Canada's 5 Best Ski Resorts With Laid-Back Vibes, Mountain Views, And Fewer Crowds, According To Skiers

With vast swathes of untamed wilderness and a lively aprés ski culture, Canada has carved out its own niche in the world of skiing. In 2023, around 21 million skiers took advantage of Canada's northern location and high-altitude mountains to enjoy its characteristic powder snow and panoramic mountain views. Whistler alone gets around 3.4 million visitors every year. But with large crowds of people come, well, more people. Passionate skiers often lament the increased commercialization of popular ski resorts and the inevitable side effect: crowded runs, long lift lines, and narrowly avoided accidents.

Luckily, despite the large number of people visiting places like Whistler (which is just as thrilling in summer as winter), many ski areas across Canada remain relatively uncrowded. Some are simply lesser known, so skiers "in the know" can enjoy these hidden gems undisturbed. Others are uncrowded because of their remote location; most people, when faced with only a weekend off, are unlikely to spend that weekend driving several hours to and from a major city when they can instead drive an hour or two to a location nearby.

With many Canadian ski resorts boasting fewer crowds, we narrowed this list by reviewing suggestions from seasoned skiers on blogs, well-known publications, and forums. We then looked up official visitor reports for these locations or relied on first-hand accounts of uncrowded skiing experiences to round up this list of five Canadian ski resorts with fewer crowds and incredible mountain views.

While several places boast about having the highly sought-after "powder" snow (snow that is powdery and soft thanks to its low moisture levels), few dare to make that marketing part of their name. However, the boldly named Powder King Ski Resort earns its right to the name, with an average of 492 inches of snowfall every year. With 925 skiable acres and a mix of beginner, intermediate, and advanced runs, Powder King is known among seasoned skiers as a remote, uncrowded gem off Pine Pass in British Columbia.

Although official visitor numbers for Powder King aren't available, many visitors make note of the resort's uncrowded runs and lack of lift lines. This is mostly because of Powder King's remote location — one would have to drive approximately two hours from Prince George, the nearest city, or 8.5 hours from Edmonton, the nearest large city, to reach Powder King. One skier recorded his shock at the lack of crowds at Powder King on a snowy January morning (via Strava Stories): "It was dumping with snow, and my brain — programmed by hundreds of days waiting in lines at more famous resorts — simply could not accept that PK could be quiet on what was clearly going to be a classic day. Quiet it was, though."

With a base elevation of 3,000 feet, Powder King has stunning views of snowy Pine Pass below and the surrounding Canadian Rockies. While trees may obscure the view at the base of the resort, the top of the mountain remains open, providing stunning vistas of snow-clad mountain peaks above the treeline. The only real accommodation here is the Powder King Mountain Hotel, which is really more of a ski-in ski-out hostel. No frills or fuss, just serious skiing.

Separated from the hustle of Banff's ski areas by a 1.5-hour drive, Jasper National Park is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site. Within the park lies Marmot Basin Ski Resort, a wilderness paradise with 1,675 acres of skiable terrain. The resort offers an almost equal split of beginner, intermediate, advanced, and expert runs.

Thanks to its remote location within Jasper National Park, Marmot Basin is a great alternative to the busier Banff resorts, servicing around 250,000 skiers at its peak(compared to the 4.28 million visitors to Banff National Park). It's also the northernmost Rocky Mountain ski area in Canada, and is less likely to get visitors as a result. The closest major city is Edmonton, a whole four-hour drive away. With its low number of visitors and large open runs, visitors to Marmot Basin often praise its laid-back vibe, with Ski Magazine describing it as "delightfully uncrowded in the winter."

Another standout feature of Marmot Basin is its views, as "virtually every location on the mountain is an inspirational viewpoint," according to Skican. With the highest base elevation of any ski resort in Canada (5,570 feet), visitors can look forward to viewing snow-clad peaks and the undisturbed, pristine wilderness of Jasper National Park from any point on the mountain. According to Jasper Canada, the two most photograph-worthy spots at Marmot Basin are the top of Marmot Peak and the summit of Tres Hombres, known for its steep and technical runs. The best way to take in the park's views is to stay at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge within the park itself, which is highly rated on Google for its customer service, amenities, and beautiful natural setting by Lake Beauvert.

While most ski resorts try to dazzle potential customers with glitzy hotels, fine dining, and aprés ski parties, one resort in Canada's Alberta province has built a reputation as a more serious, uncrowded skiing destination. Part of that is due to the runs offered here — around 70% of the runs at Castle Mountain are rated black or double black, and only 10% are beginner-friendly green runs, according to OnTheSnow. As a result, a lot of beginner skiers may skip Castle Mountain and head to more popular Alberta resorts like Lake Louise.

According to a development plan by the Alberta Wilderness Association, Castle Mountain saw an average of 93,000 visitors in 2017 (the expansion plan hoped to increase that number to 187,000). At present, Castle Mountain is still remarkably uncrowded, spread over 3,592 acres of skiable terrain on eight alpine bowls. Despite being relatively close to Calgary, famously known as the "Country Music Capital of Canada" (2.5 hours away), Castle Mountain remains less crowded and more relaxed thanks to its reputation as a more advanced skier's game, allowing skiers to enjoy their runs in seclusion.

