Every year myself and 4 buddies do a ski trip to somewhere we've never been skiing. Banff was chosen for February 2025. For those that have been, what's the best mountain to ski there? Suggestions on places to stay? Restaurant recommendations?
Best is subjective and what you and your crew enjoys is totally your call of course. Way back when, we opened the hill and skied until you couldn't see much, rarely stopping except for bio breaks and a quick snack. Preferred terrain consisted of moderate to stupid steep mogul fields. For this Sunshine is the way to go, imo. Sunshine has something for everyone with a lot of vertical lift and some great gnar especially up top. Brewster and the near vertical terrain under the lift lines were sketchy and fun, definitely serious stuff. Give it a miss unless you're really confident in that type of rocky, steep, unforgiving terrain. There's still a ton of challenging runs, plenty of intermediate and novice too, plus powder bowls if that's your thing. I am not sure if the ski out is sill open at Sunshine. My favorite part of every Sunshine trip. We'd try to time it so the lifts were closing just as we boarded at the bottom, ride to the top of Brewster, then ski back down past the chalet area all the way to the parking lot gondola launch. Hella fun and seriously tiring dropping that much elevation in what is essentially a single run. Pre-gondola the way up from the parking lot was via buses on snow covered narrow mountain roads. By far the most harrowing part of the experience at the time. Lake Louise offers particularly gorgeous scenery and a lot of variety across three mountains. Pretty sure it is the biggest of the big 3 resorts. I found a mix of 4:1 for Sunshine: Lake Louise was good but again, your call. There are lesser known hills in the area that offer unique experiences, plus some back country heli-skiing, but those are the main two. Norquay is smaller (~60 runs iirc) but may be worth a look see. My memory of it was steeper runs that tended to be a little icier, but maybe that was just luck of the draw the few times I was there. Didn't ski thee much. If you're going for more than a few days, consider planning a day at Lake Louise and the rest for Sunshine. Hotels, dunno. Haven't been there for a while and Banff has apparently changed a lot. As to bars, crawl between them all. We tried to stay at a bar as long as possible but someone in the crew usually got us kicked out within about an hour. All that and someone else will come in and say Louise is the place to be. I don't think there's a wrong answer. Canadian Rockies are way cool.
Agree with @DesertCrawler . My wife and I like to stay in Lake Louise because it’s just been the two of us and a little quieter, but with a group or now that we’re dragging the gremlins along we’ll do banff - there’s just more to entertain the kids and easier food options. Both hills are great and it’ll be plenty cold in February so you won’t have to worry about the sun/spring thaw if you decide to go to Lake Louise. in late spring, Lake Louise does get hot with the sun so it can get a little icy over night. We’ve snowboarded them both a ton and love them. downtown banff has a lot of easy places to stay, outside of the major places like fairmont banff springs and rimrock and vrbo is a plenty up there. I’ve never stayed at rimrock, but a few friends from Canada say it’s super nice, it’s just not walking distance to bars/restaurants. checkout skibig3.com it’s got some decent “touristy” info on the hills and different lodging options.
Forgot to mention, sometimes one could find slightly more affordable accommodations in Canmore not far from Banff but there's not a lot of action there. Plus one on Whistler. Fun place.
Yes - Canmore is great but I was thinking he wanted a place with more activity so didn’t bring it up. Similar to lake Louise in that it’s not a place I’d pick for a guys trip if they wanted to hit a bunch of bars and stuff after skiing. I like Canmore in summer for fishing and hiking - it’s fantastic.
This bar is owned by the dad of one of my sons team mates when he played hockey at U of L . He said if we're ever there drinks are on him. Looks like a cool place. Tommy’s Neighbourhood Pub This quintessential mountain-town pub has been in business for more than two decades and is beloved by locals for its cheap drinks and hole-in-the-wall feel. Here you can watch the game, play darts and earn the gratitude of your friends with a round of reasonably priced shots. Amiable owner Tommy Soukas can often be found slingin’ pints and framed photos of visiting celebrities underscore this pub’s universal appeal. 120 Banff Ave., 403-762-8888
Not sure about the actual skiing, but we stayed at Kicking Horse Mountain this summer, and it has the 4th highest vertical drop in North America. Almost 600ft more than Sunshine. About 1.5hr west of Banff.
