THE landing was cold but very soft. The encouragement warm. "It's good to fall over, it means you're trying."

It was my first foray into deep-powder skiing and, as predicted, I was eating a lot of snow. My very patient instructor smiled and offered more words of support. "Don't let that snow bully you. Show it who's boss."

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So with the soft white stuff up to my chest, I dug out my skis, clipped them back on and whooshed on down the slope. This is skiing, Canadian style. Over eight days, a group of us would ski four snow-swathed resorts in Alberta and British Columbia.

After a nine-hour flight to Calgary and a three-hour drive west, we found ourselves at our first resort, Kicking Horse in the Purcell Mountains. The difference between skiing groomed slopes and deep powder is subtle but immense as it entails different techniques and skills.

Fortunately our instructors were brilliant and after some key tips and, crucially, a change to fatter skis I was able to get from top to bottom and do so mostly standing up.
Kicking Horse, at 11 years old, is a newish addition to Canada's impressive arsenal of ski resorts. It is small with ambitious plans to expand but charming nonetheless. It has a great mix of runs for all abilities plus a selection of off-piste and some very steep chutes (the North American term for a "couloir" or steep gully) for advanced skiers.

We stayed at The Highland Lodge which, as the moniker suggests, takes its inspiration from Scotland. Its pub restaurant is named after 1983 film Local Hero starring Burt Lancaster and set on Scotland's west coast. The Lodge has 10 suites all with private balcony and oozing rustic charm. It has a rule of boots off in the hallway, so you pad its wooden floors in your ski socks and can warm your feet in front of the roaring fire in the elegant Great Room.

The resident chef's dishes are as creative as they are tasty with a serving of buffalo stew one evening and green eggs and ham for breakfast (the green, by the way, is pesto).

I could have stayed all week but we had a date along the Trans-Canada Highway in Revelstoke, a few hours' west.

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For decades the locals had known that the massive slab of Mount MacKenzie overlooking this old railway city could make a world-class ski resort. Phase one was completed three years ago. The figures are already impressive; Revelstoke Mountain Resort has only three lifts but they open up more than 3,000 acres of slopes.

It also has a vertical drop from the top of the Stoke lift to the bottom station of 5,620ft, the biggest in North America, while its longest run is a thigh-burning nine-and-a-half miles.

Revelstoke's claim to be a future great is no idle boast.

There are plans to instal more than 20 lifts with 100 ski and snowboard runs on this huge mountain where the snow conditions are perfect.

We skied all day which was exhilarating but also made us hungry and weary. Fortunately we were booked into The Nelsen Lodge which is next to the gondola at the base of the mountain.

Dinner was at the adjacent Rockford Wok Bar Grill which served the finest blue-rare steak I have ever tasted. Rooms at the contemporary alpine-style lodge were resplendent in neutral tones and boasted outstanding views across the Columbia River to the Monashee Mountains.

After three thrilling days in Revelstoke we headed back east to Banff, a quaint town in the heart of the National Park, to ski the more established resorts of Lake Louise and Sunshine Village.

We stayed at the wonderful Rimrock Resort Hotel, which got around the local bylaw that limits all buildings to be no more than two storeys by bolting on to the rock face and building seven storeys DOWN. The results are impressive with panoramic views of the Rockies. The town is blessed with fabulous restaurants but the hotel's Primrose Dining Room is worth a visit, particularly for the succulent lobster tails.

Lake Louise and Sunshine are great ski destinations. They are more like European resorts with lots of well-marked runs.

Louise is suitable for skiers of all levels, and food and drink at the mountain lodges are good value, with a beer and a pizza costing about £7. Sunshine is also well laid-out and riding the lift up to the top of the perfectly named Lookout Mountain gave me my favourite views of the week, which is saying something in a setting as stunning as Western Canada.

THE KNOWLEDGE:
Canadian Affair (0207 616 9933/www.canadianaffair.com) offers a seven-night ski holiday in Western Canada from £763pp (two sharing), room only.

Price includes two nights at the Highland Lodge, Kicking Horse, two nights at the Nelsen Lodge, Revelstoke, two nights at the Rimrock Resort, Banff, and one-night at the Westin Calgary. Car hire from £189 for seven nights, ski hire from £25 per day and lift passes from £34 per day. Return flights from both Gatwick and Manchester to Calgary can be arranged from £318.

Tourism British Columbia: 0207 930 6857/www.britishcolumbia.travel/ski