Category: Downhill Skiing & Snowboarding

The Long Trips Committee is looking for members interested in volunteering to lead trips for the 2023-2024 ski season.Interested members will receive formal training. Additionally, those new to trip leadership will be able to assist a more experienced leader before running a trip independently. Being a trip leader is a  rewarding experience and greatly appreciated by fellow members.

Aside from being an amazing opportunity to utilize and improve leadership skills, there are other significant benefits to being a trip leader. Trip leaders will be pre-registered on the trip without having to register on Trip Sign-up Night. A financial compensation will be awarded for the work involved, paid post–trip, partially reducing your travel costs. Interested members should apply to the Long Trips Committee indicating their three preferences from the trips list in today’s SnoBiz. Please send your message to: ephraim.fernandez@gmail.com and copy longtrips@hpsc.ca.

Start planning now to sign up for our exciting 2024 season!  This year, to minimize charter trip waiting lists on the most popular weeks and destinations, there are multiple options.  For overnight bus trips, we have a mix of weekend and midweek overnight trips, with something to please everyone. 

A trip to Japan is also in the works.  Please stay tuned for an early sign-up date once the trip details are finalized.

2024 Charter Trips 

Japan (Tokyo and Niseko)  – Jan 11-21 (TBC)
Peisey Vallandry, France – Club Med – (Les Arcs/La Plagne Paradiski) –
Jan 20-28
Red Mountain, BC – Josie Hotel – Jan 20-27
Sun Peaks, BC – Cahilty Lodge (hotel + kitchenette units) – Jan 27-Feb 3
Panorama, BC – Approach Hotel (new) – Feb 3-10
Winter Park, Colorado, USA – Vintage Hotel – Feb 3-10
Banff, AB – Banff Aspen Lodge – Feb 10-17
Sun Peaks, BC – Grand Hotel – March 3-10
SilverStar, BC Cross Country or Downhill – Vance Creek Condos –
March 4-11
Banff, AB – Banff Aspen Lodge – MARCH BREAK – March 9-16

2024 Overnight Bus Trips

Mont Tremblant, QC – Holiday Inn – Dec 15-17, 2023
Holiday Valley, NY, USA – Microtel – Jan 12-14
Mont Tremblant, QC – Holiday Inn – Feb 4-9
Quebec City, QC – Manoir Victoria (ski Mont Ste Anne, Le Massif and Stoneham) – MARCH BREAK – March 10-15
Killington, VT, USA – Killington Grand – studio kitchenettes and hotel –
March 17-22
Mont Tremblant, QC – Holiday Inn – March 22-24
Le Massif, QC – Club Med Charlevoix – March 24-29

Trip Sign-up Nights will be as follows:

Thursday, August 24 – Club Med Europe and Charlevoix
Thursday, Sepember 28 – Charters
Thursday, October 26 – Overnight bus trips

The season is over, but members are already rushing to pick up Ikon passes before the price increases for our Group Sale program on May 5th. Next season promises to have more Ikon pass trips including two trips to Banff, two to Sun Peaks, the new Approach hotel in Panorama, and the lovely slope side Josie hotel, a Colorado trip and three overnight bus trips to Mont Tremblant. Other club favorites such as Club Med Europe trip, the popular new Club Med in Charlevoix, a March Break trip to Quebec City, and Holiday Valley in New York are planned. We’re also working on some overnight bus trips to the USA. Stay tuned to SnoBiz as we will announce sign up dates soon.

Ikon Pass sales have been way up this year over last year! Members seem to be recognizing that the price of day passes is increasing, making multi-mountain passes ideal.

The Ikon Base Pass is especially popular with our members, since it offers unlimited skiing at Blue Mountain and Tremblant. We have a few weeks of skiing left this season! Blue and Tremblant will accept next season’s pass right away! I was at Tremblant for the Easter weekend, and it was a glorious sunshine filled spring weekend with mostly short lines and surprisingly good snow and coverage!

There are a few destinations where only a full Ikon Pass is accepted (or Ikon Base Plus). As long as the passes are on sale, it will be possible to upgrade from an Ikon Base Pass to a full Ikon Pass (or Ikon Base Plus). So if you decide to go on a trip to destinations like Alta, Jackson Hole or a few others, you can upgrade at a later date.

Our Long Trips schedule is not yet settled, but it will have many options that will please holders of Ikon Passes.

Members purchasing or renewing passes get a chance to win a refund for an Ikon Base Pass, PLUS they get a $50 discount off ANY Skican trip.

Prices will be going up April 21. The renewal discount will be finished on that date. The Group Sale will run to September 1.

We are not permitted to share the exact pricing in a public way, so reach out to me for details: ikon@hpsc.ca.

We’ve had tremendous demand for long trips this season so I’m pleased to tell you that we will be planning even more trips for next season. With the addition of Sun Peaks to the Ikon pass, we’ve planned for two trips next year to that destination. We will also have two trips to Banff. Both of these HPSC favorites had long waiting lists and we want members to have the best chances to be on these trips.

Be sure to continue to read Snobiz as we will announce our list of charters and overnight bus trips soon and provide instructions on how to apply to be an HPSC trip leader. Being selected as a trip leader is a great way to ensure that you and your travel partner will both be on that trip. As in prior years, our Club Med trips will go on sale first, followed by the rest of our charters, followed by bus trips. Dates will also be announced shortly.

Kim Wiebe

Director of Long Trips

Our diverse group of skiers found that Marmot Basin has something for everyone. Even though it was not a good snow year, the base was reliable and quite skiable. Located in Jasper National Park, the scenery is absolutely spectacular.

We stayed at the Crimson Hotel  — nice rooms, good facilities, extremely well-run. Après-ski was well attended, sharing a drink with friends on a sunny deck. Almost everyone on the trip showed up for pizza night and the group dinner at Fiddle River Restaurant, one of the many excellent restaurants on offer in the town of Jasper.

Those who took a day off to do the Maligne Canyon ice walk raved about the experience  — most highly recommended.

Ed Bezeau, Trip Leader