Not for nothing cause I don't know the ski situation, but I stayed in Golden when I was visiting Banff, that was an easy drive each morning, but not snowing so not sure how bad the winter goes. Golden has biking. Revelstoke has stuff. and like 8 years ago I did Retallack Lodge, which comparatively is in the middle of fucking nowhere, but the chef is top notch, the lodge is cool, and they take you up the mountain by one of those giant snowdozer type thingies or by helicopter. serious business for back country shit, but not cheap/easy like just going up a lift at a resort obviously. Whistler is always dope. Sun Peaks and Silverstar are nice resorts I've biked at too.
We like to be as close to ski in/out as possible. Usually grab a condo or townhouse close to the village, so we can walk to the lifts if we can't find a reasonable ski in/out. As for type of skiing, we don't hesitate to do some double blacks, etc, and some off piste, but nothing too crazy as far as back cou try or helicopter skiing yet.
Revelatoke is awesome, but too steep for my wife and the drive past banff coming from Calgary makes it even harder to justify. Know many folks that have gotten snowed in at Revelstoke because they close the road due to snow. Wasn’t uncommon for colleagues/clients to reach out on a Sunday and let you know they’re stuck and need to move Monday/Tuesday meetings. really cool place.
it snowed on my drive there coming out from Glacier Park/Banff in June when i did that trip haha, so i don't doubt it.
What is their situation there recovering from the fires? Was that just Jasper, or was Banff damaged as well? Wonderful area, and I was sad about the fires. I honeymooned there, but when we tried to go back for a "landmark" anniversary, the prices had gotten almost unbelievable. It became a "at that price, we could..." sort of thing and opened up other options.
So im on my 3rd season of skiing and looking to plan my first trip out west. Im sure a lot of it is personal preference but what size skis are you taking out there? Or does it make more sense to just take your boots and rent when you get to the resort? Currently have a pair of 85 underfoot and 92 and considering adding a more carving oriented ski at 80 underfoot. Wondering which of these would be ideal if I make the trip?
you could think this to death, spend money for marginal gains you probably won’t realize, or go the easy route. Take the 92’s and be done with it. Demo some other stuff while you’re there if you must. here’s the thing… western skiing is different from eastern in many ways that may or may not matter to your experience. weather, how it affects the snow. How altitude and sun pressure affect snow. Where in the “west” you are affects the type and quality of snow and likelihood of powder and density thereof. And WHEN you go is hugely important. Length of runs is likely to have an effect on your experience. Probably altitude if you’re in CO, particularly. And the variety of terrain means that you probably won’t ski the way you would in the East. Too much to explore to just rip groomers all day. Anyways, just take a pair you’re comfortable with and soak it up for your first time. Shit, I skied CO and Utah and Jackson and Whistler and Taos and Tahoe and Seattle area (and MI, VT, ME, NJ, MA, NH) for decades with a single ski quiver… now I’ve got three pairs, but I live in the Wasatch
For ski choice, it depends on what you're skiing. When we went to Colorado last year, cost-wise it was a wash between paying to fly with skis and renting. I rented, and had zero issue picking from a group of excellent skis. The big advantage to renting is that you can change out skis depending on conditions. If you're staying on groomed runs or heli or cat skiing, that one pair may suit you. We got lucky and had a good snow day and I was able to exchange out for a set of powder skis at no additional cost. Plus one on Whistler. We are visiting for the second time in March. My Whistler notes: The snow is heavier and wetter than Utah and Colorado. On our trip, first day was between storms so the powder lines were pretty much tracked out. A narrower ski (think I was on 88s) was preferrable. Days two and three were storm says, and we were limited to the bottom half of the mountain, below the snow line. Same ski. Both mountains opened up on day four an epic day with a full day of untracked runs. Traded out for a set of 110s, which were perfect in those conditions. All that said, I'm the guy who takes a couple pairs of skis when I ski locally (Snowshoe). I'll take a pair of GS skis for rope drop and the corduroy, and then switch to a more forgiving ski for the afternoon when it gets skied our and icy. Contrast that with my buddy who skis the same ski every time in all conditions. To quote: "Man, I just love these skis!"
