Looking for an alternative to skiing in the U.S. Rockies? North of the border where the skiing is fine and dandy-and the dollar buys a little more than at home-Air Canada has packages to the towering Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia and to Quebec City for skiing with a French twist.
From Chicago there are daily flights to Calgary and Vancouver in the west and to Quebec City in the east. Round trip Air Canada flights to Calgary begin at $237; to Vancouver they start at $301; and to Quebec City they start at $177.
The airline and Yankee Canadian Holidays have a choice of two- or five-day ski packages to Quebec City that include accommodations at Chateau Frontenac, Hotel des Gouverneurs or Domaine des Neiges Condominiums as well as daily buffet breakfast (except at the condos) and skiing. Packages start at $152 (double occupancy) for the two-day package and $339 (double occupancy)
for the five-day package.
A series of one-week, all-inclusive programs to the ski areas of Banff and Lake Louise in Alberta are available from Air Canada and Chicago-based N.E.W.S. Breaks Ltd. Prices start at $300 (double occupancy) and include seven nights` lodging, car rental and five days of lift tickets at Sunshine, Lake Louise and Mt. Norquay.
Hotels available in the package include Banff Springs Hotel, Chateau Lake Louise and several condo-style properties.
Seventy miles from Vancouver is the Whistler/Blackcomb mountain complex where skiing can last until June. Air Canada and UTL have SkiTrek week-long packages to the area that start at $425 (double occupancy). Included is seven nights` lodging, transportation from Vancouver to the ski area and six days of lift tickets.
For more information about all of the Air Canada ski packages, contact a travel agent.
WILMOT CELEBRATES
Wilmot Mountain in Wilmot, Wis., is celebrating its 50th year as a ski area-one of the first in the U.S.
This year also is a milestone for a special person at Wilmot: Helmut Teichner, who has been leading the ski school at Wilmot Mountain since the area was founded. At age 77, he still is Wilmot`s chief instructor.
More than half a million students have learned how to ski under the tutelage of Teichner. And for his work in the development of skiing, five years ago he was inducted into the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame.
His 50 years of service means Teichner holds the nation`s record of being ski school director at the same area.
This all adds up to a reason for Midwest skiers to celebrate, too. Many learned how to ski at Wilmot.
So if Wilmot`s in your future this winter, stop by the ski school and congratulate Teichner on a job well done-but watch out if he tries to challenge you on the slopes.
For more information, contact Wilmot Mountain, P.O. Box 177, Wilmot, Wis. 53192; 414-862-2301.
FASTER TO SLOPES
Getting to some Western ski areas is getting easier, thanks to convenient flights between major cities and the resorts.
Colorado`s Crested Butte is one example of a place that`s a nonstop plane ride from Chicago, and this year American Airlines and American Express have a package that starts at $404 and includes round trip air fare, four nights`
lodging (double occupancy) and lift tickets for three days. The hitch is that you have to charge your package with an American Express card. In doing so, you`re entitled to $100 credit in participating ski shops in Crested Butte-the credit is good for ski equipment rentals, too.
The American flight leaves O`Hare International Airport at 11:30 a.m. and arrives nonstop in Gunnison at 1:25 p.m. The package is good Monday-Friday.
For more information, call 800-525-4220.
Meanwhile, those heading to Aspen from Chicago will want to know that Aspen Skiing Co. and United Express are continuing nonstop service, which began last year. The two recently signed a three-year partnership agreement to continue the service of nonstop flights between the two cities. There are three flights a week.
American Airlines also is continuing daily nonstop flights from Chicago to Jackson Hole, Wyo., and to Steamboat Springs, Colo.
For more information, contact a travel agent.
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For a copy of the 1989 Discount Alaska Cruise Guide, contact Cruise Advisors, Suite 367, 2442 Northwest Market St., Seattle, Wash. 98107;
800-544-9361 or 206-784-9852. . . . For a copy of the Virginia Peninsula Fall/ Winter Visitor Guide, contact the Virginia Peninsula Tourism and Conference Bureau, Suite 3-B, Dept. P.R., 8 San Jose Dr., Newport News, Va. 23606;
800-333-RSVP.
