Snowboarding
Jasper Reviewed
I have been to Jasper a few times during the summer, but this was my first trip there in the winter. The town itself is very clean, quaint, and certainly beautiful (surround almost any town with mountains and it instantly looks good).
I snowboarded for four days at Marmot Basin and stayed at Maligne Lodge. The accommodations were comfortable, convenient, and a pretty good value. I certainly recommend the hotel if you ever visit Jasper, but I am confident that most of the hotels in town are equally nice. There are no accommodations right at the mountain so there is some driving needed each day. You will need a car to get around the town and the surrounding area. Make sure you have one that can handle tricky winter driving conditions. I’m sure that there is some sort of shuttle service from Jasper to Marmot Basin (the information is not currently available on the Marmot site), but I like to do things on my own time.
So the big question is, how was the mountain? I personally really liked Marmot Basin. It is not at all crowded, extremely easy to get around and keep track of your location, and the staff are quite friendly. The resort is not as corporate as an Intrawest resort but not as rustic as somewhere like Jay Peak; a really good balance. As for the actual riding, I think the Marmot Basin website says it best:
“An uncrowded atmosphere is just one of the many reasons skiers and snowboarders return to Marmot Basin season after season. With no waiting in lift lines, skiers have lots of room to breath and more time on the slopes. The resort is easy to get around and allows the freedom to explore the mountain and discover, at your own pace, which runs to call your own.”
Learn more here.
Our first day was warm, sunny, uncrowded, and full of powder – one of the best days I have ever had on a mountain. The next three days were colder, but still not too crowded and there was a bit of fresh pow falling every day. I was fighting fatigue the last two days, but nothing that several dozen short breaks couldn’t fix. The variety of runs is decent and the lifts are mostly relatively fast.
I am looking forward to going back. Hope to see you there when I do.
Discussion
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Great report. Curious why you guys ended up in Jasper instead of Banff?
We have been to Banff a few times, but I have never been to Jasper and I sort of requested somewhere new. Also I think conditions reports were best there. My friend in Alberta knows the area resorts well enough to suggest I would prefer Jasper to Banff… he was right. It’s just much easier to get around and less crowded. Thanks, Adam.