The Powder Trail - CanaDream

Thirteen nights and 1,518 kilometres in a loop from Calgary in a motorhome, in winter, taking in ten ski areas across Alberta and British Columbia.

Castle Mountain comes first in southern Alberta, then Fernie, which sits under five bowls and takes a great deal of snow, and Nelson and Whitewater in the Kootenays, where the resort is small, the lift system is modest and the snow quality is the reason people go.

Red Mountain follows at Rossland, then Nakusp with its hot springs, and Revelstoke, which gets several nights and has the greatest lift-served vertical in North America. Kicking Horse comes next at Golden, where the terrain above the gondola is almost all steep, then Lake Louise, Sunshine and Mount Norquay above Banff close the loop, three resorts on one area pass with a free shuttle between them.

The motorhome and the day-by-day plan come from CanaDream, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with insurance options priced at booking. Fourteen days and ten resorts is a serious winter undertaking, and the motorhome needs checking for winter use: not every unit in the fleet is winterised, and the water system, heating and power draw all matter more in January than in July. Serviced winter sites are far fewer than summer ones and want booking. Lift passes are bought separately. Rogers Pass between Golden and Revelstoke closes for avalanche control without much notice, which is the one scheduling risk on the route.