With snow in the forecast and the Vancouver/Whistler Olympic Winter Games on the horizon, it's time to toast the best of Canada's ski areas. (Clipart.com)

North American Olympic ski destinations On the Whistler Peak 2 Peak gondola The most affordable ski resorts

There's a lot to be thankful for this holiday season . . . family, friends, health, financial stability. But with snow in the forecast and the Vancouver/Whistler Olympic Winter Games on the horizon, this ski writer can't help but use some of her holiday cheer to toast the best of Canada's ski areas. These include:

Best Place to Ride a Gondola:

The Peak 2 Peak Gondola, Whistler, B.C. No competition here. This $52-million marvel glides skiers from one peak to the next, 436 metres above glorious Fitzsimmons Creek. There are more than 3 km between two of the towers -- it's the longest, highest gondola of its type in the world. Bring your guts, Whistler will show you its glory.

Best Place to Ski Powder:

Revelstoke Mountain Resort, B.C. Canada's youngest ski resort maintains its youthful glow, with steeps, trees and 15 metres of annual snowfall only a teenager sipping Red Bull has the ski legs to handle. More seasoned skiers, however, ought to give the powder at Revelstoke the old college try. Drink up and attempt time travel.

Best Place to Ski Fast:

The Men's Downhill at Lake Louise, Alta. Sure, the Olympics are at Whistler. But from the nosebleed start at the top of the World Cup downhill run at Lake Louise (2,900 metres) to the finish at the Lodge of Ten Peaks, this cowboy race course takes the gold. It's an icy, twisty, scary, omigosh-I-skied-that run you've got to ride -- and ride fast -- at least once in your ski life.

Best Place for an Apres-Ski Stroll:

Tremblant Village, Que. Cobbled streets, candy-coloured rooftops, oodles of French-Canadian charm -- this wintry, auto-free village is the closest Canada comes to the charismatic ski villages of Europe. Bundle up and repeat: "Oh-la-la."

Best Place to Ski with a Celebrity:

Sun Peaks, B.C. Forget she's a senator. Forget she's a fast and fabulous skier. Forget she won Canada the most World Cup medals in its stellar ski racing history. Nancy Greene is simply a fun n' chatty celebrity to ski with, and she's easy to spot on the slopes of Sun Peaks.

Best Place to Ski Trees:

Mont Sutton, Que. If you can't remember skiing in the '70s, go ski Mont Sutton. While indeed it has updated its lifts and facilities in the past 30 years, this Eastern Townships resort has kept its skiing strictly old school, with little grooming and fabulous powder glade skiing through its bountiful sugar maples. C'est tres, tres retro.

Best Place for a Family Ski Vacation:

Big White, B.C. Let's start with its wide open slopes dotted generously with snow ghosts (snow-laden evergreens) kids pretend are slalom gates. Add to that Big White's legendary Blackforest. Sprinkle in the resort's Happy Valley playground full of skating rinks, snow tubing lanes, horse-drawn sleighs and snowmobile rides. And finish with Big White's family-friendly slopeside-condos -- some tricked out with heated outdoor pools, hot tubs. . . even movie theatres. What have you got? Canada's answer to Disney.

Best School Ski Trip:

Mount St. Louis Moonstone, Ont. From raucous high school ski racing teams to busloads of teenaged, never-ever skiers, Louis can handle it. This Hwy. 400 ski area's rental centre can outfit a new skier from ski boot to helmet in 10 minutes flat. Their race staff can set anything from snowboard GS to FIS slalom race courses. And the ski school's pros ensure kidlets don't stray onto terrain that's too difficult or too dangerous. Combine this with good grooming and two rocking terrain parks and you've got one memorable school ski trip.

Best Big Mountain Experience on a Small Mountain:

Blue Mountain, Ont. With 220 metres of vertical, Blue Mountain isn't high. But it is wide, with 101 total skiable hectares. It's also got a whopping 15 lifts -- four of them high-speed six-packs -- to access its 36 trails, two terrain parks and super pipe. Blue's got double black diamonds to the north, Big Baby to the south and Mogul Alley in between, plus a village out of Intrawest's blueprints. Any place you can buy a Beavertail in ski boots rates highly in any skier's book.

Best View from the Top:

Cypress Mountain, B.C. Three words: Bring your camera. From the top of Cypress you can see the city of Vancouver, its surrounding snow-capped mountains and its sapphire blue ocean. The scene is Canada's answer to California's dreamy view of Lake Tahoe from Heavenly. If you can't get up to Cypress this season, catch its view on TV -- Cypress will host the snowboard, freestyle and ski cross events for the 2010 Winter Olympics.