A long journey, but well worth it. (Jasper)

Member Name: markjlomas

Product:	Jasper
Date:	02/05/02 (592 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quiet, Empty slopes

Disadvantages: Long Journey, Quiet, Busy at weekends

I visited Jasper back in March 96. The journey there was certainly a very long one!

I took a flight form Manchester to Heathrow with BA then on Canadian to Calgary and a connection to Edmonton. After arriving in Edmonton we had the prospect of a 360Km or (225 miles) drive to the town of Jasper. Needless to say the whole journey, from getting up at home to arriving in Jasper took over 20 hours (a very long and tiring day!).

I stayed at the Astoria Hotel (www.astoriahotel.com) which is a great place to stay conveniently located in the entre of town it's one of Jasper' odest Hotels and has its own pub complete with pool table. At the time of my visit ('96) it was doing a winter special on single rooms, which is great if you are a single traveller.

Jasper is a fairly quiet town in the winter with a few restaurants, so we really spent much of out time in the Astoria pub which had a great mix of locals and Skiers.

The advantage of the comparatively remote location meant that Jasper's ski slopes were deserted during the week, one of my most enduring memories of the visit was skiing down to the bottom of a lift station and the operator actually having to come out of his little hut to let us on the chair lift!

The Marmot Basin ski area (www.skimarmot.com) is only a short 20 mins bus ride away form the town of Jasper, the bus conveniently stops outside the Astoria Hotel, and it is great for different levels of skiing. The lower slopes are wide and well groomed, perfect for beginners, whereas there are some great black diamond and off-piste runs for the more adventurous. The snow conditions at the Marmot Basin were excellent during my whole stay, infact it had some of the best snow conditions I have ever come across, dry powder and clear blue skies, absolutely perfect. It is no surprise to me that Marmot it is reputed to have the driest natural powder in the Rockies, apparently because of its location on the eastern
slopes of the Rockies.

Other useful websites:
www.explorejasper.com
www.visit-jasper.com
www.discoveralberta.com
www.brewster.ca (bus company)

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