August 2021

Devra is Director of Travel Agency Sales for Ski.com which serves 120 ski destinations worldwide for one-stop custom mountain vacations including accommodations and lift tickets.
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Q.  Where is your favorite ski or snow vacation and why?
A. I love interior British Colombia; all of British Colombia and Canada is just incredible. The coolest thing about interior British Colombia is that there is this area called the Powder Highway. From Vancouver to Calgary, there are so many incredible ski resorts, you can take 2 or 3 or 4 different routes along the Powder Highway and hit anywhere between 2 to 5 amazing ski resorts. And, in the middle of all that, you hit Banff National Park which is pretty incredible, too. It’s a very cool experience. You have the beautiful landscape of the Canadian Rockies, a variety of ski resorts, and then a National Park. My favorite on the Powder Highway is probably Revelstoke. It's not too far from Vancouver or Kelowna, which has a pretty good airport.

Q. What about this destination is most memorable, fun, or exciting?
A.  Revelstoke has a good mix of everything: great accommodations right at the base of the mountain, and a really fun town that's filled with cool shops and restaurants. It's just such a quintessential Canadian town; they have a hockey team, and they hold hockey games every Friday night that get pretty rowdy. It's just a fun classic Canadian ski town. They have pn-mountain lodging which is super-convenient and the amount of terrain there that you can ski and get into some really scary expert terrain or you can still enjoy all the scenery from the top of the gondola and ski more mellow and relaxed terrain. Revelstoke has something for everyone, it's a classic Canadian ski experience. 

Q. What do you mean by "classic" Canadian?
A. I mean you really wouldn’t think it, but everyone’s so nice. The people are real, authentic, rugged, rowdy...and polite. The landscape there feels more pristine and rugged, there are a lot fewer people, especially on the Powder Highway. Because you have Whistler, which is one of the most popular skiing resorts in the world, but along the Powder Highway the resorts are more pristine and less crowded, and less built-up. If you fly over Revelstoke, you will think you’re looking over the Alps.

Q. Worldwide, will the ski resort experience be different this season?
A.  I feel that the experience this year is going to be more like it was in 2019. What we saw last season in 2020 was a real stray from the traditional ski experience. I think this year will be more of a return to the traditional ski experience with somewhat normal lift and gondola lines at the resorts. You'll have a bit more flexibility to buy your ski pass, get on the mountain, and not have to worry about limited capacities and reservations for everything. This year will be a better experience than last year. You’re outside most of the time, you can get a private chalet or a villa with your family or group, hire a private chef to cook for you, spend most of your time in your villa. Or you can stay in a hotel or resort and have a bit more of a socialized experience. A ski vacation can be anything you want to make it, it’s so customizable, you can do it any way you want.

Q. Which destinations do you recommend for ski or snow vacations this winter and why?
A. This is so hard, I want to throw in Europe and we are seeing a lot of interest in Europe. People are dying to get back there, but maybe this year still isn’t the year yet. There is a lot of interest, but I think people are just a bit gun-shy. but I think the US and Canada are ideal this year. I would recommend Aspen, where you have such a variety of skiing there and lodging, it’s the resort in Colorado with the most nightlife, if that’s what you’re looking for, too. Aspen has everything. 

Q. What makes traveling to ski and winter destinations now better than before?
A.  I think in the last year if they didn’t have it before, people gained a real appreciation for nature and having access to all of what the great outdoors offered. For those that did have that connection, to mountains and to nature, that just grew tenfold. Some people are now just discovering that connection.  I encourage everyone to get out there, a lot of these ski resorts are in national parks or in a national forest, it’s just a wonderful escape. 

Q. Are there any restrictions that travelers should consider or be aware of?
A. Outside of border crossings, none that I can think of in terms of true restrictions. What I can think of is to continue to encourage flexibility and patience when it comes to travel, and in ski towns when hotels, restaurants, and establishments are all trying to get up to 100% staffing. So not restrictions or rules, more of just maintaining an understanding of the way things are in a post-COVID travel world. And knowing that people are having challenges getting staff up to par and overcoming operational challenges over the past year-and-a-half.

Q. Anything else you'd like to add? 
A. Our reservations team is pacing way ahead of this time last year; even pacing better than 2018! There is some serious demand out there, we are definitely feeling it. We are getting some serious inquiries from travelers, as opposed to last year when people were mostly poking around for information. This year, people are really very serious about traveling. 

I feel most people think ski vacations can seem a bit daunting, because there are a lot of pieces to put together and keep track of, especially for a family. Booking through a travel advisor like Amy then makes things so much easier because we try to make ourselves a one-stop-shop to put all the different pieces together so that the traveler is all prepared to go on a fantastic ski vacation. 

As travel resumes, we are revisiting some of the best images from years past.  Please #planethoppers your Instagram photos so we may follow all your future journeys!