Our Canadian Roadtrip Adventure: Pano chill

We arrived here around 4pm on Wednesday. Check-in was reasonably smooth at the guest check in lodge at the base of resort. From there we got our keys and received directions to our place at room 409 in 1000 Peaks Summit, one of the many condo buildings in the Upper Village at Panorama.

The lady at check-in was quite keen to point out the separate 1000 Peaks Lodge building, right next door to the 1000 Peaks Summit building, and explained carefully on the map how to get to the Summit building and how not to mistake the two.

We pulled up to the carpark barrier, swiped the key card and the roller door slowly opened. We found a parking space near the lift lobby, then unpacked handfuls of bags and groceries for the first haul up to the room. After struggling with said bags we found room 409, not surprisingly on the 4th floor. Presented the key card in the door but uh oh it wouldn't work. OK OK you're ahead of me here, looking more closely at the room number revealed 409 1000 Peaks Lodge. Doh. Doh. Triple doh.

Back down to the car for a reroute into the correct building then eh ho we finally made it.

This place is different to the rest. Much more resort'y, with a good selection of bars, restaurants and shops pretty much on your doorstep. We have a fantastic open air (very) heated outdoor swimming pool, except it's not really a swimming pool, not deep enough, more of a leisure hot springs, but absolutely delightful all the same.

The ski area is literally a stone's throw away, would have to be a little stone though, unless you're Tessa Sanderson, but it is only a minutes walk, so we can live with that. Yesterday (Thursday) the pistes were very firm in the morning but softened up as the day went on. Up the top the snow was still fresh and some really good skiing in the Taynton Bowl area. One such run involved a good 15/20 minute hike, not something I want to repeat. The views were great but was it worth it, not really considering there's plenty of other similar offerings without that effort required. Today (Friday) was much better. Been a little bit warmer so we didn't get that freeze thaw and teeth juddering groom combed early start, was nice and soft and stayed in really good shape all day, even at the end at 4.30 right back to the village was lovely and skiable. The bumps were a little softer today and Karen is now getting the hang of them, although the gladed trees are still there to be conquered.

Fin is skiing really well again, now he can see where he's going and that we're not forever taking him into the deep stuff. His control is amazing, he has really great balance, he is really confident and capable in using all types of lift and his awareness of other people and the hidden dangers is increasing all the time. He is really enjoying skiing with Ellie and loves leading the way. To have a child who can do all of this makes us incredibly proud. When I first started teaching him way back in 2010 I could never have imagined the progress he could make. We should never under estimate what our children with learning difficulties can do, be it Downs Syndrome like Fin or otherwise. I certainly under estimated it and he has proved me and very many others so wrong. Good on you Fin. #superstar.

Overall this is a really nice place. I like it. It's much more European like than the other places we've visited. There is lots of gentle cruisy skiing but coupled with that there is a lot of really good off piste, tree and bump skiing. Like a lot of resorts over here there's a lot of skiing served by few lifts. Many of these runs are a bit same'y but if you play with them you can always find new features and unique spots in all of them. There's also more people here than we've experienced at the other places, today for example we had to wait over 18 seconds in the lift line (aka queue). Unacceptable and I think we'll be asking for a refund. This is a stellar place for families and those wanting confidence building, easy to navigate slopes.