Don't forget to look around when you're on the lifts, though; the surrounding mountains and sloping valleys are gorgeous. The views of the mountains are great from almost any point on Castle Mountain, but for the most sweeping panoramic views of snowy hills, distant peaks, and plunging valleys, check out the Tamarack Chair (Red Chair) on Gravenstafel Mountain. While there are other accommodations nearby, guests booking accommodations through Castle Mountain get 20% off on their lift tickets. Luckily, the resort has multiple types of rooms, from rooms at the resort itself to cabins and suites scattered nearby.

With 4,400 acres of skiable terrain spread over three mountains, Sun Peaks is Canada's second-largest ski resort with uncrowded runs and family-friendly fun. The resort caters to all levels of skiers, with mostly beginner and intermediate runs. Sun Peaks is around an hour from Kamloops, which has its own airport and direct flights from Vancouver, but Americans can also drive there from Seattle (5.5 hours away).

Unlike the other entries on this list, Sun Peaks isn't considered uncrowded because of a lack of people. The resort generally sees around 250,000 skiers every season, with its highest reported visitor numbers hitting 400,000 in 2017 (via Info News). Despite the numbers, visitors will attest to the fact that Sun Peaks never really feels crowded as skiers are naturally dispersed across the resort's large area, leaving Sun Peaks feeling refreshingly low-key. The 13 lifts, including four high-speed quad chairs, also prevent hold-ups even on busier days. As one reviewer on TripAdvisor put it, "No lift lines, this is no joke. Took longer to validate your ticket than the actual lineup."

With a base elevation of 4,116 feet, there's no shortage of stunning visuals from Sun Peaks. According to a tip from OnTheSnow, visitors looking for views should take the Sunburst Express Chairlift and leisurely ski down Five Mile, the resort's longest run at — you guessed it — 5 miles. Five Mile is also a green run, so it's easy to stop and enjoy the views while meandering downhill. The highest rated hotel (on TripAdvisor) in the European-style Sun Peaks pedestrian village is the Sun Peaks Grand Hotel, a ski-in ski-out hotel located on the ski mountain itself. If you're wondering whether to get an Epic, Ikon, or Indy Pass, Sun Peaks is now on the Ikon Pass.

Who said the West Coast should get all the fun? Around 1.5 hours from Montreal and 15 minutes from the Vermont border, lies Sutton, a picturesque Canadian mountain town with four seasons of fun in Canada's eastern province of Quebec. The biggest attraction in town is Mont Sutton, a family-owned ski resort nestled in the northern half of town. With only 230 skiable acres, Mont Sutton is barely a fraction of the size of the larger West Coast resorts, but that's also what makes it more low-key.

Despite its small size, Mont Sutton is rarely crowded. Unlike other ski resorts, Mont Sutton is known for glade skiing — a practice of skiing through naturally wooded alpine areas. Unlike groomed runs, glade skiing is considered more challenging because of obstacles like trees or rocks, meaning beginner skiers may skip Mont Sutton for resorts with groomed runs. However, the resort does have beginner-friendly trails, with several junctions through the glades that allow skiers to make their own path downhill. As one East Coast skiing aficionado explained, this interconnecting terrain "guarantee[s] some quiet in the forests, even on busier days, and the nine chairlifts spread riders across its 60 skiable trails" (via Business Insider).

Mont Sutton is also much smaller in height than many other Canadian ski resorts, with a summit elevation of only 3,176 feet. However, that doesn't diminish the views. The mountain itself looks like a scene straight out of Narnia, with evergreen trees laden with soft powdery snow (via Travel + Leisure). On clear days, you can also get unobstructed views of the surrounding valleys and mountains. The most convenient hotel nearby is Hôtel Horizon, a rustic lodge located at the base of the mountain, which offers mountain lodge-style rooms and private chalets for rent.

According to the Canadian Ski Council, there are 275 ski resorts in Canada. That's a lot of ski resorts to narrow down from, so we went to the best source: skiers. We looked through suggestions on social media, forums, editorial content from frequent skiers on publications like Travel + Leisure, Business Insider, Ski Magazine, OnTheSnow, and Snow Seekers, and articles and reviews by skiers on their own blogs or review websites like TripAdvisor. We then selected the ski resorts with the most positive coverage and prioritised the ones singled out by many skiers for being uncrowded and laid-back.

We looked through the resorts' own websites, press coverage, or portals like OnTheSnow to find official visitor reports and statistics like the number of runs, percentage of beginner, intermediate, and expert runs, and elevation. In cases where we weren't able to find specific information about the number of annual or per-season visitors, we looked through reviews to see if guests highlighted the laid-back and isolated vibe of the resort. We also prioritised ski resorts with reported great views, either due to their location or elevation, and cross-referenced these reports by viewing footage from guests on YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram. Any information about hotels comes from the hotel's own website or TripAdvisor.