Pretty cool offering for folks who love British Columbia skiing (and what skier worth his snow does not?) A company called Rocky Mountain vacations (as in the Canadian Rockies, one supposes) is offering two new routes for its train journeys through Western Canada.

The routes begin later this year and will offer riders the opportunity to take a train between North Vancouver and Whistler in British Columbia. The train, called the Whistler Mountaineer will make three-hour, 73-mile run beginning in May. And you will be dropped off very near one of the best ski resorts in the world: Whistler/Blackcomb. This is very cool. the drive from Vancouver up to Whistler along the Sea to Sky highway is one of the beset drives in the world. I have made it a dozen times, and every time I marvel at the beauty of the landscape, the open fjords the waterfalls that seem to tumble onto the road, bald eagles soaring overhead. And taking the route by train seems to me an excellent way to go. The other route is called the Fraser Discovery Route and will cover 642 miles (two days, with a hotel stay) between Whistler and Jasper in the province of Alberta.

The Rocky Mountaineer's one-way prices start at $85 per person for the Whistler Mountaineer trip. For the Fraser Discovery Route, prices begin at $469 per person. Various packages you can also take include the new Classic Rail Circle (from $1,499 per person, double occupancy, for six nights), incorporate both routes.

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