Jasper or Whistler?

Neither town has a sea, and both rely on their valley lakes for a short summer swimming season, so as beach destinations they are roughly level. In Jasper a swim means driving a few minutes east of town to Lake Annette or Lake Edith and making an afternoon of it with a picnic. The water is bracing, and the glacier lakes deeper in the park are only for looking at.

Whistler makes a dip easier to fit into the day. Lost Lake is a walk from the village, Alta and Alpha Lakes have rafts and jetties to swim out to, and in a warm spell the shallower lakes reach about 20°C. Glacier-fed Green Lake stays cold and milky, just like Jasper's high lakes.

Whistler eats noticeably better. Its village restaurants cook BC salmon, spot prawns and Fraser Valley produce with deep British Columbia wine cellars, and après-ski nachos and craft beer at the foot of the gondolas are a ritual of their own.

Jasper keeps things simpler: a brewpub, steak and burger houses serving Alberta beef and bison, and bakeries full of hikers in the morning. Many visitors there self-cater from the grocery stores, which makes sense in a town with so few tables.

Sightseeing is thin in both, but Whistler has more to fill a rainy afternoon. The Audain Art Museum holds Emily Carr paintings and Northwest Coast masks, the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre presents the two nations' carving and weaving, and the 2010 Olympic venues are close by.

Jasper's interest is used up in a short stroll: the 1914 stone and timber information centre on the central lawn, a small museum on fur traders and the railway, the old station and a totem pole.

Whistler is the place to go out. Après starts on the patios as the lifts close, and a handful of clubs in the pedestrian village stay loud until the early hours on winter weekends, though the crowd is young and the mood mostly beer.

Jasper's evenings come down to a brewpub and a couple of late bars where seasonal staff gather. Many visitors drive out to look at the stars instead, in one of the largest dark-sky preserves in the world.

Both are first-rate mountain destinations, and the choice depends on what you want from the landscape. Jasper is wilderness first, with a national park reaching to the edge of town. Elk, bighorn sheep and bears line the valley roads, Maligne Lake and Spirit Island are an hour up the valley, and the Icefields Parkway runs past turquoise lakes to the Columbia Icefield.

Whistler is the stronger base for lift-served sport. Whistler and Blackcomb, linked by the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, offer vast ski terrain, and in summer the famous downhill bike park and Garibaldi's alpine lakes take over.

Whistler has more within reach beyond its own valley. Squamish and its Sea to Sky Gondola, the Britannia mining museum and the farming village of Pemberton all make easy outings. Vancouver, two hours down a famously scenic road, is a long but possible day.

From Jasper almost every outing stays inside the park. Hinton and Valemount are practical towns with little to see, and Banff is too far to go and come back in a day.

Whistler is built for families in a way Jasper is not. The car-free village, well-run ski schools, tubing, a summer adventure park and lodgings with kitchens make days with children straightforward in either season.

Jasper suits outdoor families with slightly older children. Spotting elk from the car, crossing the Maligne Canyon bridges and camping are memorable, but the main sights involve long winding drives and the weather can turn cold even in July.

In Whistler you can leave the car behind. The village is pedestrian-only, the gondolas leave from its edge, free shuttles run along the valley, and the paved Valley Trail links the lakes on foot or by bike. The catch is arriving, since there is no passenger railway and most people come by coach from Vancouver.

Jasper is the reverse. You can arrive by transcontinental train and walk the few blocks of town, but the lakes, canyons and trailheads lie along long valley roads with no regular buses, so without a car you see very little of the park.

Whistler's village is a serious place to buy ski, board and bike gear, from big Canadian outdoor brands to specialist tuning shops, with a few boutiques, Indigenous art galleries and a summer farmers' market in the Upper Village.

Jasper's two main streets cover a forgotten rain jacket, plush bears and a wildlife print, and little beyond that.

Neither is cheap, but Jasper is easier on the wallet. Once you have a park pass and a car, the landscape costs nothing, and campgrounds and self-catering bring a summer stay down a long way.

Whistler adds some of the costliest lift passes in the world to resort-priced lodging, and prices climb steeply over Christmas and New Year. Spring and autumn, kitchens and rooms further down the valley soften the bill without making it a budget trip.

Neither offers a real evening of performance, but Whistler has a little more going on. Free summer concerts on Olympic Plaza, buskers in the village and touring shows at the community arts centre give it some live culture, and Vancouver's stages are within reach for anyone who wants more.

In Jasper live music means a guitarist in a pub, plus a few concerts during the seasonal festivals.

Whistler makes more of relaxation. Its Nordic-style forest spa by the river has hot pools, saunas and cold plunges where guests soak in silence, sometimes under falling snow, and massage studios for sore skiers are everywhere.

Jasper's great soak is Miette Hot Springs, an hour's drive away and open only in the warmer months. Its real calm comes from the town itself: quiet mornings, lakeside walks and dark skies, without Whistler's loud peak-winter weekends.