The winter blues settle in when people get sick of staying indoors, watching the same reruns, and knitting tiny mittens for their house centipedes. Get back to nature and out of that teeming lair of insects with today's Groupon: for $20, you get a full-day lift ticket for snowboarding and skiing at Canyon Ski Resort in Red Deer (up to a $40 value).
Canyon Ski Resort entices skiers and snowboarders with more than 28 hectares of skiable area, including designated terrain for novice, intermediate, and advanced snow travellers. Two chair lifts, a pair of T-bars, and a handle bar ferry winter athletes to the top of 18 different runs, where skis and boards inscribe their Christmas lists for Santa into the snow across trails of up to 1.2 kilometres. Meanwhile, visitors show off their tricks and fancy footwork at a recently renovated terrain park and pipe. Lighting systems help skiers navigate green, blue, and black diamond courses beneath the night sky before they retire to relax in the lodge and take in picturesque views of snow dusted evergreen trees. Canyon's snow-making machines keep slopes coated and snowmen in a limitless supply of evening gowns regardless of weather conditions.
Canyon Ski Resort
Though the nearest mountain is almost 200 kilometres away, Canyon Ski Resort still manages to send skiers shushing down 164 metres of vertical slopes. Equipped with 6 lifts and 18 runs, the canyon skiing terrain allows adventurers to take the plunge on evocatively named green-, blue-, and black-diamond slopes including Powderhorn, Springbok, and Wine Skin. In addition to slopes, the resort hosts a terrain park and super pipe, as well as lights for night skiing. The resort sits directly between Edmonton and Calgary, and allows visitors to greet expansive views of the landscape while enjoying hot or cold beverages in one of many fireplaces.