Panorama Mountain is located in British Columbia, just two hours
southwest of Banff near the Kootenay
National Forest and Radium
Hot Springs. Panorama has been owned by
Intrawest since 1994, and the slopeside condos with outdoor hot tubs
and pools, underground parking, and pedestrian village are evidence
of resort planning. Families can walk to Panorama's lifts, the
village shops, cafes and restaurants, the whole shebang.
While Panorama Mountain Village is petite compared to Whistler or Tremblant, the ski terrain is plenty big. Panorama offers up 4,000’
vertical of resort skiing on 2,800 acres from groomed cruisers like
World Cup to the Extreme Dream Zone and off piste skiing in Taynton
Bowl and Founders Ridge. Be sure to ski to lunch at mid mountain
Elkhorn Cabin, run by famous
Canadian ski instructors Don and Heather Bilodeau. This charming
1952 hut was actually dragged up to its
scenic on mountain location
in 1997. Its cozy but the cuisine is top notch like the alpine
chalets you ski into in Zermatt. Near the fire, looking out at 1,000
Peaks I had the best tourtiere west of Quebec.
Lodging at the Panorama Springs Lodge is the best location, with
the
outdoor heated hot tub, and slope views. Dining at Panorama is a
dilemma the resort runs several great eateries, Wildfire is our
favorite. And you can walk to family owned Earl Gray Lodge, a
charming chalet run by a cheery British family -
their duck was to
die for – especially for the duck.
“Panorama is like a cruise ship - only floating in the mountains not
the sea,” says Don Bilodeau. Panorama sits in the powdery Purcell
Mountain range of BC, so if you were here for a week, you could do
a day of heli
skiing at RK Heli or visit other ski resorts on the Powder
Highway – Kimberley, Fernie, and Kicking Horse.
New England
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Sun & Sea
