This list is made up from my bias over many years and I may or may not be jaded. I'm on day 3 of Salmonella poisoning right now though and I'm running out of things to entertain myself with so:
Alberta:
Fuck Alberta, and fuck living in the National parks system. You could live in Canmore and commute to Sunshine/Lake Louise I suppose, but again, fuck alberta.
Only option for Alberta is Castle Mountain. I've never been there, but I know some folk who lived/live there and like it. Steep, fall line chutes, windy. probably quite cold in the middle of winter.
BC:
Placed I haven't skied:
Kimberley: They used to have a sweet park with nigh skiing until RCR got lame. Now I assume they have good groomers and a family vibe. Don't bother. It's got a 'cute' fake Bavarian themed village if that's what gets you off.
Panorama: I think they have a good park? Really big vert, with long groomers. There's a zone of good off piste skiing, but from my understanding they are in the rain shadow of the main spine of the Purcell Mountains. "The Panorama Donut' (where it's snowing 360 around Pano and they get nothing - that's enough to make anyone go crazy.
Places I have skied:
Fernie: RCR - no park. It's fine without a park though. Town is just swell, the skiing is very fast, and it's got close to as much Alberta as Golden. It's known for getting big dumps of snow, and it's in the Rockies so it comes down cold and dry. skiing is mostly big open bowls with some fun cliffs here in there. Lacking the pillows that everyone west of Fernie gets, but the mountains here are proper rugged. Haven't been since the new lift, and I don't think they let you ski it legally still, but the Lizard Headwall is a great place to prove yourself - even if it's only to yourself and maybe one other buddy at sunset after you've hid from patrol while they do their final sweep. When I was living in Fernie it was before I got into touring so I don't really have anything to say about the slackcountry.
Kicking Horse: RCR's newest purchase, so yep - no park. Kinda too bad because when they build the ski hill they fucked up hard and didn't put a mid-mountain station on the gondola, forcing you to do top to bottoms around 70% of the time. All the good skiing is on the top 30% of the hill, which means you've got 70% of every run dealing with (usually) icy groomers just to get back to the lift. The terrain is about as legit as it gets though, and the snow is cold, light, and when I've been there in the spring, coverage is very good! More north facing chutes than you can comprehend. If you get into touring the slackcountry is top notch, and Rogers Pass (touring mecca) is only an hour down the road. Golden as a town is very... meh. lots of cops, railway town, very close to alberta.
Revelstoke: Everyone loves Revelstoke... I hate it. Lived their for two years and fuck that place. Yes, they get a shit ton of snow. Yes the mountain had the biggest vertical in North America. Yes, the town has a better scene than most small towns in the middle of nowhere (thanks to being on the Trans Canada Highway). But without me getting into my personal issues with the place I'll stick to facts. Biggest vertical in North America - but the actual good terrain is maybe 150M vert, that requires getting off the top lift, taking a bootpack, traverse, a few turns or one cliff drop, traverse, another half dozen turns, long ski out, chairlift, long flat traverse, another chairlift. With no lines and no silly business, you're looking at over hour long laps for 150M vert. They do have a park these days, but I haven't been up there since they put it in. If you have touring gear and a sled, this place could be all time. 1 hour from Rogers Pass and some of the biggest mountains in Southern BC that you can access via sled = you can get as rad as your skill/balls allow. Just stay away from the ski hill itself.
Whistler: Yep, it's Whistler. You don't need a review on McDonalds - you don't need a review on Whistler.
Big White: Big White Out is a nickname of Big White because it has shitty visibility a lot. It does have a lot of tree skiing to make up for that, BUT, it's a really mellow hill so the tree skiing isn't exactly something to write home about. It's park is decent, and it's got a village right on site so you can really get into the skiing zone. I mean, yeah - I've skied here, but I have no idea why people spend any real time here, it's a random foothill in the foothills.
Silver Star: Very similar to Big White, but better. Steeper groomers, less tree skiing (I think?), but as stated, the tree skiing at big white is, well, boring, so who cares. Village on site, and for most of my time in this province they have had the best jump line in the province. Park isn't as big as Whistler (nothing is as big as Whistler) but it's damn good for BC. The groomers remind me of proper steep New England groomers, different pitches, fast, varying fall lines... keeps you on your toes. Still suffers from the foothills (technically it's the Okanagan Highlands - so not even the Monashee foothills) issue where there's no real mountain feeling terrain. Let's be honest, why would you move to the mountains and not ski a mountain?
