TheBest Skiing in Canada

One of the best ski resorts in Canada has to be Banff in the Rocky Mountains and state of Alberta. There are a number of reasons for this and it is not all about the skiing, although that is obviously a very important factor. For Banff the quality of the skiing is beyond question but you can also enjoy great apres ski, a place with natural beauty and a little bit of history.

Banff the town resides in Banff national park which is a world heritage site and a beautiful part of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. In the town you can explore the history of the native American Indians, eat and drink in the famous Banff Springs Hotel and have access to a loads of different types of accommodation, restaurants and bars all within an hour and half of the international airport and city of Calgary, once home to the winter Olympics. Needless to say your comfort and apres ski experience will be well catered for.

Now down to the important business of skiing, one of the biggest benefits of being based in Banff is that you can take out a tri-area ski pass and make the most of three separate ski resorts, each one superb in it's own right.

    * Lake Louise
    * Sunshine Mountain
    * Mount Norquay

The quietest of the three, closest to Banff and my personal favorite is Mount Norquay, it is probably a little smaller than the other two but provides some really good slopes for all levels of skier, great lifts and hardly any queues, not that you would be queuing for long at either of the other 2 resorts either as they also have the sort of fantastic lift systems that you normally associate with North America plus skiing for all levels including beginners, intermediates and advanced.

To access the resorts from Banff does mean catching a bus, but as you are picked up for the most part right outside your hotel and most of the hotels will normally store your ski equipment for you, then this really isn't a problem. The time on the bus passes pretty quickly and you are on the slopes before you know it with hardly any energy expended.

When we visited the temperatures were a very chilly -40C with wind chill, this was pretty extreme however as we were unlucky enough to arrive in the coldest week of the Canadian winter that year. But it is worth bearing in mind and making sure you have got kit with you to suit those sorts of temperatures.