
48 Hours in Vancouver: The Ultimate Stopover
Vancouver is a city of bright lights nestled among some of the most beautiful natural landscapes in the world -If you’re thinking of travelling to Whistler for your next ski holiday, we highly recommend spending a day or two in Vancouver before heading home. The Ski Independence team have put together a guide with all their favourite places to eat and things to do in Vancouver.
Top 7 Reasons to Ski BC Interior
The BC Interior ski resorts include Big White, SilverStar, and Sun Peaks. Each of these mountain resorts are unique in their own right, however all share the same great lightweight floaty powder and family friendly features in resort.
Our team of Ski Specialists have tried and tested all of these resorts, and together we’ve created a shortlist of a few of our favourite features.
Silver Star Mountain Resort – Credit: Destination BC/Andrew Strain
Top 5 Stops on the Icefields Parkway
The Icefields Parkway stretches over 144 miles (232 km) from Lake Louise to Jasper. The road is ever changing and you will find yourself glued to the window of your car as the views take your breath away. The scheduled drive time according to google maps is just over three hours, however it will most likely will take you longer with various stops to take in the incredible views. There are view-points dotted along the route, so you safely can pull in to admire the views and take photos. It’s likely there will be wildlife sighting opportunities too, so remember to keep a look out!
Our top 5 stop-off points on the Icefields Parkway are:
Athabasca Glacier
Our Top 5 Places to Instagram in Alberta
Alberta is filled with picturesque viewpoints and photogenic vantage points. A few members of the Ski Independence team were away on a fam trip to Alberta a few weeks ago and visited a few of these amazing places. Magda has given us a shortlist of her top 5 places that’ll look great on any Instagram feed.
#1 Sky Bistro on top of Sulphur Mountain
Credit: Brewster
Alberta’s Top 10 Restaurants: Hotspots & Hidden Gems
Alberta is full of hotspots and hidden gems that offer good food and have that all important welcoming & warm atmosphere. The Ski Independence team have spent many hours in the Canadian Rockies, and between us we’ve compiled a guide to our favourite restaurants. Perfect after a day in the mountains working up an appetite.
Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria – Jasper
Famoso imports its ovens and key ingredients from Naples, & Campania in a bid to serve the best Pizza outside of Italy. The restaurant has a fun & lively atmosphere – perfect for relaxing after a long day on the slopes. From Pizzas to Pasta, there’s something for all at this restaurant. This family friendly restaurant has a great reputation with locals and regular visitors alike, and we can see why.
In Pictures: Amazing Start to the Winter Season
Thought it would never end? After the snowstorm to end all snowstorms, the weather in the French Alps has calmed – a little – and the sun is even making an appearance in some resorts. What an amazing start to the winter!
The Swiss Alps are still in the middle of yet another blizzard and 100cm will fall in Saas Fee today alone!
If you haven’t booked a holiday yet for this winter, now is the time!
A break in the storm in Val Thorens, 5th January 2018
France
Opening Hours – Christmas and New Year 2017/18
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the whole team at Ski Independence. If you need to contact us please call 0131 243 8097 and below you’ll find details of our festive opening hours.
Festive Opening Hours 2017/18
- Saturday 23 December: 9am – 4pm
- Sunday 24 December, Christmas Eve: Closed
- Monday 25 December, Christmas Day: Closed
- Tuesday 26 December, Boxing Day: Closed
- Wed 27, Thur 28, Fri 29 December: 9am – 5.30pm
- Saturday 30 December: 9am – 4pm
- Sunday 31 December, New Year’s Eve: Closed
- Monday 1 January, New Year’s Day: Closed
- Tuesday 2 January: 9am – 5.30pm
- We then revert to normal winter hours: Monday – Thursday: 09:00 – 18:30 | Friday: 09:00 – 17:30 | Saturday: 09:00 – 16:00 | Sunday: Closed
Image Nicolas Ansourian, Megève Tourisme
Big White Masters Ski Weeks 2017
Masters Big White
The fantastic Big White Masters Ski Weeks are tailored specifically towards skiers and boarders aged 50+, looking to meet like-minded snowsports fans. These week-long programmes include top ski coaching over 5 half days, a bit of après-ski, good conversation and plenty of social events and entertainment – surely a winning formula!
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Ski Holidays in the Italian Dolomites
Eating & Skiing our way across the Dolomites
Adding a new country to our European programme had been on my radar for some time and it became clear that many of our clients were keen to experience Italian ski resorts.
Known for extensive skiing, stunning vistas and good value, not to mention the food (more on that later), I was really looking forward to eating – and skiing – our way across three fantastic resorts in the Dolomites, in preparation for adding ski holidays in the Italian Dolomites to our winter 2016/17 programme.
Cortina d’Ampezzo
Together with my colleagues Karen (Senior Ski Specialist) and Catherine (Ski Product Support and fluent Italian speaker), we flew into Venice Marco Polo airport in March and hopped into a hire car to make the two hour journey to our first stop of Cortina d’Ampezzo. Popular among well-heeled Italians with a penchant for fur, this resort really is the place to see and be seen in Italy. With many holidaymakers more intent on sashaying their way along the beautiful cobbled streets of the car-free, traditional town centre, we found that the slopes were relatively quiet.
Split into two main areas (Tofana and Valoria), we spent a great day on the Tofana side enjoying some lovely cruisy slopes and taking in the immense scenery.
Beautiful Cortina d’Ampezzo (image: Paola Dandrea)
