I love spending time outdoors and created a guide to downhill ski in Marmot Jasper to share my tips for the best trip! When blessed with snow at Marmot and it produces lots of powder, the conditions are phenomenal for downhill skiing. In this guide, you’ll know the information you need before getting on the hill such as parking, buying tickets and the appropriate clothing required for an enjoyable day. On the hill, different runs are described to know where to ski and where to eat lunch. The Après-ski details for supper are also included with a suggested accommodation and breakfast the next morning.
Table of Contents
Before Getting on the Hill
You’ll need to purchase a National Park Pass at the park gate on the road to ski at Marmot in Jasper. It costs $151.25 for a party of two if you want to purchase it for the year. The Discovery Pass can also be purchased online. The daily admission is $11/adult.
Parking
To avoid getting up early, you can do paid parking and reserve a spot in the first parking lot through the KERB app.
Parking lots two, three and four offer free parking. Parking lot three is the biggest out of the three. Typically the staff will want to fill up parking lot four and then move down to three. Once we arrived, people were already parking on the road from parking lot four so we decided to park in parking lot three. They all provide access to the hill to ski down to the chalet to purchase tickets.
The bottom of the hill allows you to embark on Eagle Express Quad Chair and Canadian Rockies Express bringing you two different locations up the mountain.
Tickets
The tickets are in the form of a reloadable physical card. You’ll need easy access to it as it will be required to scan before each chair lift.
Tip #1: A zippered pocket on a sleeve makes it easy to wave by the scanner opening the gates to the chair.
Tip #2: Buy tickets online on the Marmot Basin site for $131/adult to save time from standing in line when you arrive at the hill. After purchasing online, you will need to head to a kiosk outside the chalet to retrieve your reloadable card. Costco has two consecutive day passes available for one person when purchasing in-store.
Appropriate Clothing
The day will be long if you aren’t properly dressed. I typically run on the colder side. Here are the following layers I recommend for an enjoyable ski day at Marmot Jasper:
Top Layers
- bra
- Merino 250 Top Base Layer 1/4 Zip Long Sleeve – Women’s
- MEC T3 Merino Base Layer Long Sleeve Top – Women’s
- Thick fleece
- Sentinel Insulated Women’s Jacket (similar to mine that was discontinued with insulation and powder skirt to keep the snow out of your jacket)
- Chaos Multi Tubular Headwear – Unisex (will do wonders to protect your face against the potential wind)
Bottom Layers
- underwear
- Merino Pant Base Layer for Women
- Fleece pants
- Downhill Skiing Shell pants
- Thick wool socks that go halfway up your calf (if the socks are too high and tight, they can constrain blood circulation on your calf and make it uncomfortable to ski. Make sure the socks aren’t too high and fit nicely).
It’s important to wear layers that way if you get warm, you can take them off. Remember that you’ll feel warm with the layers standing in your ski gear, but as you go up the chair lift, it can feel cold and you might be thankful to have them. The weather and temperature tend to be different at the top, mid-mountain and down at the chair lift. You need to wear enough layers to stay warm on the coldest part of the mountain. Keep that in mind when getting dressed.
The jacket’s powder skirt is handy when falling to prevent snow from rising onto your upper body. There is nothing worse than feeling the cold snow on your back or stomach.
I typically use two tubular headwear, one to protect my head and neck and another one to protect my cheeks and nose.
Heat Packs
Handwarmers and foot warmers can be a lifesaver in cold weather. I wear two sets of mitts and still end up with cold hands when I ski Marmot in Jasper without hand warmers.
Something to keep in mind, when you initially buy the heat packs, they provide eight hours of warmth but over time they lose their potency and become less effective not lasting as long. Mine lasted for five hours and I needed to change them after lunch. If you’ve had them for a while, they might not be as good as when you first purchased them. Bring a couple of packages to last you the entire day.
Tip: As we found out if you put the packages directly on your hands, they turn your hands black. Put the heat packs between your mitten layers to prevent black hands.
On the Hill
Eagle Express Quad Chair and Canadian Rockies Express Chair can both be accessed from the base of the hill. Eagle Ridge Quad Chair and Paradise Chair can be accessed by mid-mountain and Knob Quad from further up the mountain.
Knob Quad
The new Knob Quad chair goes higher up the mountain opening up more runs. It now runs closer to the ground compared to higher up when it previously took your breath away. It’s a much more enjoyable chair to ride now. Kris went to investigate the new area. As you can see from the picture above, he was in the deep snow. He tested the snow and it reached three-quarters of the way up on his poles. Sometimes, the Knob Chair is closed due to the volume of snow that accumulates up there, like when we went. They did avalanche control for a lot of the morning to make it safe for skiers to ski in the afternoon. Due to the snow, it can make it hard to see the different runs and Kris almost ended up in a double black unexpectedly.
Tip: Only head up the Knob Quad if you’re an experienced skier.
