Nakiska Ski
Nakiska Ski is a ski area located in the province of Alberta in Canada. The resort is in the town of Kananaskis, AB.
We recently ranked all of Alberta's ski resorts, so you can see where Nakiska Ski stacks up against all its nearby ski hills!
Season Passes
Nakiska Ski is not a part of any nationwide lift ticket system. Passes such as Epic, IKON, or Mountain Collective allow pass holders to ski at multiple mountians with a single purchase. Unfortunately, none of those passes work with Nakiska Ski. To purchase season passes, you'll need to visit Nakiska Ski's website.
Lodging Options
There are numerous options to stay at Nakiska Ski around the resort. Check out the available options with the form below.
Nakiska Ski Terrain Overview
Nakiska Ski has a total of 71 ski trails, which are serviced by 6 ski lifts, gondolas and/or trams. The amount of skiable area in this park is huge, with a maximum of 1,021 acres available to skiers. This area is equivalent to 413 hectares, 1.6 square miles, or 4.1 square kilometers.
Nakiska Ski's slopes see on average 99 inches (2.5 meters) of snowfall a year.
Total Runs
71
Lifts
6
Skiable Acres
1,021(4 km2)
Annual Snowfall
99"(251 cm)
Nakiska Ski Elevation
Nakiska Ski has a summit elevation of 7,415 feet, or 2,260 meters. However, not all of that elevation is able to be skied. The base of the ski slope sits at 5,003 feet above sea level, creating a ski hill that is 2,412 feet (735 meters) high. This is referred to as the slope's vertical drop - or a measure of how high the skiable hill is.
Nakiska Ski's summit elevation is higher than average. There are a lot of ski slopes that are much higher than this one (some stretch to 12,000 feet!), but it is not small by any stretch of the imagination.
Summit Elevation
7,415'(2,260 m)
Vertical Drop
2,412'(735 m)
Base Elevation
5,003'(1,525 m)
Nakiska Ski Difficulty Level
Difficulty Score™
59.5out of 100
DID YOU KNOW?
At Parks & Trips, we've created a proprietary Difficulty Score that attempts to show how difficult a particular ski slope is. We get to this number by combining a number of metrics for each resort and comparing them to its peers. Most of the score is based off the amount of easy-intermediate-expert slopes by acreage and the maximum vertical drop of the overall resort, but also includes a few lesser-used metrics as well.
Our algorithm compares each resort’s metrics with all others in North America, then assigns each a Difficulty Score, which we use to rank them accordingly. Resorts with a lower score are easier to ski than those with a higher one. However, a high score does not mean that the resort does not have any easy slopes, or vice versa. This is just an overall score given to the resort based on all its metrics grouped together.
Skiable Terrain by Difficulty Level
Nakiska Ski has 1,021 total skiable acres, which can be broken down into the three main groups of difficulty: Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert.
Nakiska Ski's difficulty level is higher than average, which is because 59% of its ski trails are rated as intermediate, and another 28% as expert.
Beginner
13%(133 acres)
Beginner trails (identified by a green circle) are the easiest trails on the hill with a gradual 25% or less gradient, and are usually wide to accommodate beginner skiers.
Intermediate
59%(602 acres)
Intermediate trails (identified by a blue square) are usually the most popular and crowded runs, which have a slope of anywhere between 25-40%.
Expert
28%(286 acres)
Expert trails (identified by a black diamond... or two) are the hardest slopes on the mountain, and have very steep gradients over 40%.
Is Nakiska Ski good for beginners?
Nakiska Ski is above average in its difficulty level, so... probably not? It will depend on which trails you take since only 72% of its trails rated for either beginner or intermediate skill levels.
Nakiska Ski Location
Nakiska Ski is located in the province of Alberta, Canada. This ski area is nearest the town of Kananaskis, AB.
Address:
Kananaskis, AB T0L Canada
View on Google Maps
Website:
skinakiska.com
GPS Coordinates:
50.94271, -115.15329
Getting to Nakiska Ski
By Car: If you are driving, you would set your GPS to either the ski resort's name (Nakiska Ski), its coordinates of 50.94271, -115.15329 (latitude, longitude), or simply drive towards the town of Kananaskis, AB to get close.
By Air: If you are coming in from across the country, then you may need to board an airplane to get here.
A large airport has scheduled major airline service with millions of passengers per year. This type of airport always accepts international flights. Here are the closest large airport(s) to Nakiska Ski.
| Name | Code | City | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary International Airport | YYC | Calgary, AB | 81 km |
| Edmonton International Airport | YEG | Edmonton, AB | 284 km |
A medium-sized airport has scheduled regional airline service. This type of airport may or may not accept international flights. Here are the closest medium-sized airport(s) to Nakiska Ski.
| Name | Code | City | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cranbrook/Canadian Rockies International Airport | YXC | Cranbrook, BC | 155 km |
| Lethbridge County Airport | YQL | Lethbridge, AB | 222 km |
| Castlegar/West Kootenay Regional Airport | YCG | Castlegar, BC | 254 km |
There may also be much smaller regional airports next to Nakiska Ski, but we didn't list them here due to the fact that no major airlines go through them.
Other Nearby Ski Resorts
Skiers will - especially if coming from far away - try and visit a couple different slopes all in the same trip. Here are the closest other ski slopes within 100 miles of Nakiska Ski.
| Name | Location | Summit | Difficulty Score™ | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortress Mountain Resort | Kananaskis, AB | 8,400 ft | 57% | 13 km |
| Mount Norquay | Banff, AB | 6,998 ft | 53% | 43 km |
| Banff Sunshine Village | Banff, AB | 8,957 ft | 68% | 47 km |
| WinSport (Canada Olympic Park) | Calgary, AB | 4,100 ft | 32% | 67 km |
| Fairmont Hot Springs Resort Ski Area | Fairmont Hot Springs, BC | 5,200 ft | 44% | 82 km |
| Lake Louise | Lake Louise, AB | 8,650 ft | 66% | 89 km |
| Panorama Mountain | Panorama, BC | 8,038 ft | 87% | 93 km |
| Kicking Horse | Golden, BC | 8,218 ft | 90% | 138 km |
| Innisfail Ski Hill | Innisfail, AB | 3,133 ft | 14% | 146 km |
| Kimberley Alpine Resort | Kimberly, BC | 6,500 ft | 62% | 152 km |
| Pass Powderkeg | Blairmore, AB | 5,183 ft | 32% | 157 km |
Nakiska Ski Mountain Stats
| Name | Statistic |
|---|---|
| Summit Elevation | 7,415 ft |
| Base Elevation | 5,003 ft |
| Vertical Drop | 2,412 ft |
| Trails | 71 (13% Beginner, 59% Intermediate, 28% Expert) |
| Lifts | 6 |
| Skiable Acres | 1,021 |
| Avg. Annual Snowfall | 99 inches |