When we think of Canada, we think big! …along with fabulous snow, great food and a friendly welcome. Our minds also tend to turn to the same old destinations, far away towards the Pacific Coast. But Canada is a vast country with hundreds of ski areas from coast to coast, six time zones apart, and the great news is there’s fantastic skiing on our side of Canada, the Atlantic side!
Cape Smokey, home to the only gondola on Canada’s Atlantic Coast, is one of the few places where you can ski with breathtaking ocean views. It’s located in the coastal province of Nova Scotia, Southeastern Canada. Continue east and your next stop is the European mainland!
Cape Smokey offers a rare combination of sea and snow, making it an exceptional place to ski, with loads more to offer off the slopes too. You will love skiing here though, with Its runs famously uncrowded, and terrain to suit all abilities from beautifully smooth beginner runs to steep and gnarly blacks. Wherever you descend though, those amazing ocean views are filling your vision as you head down – very different to almost anywhere else you can ski. The snow is fantastic too, with the slopes usually receiving six metres (that’s 20 feet) of the natural stuff each winter. It’s a real stand-out among global ski destinations and a great one to brag about visiting to your skiing friends.
It’s also a place with much more to offer than the romance of ocean skiing. Cape Smokey is a real year-round destination with loads to do off the slopes, too, and it has a reputation for its fabulous food and great accommodation options. You’ll also be warmly welcomed by the locals and quickly feel a part of the community. Indeed, it will be hard to leave at the end of your stay!
Cape Smokey is located in Ingonish, at the northeastern tip of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, a place famous for its fresh local cuisine, beautiful beaches, amazing trails and much, much more. This is an area with an incredible diversity of outdoor adventures available. Of course, this is also a place for adventure seekers year round, hoping to escape the pressures of modern life, if not one to choose if you need a buzzing apres ski scene.
This untamed wilderness with its unspoiled natural beauty is great for everything from snowmobiling and mountain biking to water sports like surfing and paddle boarding, when conditions are right. There are hiking trails of all lengths and intensities, brilliant mountain biking opportunities and 101 other outdoor adventures to enjoy.
But you’ll find that Cape Smokey manages to balance the benefits of remoteness with the comforts of modern civilization, including some very luxurious accommodation options in the wider region. The fabulousness of the local food can’t be overstated either, you’ll dine on some of the world’s finest lobster and seafood, caught right by the ski slopes, whilst you’re there.
It’s also a place with a strong sense of community that has endured through the years, despite the inevitable influx of the modern world. So it’s a place where you’re not disturbed and you can focus on nature and yourself, but at the same time you’ll be welcomed in by the locals and soon find yourself on first-name terms. This is a real community, not a created resort.
This winter why not stay local and ski to the ocean at Cape Smokey, whilst immersing yourself in some warm Cape Breton hospitality? It’s a very different, very special ski holiday experience and the trip of a lifetime that you truly deserve.
capesmokey.ca
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