Red Mountain: Hands down my favourite ski hill I have ever put turns on - ever. It's not without it's flaws though. It's park is shitty at best, it gets shafted for snow more often than 'they' would like to admit, and if you want more out of your town scene, Rossland is sleepy as fuck. Small town vibes do mean that everything is walking distance, the community feel is very real, and it doesn't take long to feel like a local. As for the skiing - long fall line, sustained steep pitch, 'best' tree skiing around (Japan and Bariloche might give it a run for it's money), you have skiing on all aspects, more cliffs than you can whack a ski pole on, one of the best apres ski bars around - Fernie might give it a run for it's money, and the slackcountry is very easy to learn/very similar to inbounds. You can also ski from the hill off the backside of the hill back to town. Rent is cheap, for a small town it has one of the better grocery stores you'll come across, and the town is up in the hills, on a hill so urban skiing is part of the culture (when it's snowing at night, most of the youth in town is out gt'ing down the streets). For proper touring you've got the Rossland Range in your backyard (very similar terrain to inbounds), and Kootenay Pass an hour down the road. Even with the downfalls of Red/Rossland, the place sucked me in for almost a decade and I always miss it terribly. A part of my heart still lives there.
Whitewater: This is going to be an odd review. I'll start by saying that I am not a fan of Whitewater - BUT - I am on my 4th year here, just bought a house in Nelson, and absolutely love it here. Ok, so Whitewater - it's got some really really fun steep tree skiing, and they get a lot of snow. My issues is that it's a hungry community, small acreage ski hill, with short vert runs. Weekday pow day and inbounds is tracked by 11am. The lodge has the potential to have a good apres scene, but sadly, it does not. The park is a joke, and in all honesty unless you are an avid ski tourer I have no idea why would end up here. I finally pulled the trigger last year and bought a sled, didn't bother buying a seasons pass and didn't really regret it at all. That being said, I did buy a seasons pass for this year because the spring social groomer and deck beer days are worth it... and there is some really amazing slackcountry at Whitewater that is totally worth the price of admission. Without a sled, you've got the awesome slackcountry and Kootenay Pass an hour down the road. With a sled you have unlimited options in every direction. Hell, I live just on the south end of town and I can get on my sled at my house and gain access to 4 different zones. Besides that - Nelson is probably the best scene outside of Vancouver/Whistler. Food scene here is incredible, music scene is way better than it has any business being, and the town is big enough that it feels like a proper big town, but small enough that the social circles still intermingle with no real cliquey shit going down.
The not so notable notables:
North Shore (Cypress/Grouse/Seymour): If you have to live in Vancouver for work or school, or whatever reason people live in big cities for, I think seasons pass's are cheap for all three so just do it. You're living in the city so in theory you're getting paid enough. Seymour is my favourite - it's got a very snowboard heavy vibe. Grouse has the best overall park, and Cypress has... I don't know, I've only been up there in the summer to go hiking.
Shames: Ah the example we should all aspire to be. Terrace, BC ski hill used to be owned by the mill (I think?), and instead of seeing it get shut down, it was bought by the locals as a proper co op. small hill not worth anything. You're here simply for access into the backcountry. Bring your game face because the mountains here are proper and won't play nice if you disrespect them.
Hudson Bay: Smithers, BC. good vibes, good town, skiing is kinda meh, but the slackcountry/backcountry is real. With a sled it's truly amazing. Without a sled, just north of town you have the first of it's kind touring resort.
http://www.hankinmtn.com/
Powder King: middle of nowhere central BC. Sure the skiing might be good here, maybe? But is it worth it's location? I don't have an answer 'cause I've never bothered to go and find out.
Mount Washington: Don't move to Vancouver Island to ski. You ski on Vancouver Island because you had to move there.
Mount Cain: That being said, you do ski on Vancouver Island, come here instead of Mount Washington if you tour. I made the trip out here and the place is awesome. Similar to Shames in terms that the 'ski area' is purely in existence to access the surrounding backcountry. This place is from a bygone era with very healthy parking lot camping scene and everyone left their attitude back in Campbell River.