Canadian Rockies Express Quad Chair
This picture was taken just past the Canadian Rockies Express Quad Chair. As mentioned before, this chair runs from the base to the top of the mountain. From this location, blue, green and black runs can be accessed. We liked certain runs over others depending on whether they were groomed or not. With the large amount of snow that fell, the powder runs were fun but did require more energy to turn into the snow. Once we tried the blue and green runs, we were able to determine which ones we’d like to repeat. They do offer a variety of steepness on the runs for different preferences. From this location, different levels of ski runs are available for your convenience. Many runs run parallel to each other so that your partner can ski a harder or easier run next to you.
We enjoyed skiing S-Turns down from the green Basin Run as it was nice and easy when we had less energy in the afternoon.
Paradise Quad Chair
Paradise Quad Chair, found on the right side of Marmot Basin can be reached at mid-mountain. Many of the runs underneath this chair are black but you can head to the far right once disembarking off the chair passing the Canadian Rockies Express Quad Chair to reach all the different levels of runs over in that direction. Both chairs give you access to all the runs at the top right of the mountain. The chairs offer different access points.
Kris and I decided to try a more challenging black run, under the Paradise Chair as our first run of the day thinking we could do it with all the powder. We were successful and had fun turning into the deep snow mogels but it did require a lot of energy from both of us. We were happy that we started with this run as the first one of the day as opposed to the end of the day when we had less energy.
Marmot Basin is an awesome hill for families offering a variety of runs. The black runs are comparable to the blues at Lake Louise making it easier to boost your confidence to complete black runs there.
Eagle Ridge Quad Chair
Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to head to Eagle Ridge Quad Chair as it was closed due to maintenance. That section of the mountain also has green, and blue options with multiple black runs for those interested in trying something different.
Lunch at Paradise Chalet
Paradise Chalet, mid-mountain offers a cafeteria with burgers, chicken fingers, and poutine from 9:30 A.M. to 3 P.M. The food isn’t stellar but it will fill you up mid-day while you ski at Marmot in Jasper. I find it easier than having to head back to the bottom of the mountain where it tends to be busy and then going to our vehicle to find a packed lunch. It’s more expensive this way but I find it’s easier to have a quick lunch and head back out to ski on Marmot in Jasper.
Après-Ski
After all your hard work, you deserve to relax, eat a delicious supper and maybe even enjoy a cocktail!
Supper
L & W Restaurant in the heart of Jasper has delicious food! They have pasta, pizza, seafood dishes, and their famous Greek food made in-house. They have all the fixings including tzatziki, chicken, rice, salad, and pita in the Chicken Souvlaki special. Everything you’d want after a long hard day of skiing, they have it! The restaurant is super cozy with live trees growing in the restaurant providing lots of greenery and marvelous ambiance. I’ve never seen a restaurant like this, it’s unique! The hospitality is great; they are nice and friendly.
The Fiddle River is a classier restaurant serving seafood, steak and pasta. They offer a three-course supper for $45. Kris and I enjoyed a meal there too. The food is delicious. If you want a fantastic meal with your partner, dress up and head to this location for date night.
Breakfast
The following morning, if you have some downtime, head over to Harvest Food and Drink for breakfast. They have delicious waffles with whipped cream and french toast coated in blueberry syrup with pistachios and berries. Get a side of crispy bacon if you’re looking for greasy food. Breakfast was very tasty and we were happy with our pick.
To top off the delicious food, they also serve a design like this bear on top of my hot chocolate! How cute is that? The funny thing is, the bear made it to the bottom of the cup intact while I drank the hot chocolate.
Accommodations
Bear Hill Lodge has wonderful accommodations that vary in size. You can get a simple room in a lodge or add a small kitchenette if you wish. It’s also possible to share a cabin with another couple if you’d like to save money. The two-bedroom homestead houses can fit up to seven adults if you have a group of couples. It’s convenient to stay together and figure out your meals. This lodge is located on the right as you enter Jasper. It’s a wonderful place to stay!
Final Thoughts
Go ski at Marmot in Jasper for a fantastic time! The runs offer a variety of difficulties and they have many runs at all levels for everyone’s taste. It’s an awesome place for beginners, moderate and advanced skiers. Everyone will be happy at the end of the day. I love the option to ski parallel to Kris so he can enjoy a more complicated run while I can enjoy my blue and green runs. It’s nice to have the option to try easier blacks too. I find the blacks at Lake Louise intimidating and when skiing at Marmot, I can slowly build up my confidence by trying different runs whether they are groomed or not. The sections of Marmot that were open when we visited offered spectacular conditions with the powder! Go have an amazing ski!
Additional Links
- Best Downhill Ski Day in Lake Louise
- Downhill Ski Sunshine or Lake Louise?
- What are the Benefits of Skiing?
- 5 Awesome Outdoor Skating Rinks
- Jasper Hikes: Best Memories
Trip Ressources
- Book your flights with Expedia
- Book your hotel with Booking.com or Hotels.com
- Book your vacation rental with Vrbo
- Book your experiences through TripAdvisor or Manawa
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