Skimax Holidays

Skimax Holidays, Australian snow travel specialist

Skimax Holidays is an Australia-based travel agency that presents itself as a snow specialist with more than three decades of experience. Its activity focuses on organising ski and snowboard packages that include accommodation in destinations across North America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. The company describes itself as "Australia's premier snow travel experts for over 30 years" and operates through its website skimax.com.au.

Ski destinations offered

The agency's catalogue covers ski resorts in nine countries. In the United States it offers resorts such as Heavenly, Mammoth Lakes, Northstar, Palisades, North Lake Tahoe, Aspen Snowmass, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Copper Mountain, Denver, Keystone, Steamboat, Telluride, Vail, Winter Park, Sun Valley, Big Sky, Mt Hood, Alta, Deer Valley, Park City, Snowbird and Jackson Hole. In Canada it offers Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise, Fernie, Kicking Horse, Kimberley, Panorama, Red Mountain, Revelstoke, Sun Peaks, SilverStar, Vancouver, Whistler and Yellowknife. In Japan it includes Appi Kogen, Iwate Kogen, Shizukuishi, Furano, Kiroro, Niseko, Rusutsu, Sapporo, Tomamu, Hakuba, Madarao Kogen, Myoko Kogen, Nozawa Onsen, Shiga Kogen, Naeba and Zao Onsen. In New Zealand it works with Cardrona, Coronet Peak, Mt Hutt, Queenstown, Remarkables, Treble Cone and Wanaka. In Switzerland it features Andermatt, Arosa, Davos-Klosters, Engelberg, Interlaken, Saas Fee, St Moritz, Verbier, Zermatt, Crans Montana, Grindelwald, Villars-sur-Ollon and Wengen. In France it offers Courchevel, Chamonix, Les Arcs, Meribel, Megeve, Tignes, Val D'Isere and Val Thorens. In South Korea it offers Alpensia, High1, Seoul, Yongpyong and Phoenix Park. In Italy it includes Alta Badia, Madonna Di Campiglio and Cortina D'Ampezzo. In Austria it works with Lech, Kitzbuhel, Obergurgl, St Anton and Saalbach. In Chile it has Portillo and Valle Nevado.

Featured experiences in the catalogue

Among the products the agency promotes are Bella Coola Heli Sports, the Ikon Pass, the NZ Snow Highway route and the "How do you Utah?" proposal. The site also mentions Park City as a featured destination.

Destinations with detailed descriptions

The website devotes extensive pages to several resorts. Banff National Park, in Canada, brings together three resorts —Banff Sunshine, Lake Louise Ski Resort and Mt. Norquay— that total nearly 8,000 skiable acres. Banff Sunshine has more than 3,300 acres and allows skiing between Alberta and British Columbia on the same run; Lake Louise Ski Resort has 4,200 acres; and Mt. Norquay, known as "the local's mountain", offers varied terrain and the only illuminated terrain park in North America.

Hakuba Valley, in the Japanese Alps, brings together ten resorts with more than 200 runs. Happo-One is the largest and Cortina the smallest, with tree skiing and powder-filled bowls. The area allows booking back-country guides and offers non-ski activities, such as visiting the snow monkeys of Jigokudani Park and a day tour that combines monkeys and temples.

Whistler, in Canada, has more than 8,000 skiable acres in Whistler Blackcomb and features the PEAK 2 PEAK gondola, which connects both mountains in 11 minutes. Its pedestrian village is home to more than 200 bars and restaurants, as well as activities such as snowmobiling, snowshoeing, dog sledding, ziplining and heli-skiing. It is a two-hour drive from Vancouver along the Sea-to-Sky highway.

Vail Resort, in the United States, has more than 5,200 acres, seven Back Bowls and a ski school, and has attracted skiers for more than 50 years. Its pedestrian village offers shops, activities and bars, from après-ski lounges to exclusive areas.

Sun Peaks, Canada's second-largest ski area, is organised around a ski-in/ski-out village and spans three peaks. It has terrain for all levels and winter activities such as dog sledding, tubing, snowmobiling, ice skating and sleigh rides. The addition of the West Bowl Express on Mt. Tod improved access to the high-alpine area.

Palisades Tahoe, in California, is surrounded by six Sierra Nevada peaks and offers thousands of acres of open-bowl skiing, with more than 300 days of sunshine a year and snow that lasts well into the season, making it suitable for spring skiing or Easter holidays.

Grindelwald, in Switzerland, lies beneath the Eiger, Jungfrau and Monch peaks and is the largest resort in the Jungfrau Top Ski area. It offers 132 miles of maintained pistes across 50 routes with a single lift ticket, with elevations above 7,500 feet. The network of 20 chairlifts can carry 42,000 passengers per hour. Non-ski activities include the cogwheel train to the "Top of Europe", the longest toboggan run in the Alps and 12 miles of cross-country ski trails in the Grindelwald Valley.

Park City Mountain, in Utah, is the largest resort in the United States, with 7,300 acres, more than 346 runs, 41 lifts and 6 terrain parks. It is a 35-minute drive from Salt Lake City International Airport and offers ski-in/ski-out access to Main Street.

Agency services

Skimax Holidays allows you to request custom quotes through its website, where users can specify destination, dates, number of adults and children. The agency also offers accommodation and activity packages in the destinations in its catalogue.

Location and contact

Phone: (02) 9267 1655