Skiing at three different slopes on a two-day weekend sounds impossible but it’s easy from Calgary. Include WinSport in your 72 hours of vertical and you’ve got it all in before work starts Monday morning. 

And the Powder Alerts keep coming.

Immigrating to Canada isn’t easy, especially if you’re making the move from a completely different climate. Discovering that winter may mean a foot of snow and -30 C weather is jarring at best. And learning to ski or snowboard probably isn’t on the top of the list of “things to learn about Alberta” when people first immigrate – but perhaps it should be.

They say that what we do in the first 21 days of a new decade will help set the course for what your next 10 years will be like. So I hit up Sun Peaks, Revelstoke and SilverStar Mountain Resort all in 72 hours, saying Happy 2020 to myself, my way of setting my intentions for a decade of adventure. Here's how you can do it too. 

Wow! Have you seen the forecast lately? It’s crazy! #WinterisHere is a collection of the most up-to-date reports on conditions at resorts across Alberta and B.C.

The Bhagchandani family had driven to Banff before, but as they were about to have their first day on the slopes at Lake Louise, they took advantage of the free shuttle service from Calgary, thinking wouldn't it be nice just to sit back and enjoy the views and let someone else do the driving.

As the chairlift swung around the top of the hill at Snow Valley Ski Club in Edmonton, Amber Grant was nervous. She had snowboarded before but this was only her second time on skis in recent memory, and chairlifts intimidated her.

Northern B.C. is home to GIANT snowfall records. This is Doc Pow @SnowSeekers, and having been up along the Yellowhead Highway more than 20 times over my ski writing career, I can confirm the most record-setting snowfalls can be found here. 

Kamloops, B.C. – The lineup was already out the door by the time we arrived at Hello Toast, the kind of breakfast joint that hipsters swarm to like a savannah in the desert – but it’s so much more. Families, coffee chat groups and those fuelling up for the ski hill, congregate over Dirty Chais (espresso-spiked Chai) served in generous, two-hands-required mugs in this downtown Kamloops hot spot.

Did you know that Edmonton isn’t even 50 per cent of the way north across the top of Alberta? There’s so much more north of the capital. 

When winter comes and the temperature drops and the snow starts to fall, all you need to do is bundle up and get excited, then you’ll be all set to enjoy one of the best things about Canada — our winters.