Located in the remote Jasper National Park, southwest Alberta, Jasper’s Marmot Basin is an intermediates’ paradise with great terrain, awesome views and common lifts to the different level slopes. Family-friendly Marmot Basin is not as glitzy as Banff and focuses mainly on the superb skiing and snowboarding.
The town of Jasper is situated north of Marmot Basin in the Kananaskis Valley and retains many of its original buildings from the early railroad days. Facilities-wise, Marmot has three mountain day lodges, a flashy new rental and repair shop, ski shop, gift shop, first-aid and an excellent ski school. Additionally, the Little Rascals Nursery takes children aged 19 months to seven years. The well designed car park has ski-in/ski-out accessibility.
There is plenty of quality accommodation for all budgets in Jasper, with over 1,800 beds available in 15 lodges; the Fairmont Jasper Park lodge is the resort’s top spot. Telemarking and ice-skating are part of the extensive non-ski activities at Marmot and the après-ski consists of a good selection of restaurants serving international cuisines, including Japanese, Greek and Italian, and several bars, including an Irish bar and a dance club.
One of the best features of Jasper’s Marmot Basin ski resort is that skiers and snowboarders of different levels can ride the same lifts. There is nice novice terrain at the base, challenging runs at the top and intermediate slopes all over the mountain. In all, there are 84 pistes, the longest of which is 5.6kms; nine lifts with an hourly capacity of 12,000 people provide access.
Away from the slopes, Jasper National Park is the largest national park of the Canadian Rockies and is studded with lakes and wildlife; it offers some spectacular drives such as the Icefields Parkway. Guided walking tours through ice caves and caverns are also available and a tour bus runs to Athabasca Glacier.
Jasper Marmot Basin’s fairly long ski season runs from late November to late April and discounts are available at the beginning of the season. The most convenient means of transportation is to fly to Edmonton and take a shuttle bus or hire a car.
