Castle Mountain Ski Holidays

Can be quite bleak - and be prepared for windchill. Got very busy at weekends, and lifts quite slow. But still well worth a visit for a couple of days as part of a tour. King Edward Hotel. Old and quirky, but with bags more character than edge-of-town places such as the Heritage Inn. And the restaurant at the hotel serves really good food - far better than the Heritage where we ate on one night. Note that King Edward is basically un-staffed. Need to get key from bar downstairs - which is closed on a Sunday.

Castle is a cute mountain. It is a little over-hyped for steepness - even the double blacks are manageable for confident intermediates - so there is more accessible skiing here than appears from the piste map. Haig Mountain has a number if trails cut through the trees which are ideal for beginners/improvers. For all that, it remains a small resort with no real frills at the base. The main lodge has disappointing breakfasts and lunches; Barnabys has the essentials to eat and drink but lacks atmosphere. The saving grace for atmosphere is the T Bar - it feels like a European style après ski bar - but that only opens at weekends (and there was talk in Feb 2010 of closing it down completely). There had been no fresh snow for 10 days when I was there, but because of the lack of crowds, the off-piste was still in good condition even if not untracked. Yes, the lifts are old and slow, but given the lack of queues and good fall lines you'll still get a lot of skiing done in a day. We were there for 3 days which I felt was about right - good to combine this place with any other in the Ski Safari brochures. We stayed at the Hotel/Hostel; despite initial worries, it was absolutely fine - basic but modern, clean and warm with plenty of space for ski kit. If I'm back in that area I'll make a trip to Castle and pray to the powder gods.