 Poster: A snowHead
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Went to Sunshine again today but not until the 10.40 bus, I’m normally out long before then. Looks like it might have snowed a tiny bit overnight and it’s been sort of lightly snowing all day but it could just be the wind blowing the snow around rather than actual snow. It’s sunny mostly. I think the weather is changing though as the wind has picked up and there’s poor vis at the top of Goat’s Eye.
Had my lunch in the burger place at the top of the gondola and it was not brilliant again to be honest for the money, I’ve gone to look at what’s inside those big white domes for the rucksacks and actually I think I will bring my own lunch for the last 2 days and have it in there!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Was on the 8.00 bus this morning and it was packed.
Again the app didn’t say any snow had fallen overnight but there was 4-5cm on the piste and in places the windblown was shin deep.
Very poor vis at the moment up high but it’s brightening up a bit.
Had a great day yesterday in the new snow, got lots of fresh tracks, shame it didn’t come earlier in the holiday but at least the other days were sunny, could have been a lot worse!
I think it might snow a bit every day this week so for those coming out on the weekend onwards it will be nice for you.
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If you are at Sunshine and it's wind sifting then head to the shoulder (assuming it's open)....
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hi.... Great reading this thread as I'm off to Banff mid Feb, first time in Canada, in fact first time in NA in winter. Reading the above about the food situation.... what's the script with kids? I'm here with 2 teenagers and me. One is 17 and the other 14... Can they go into bars and pubs for food, obvs not drinking beer or am I limited to restaurants?
How easy is it to get the buses, I'm staying at ptarmigan?
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@VolklAttivaS5, so glad you got a bit of a powder fix! Great to end the trip on a high.
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Gaz_H, They'll be fine in bars and pubs for food, all family friendly. They wouldnt be allowed alcohol, even if you wanted to as they will ID them.
Buses should be fine too - plenty of pickup points around Banff.
You'll have a wondeful time, and probably wanting to go back for more - enjoy. 
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I have a suspicion the early morning snow fall reports - which are the ones uploaded to the app - come from the automated snow plots or webcams. And that the later updates come from when Ski Patrol turn up in person - hence the discrepancy
Glad you’re having a great time. We’re out at Easter and excited already.
Buses great - the ones to the resorts are very well organise and marshalled. If one is full they radio ahead. The local device around town is pretty good too
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| sweaman22 wrote: |
| If you are at Sunshine and it's wind sifting then head to the shoulder (assuming it's open).... |
Where do you mean ‘the shoulder?’ Off which lift?
Goat’s Eye is still pretty stony despite all this fresh yesterday and today, a lot of it is still closed including that area on the right hand side as you get off the lift.
Is that where you mean?
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| Gaz_H wrote: |
Hi.... Great reading this thread as I'm off to Banff mid Feb, first time in Canada, in fact first time in NA in winter. Reading the above about the food situation.... what's the script with kids? I'm here with 2 teenagers and me. One is 17 and the other 14... Can they go into bars and pubs for food, obvs not drinking beer or am I limited to restaurants?
How easy is it to get the buses, I'm staying at ptarmigan? |
The buses stop right outside the Ptarmigan so that’s fine.
I don’t think it’s a problem with children that age in restaurants with a bar. Not sure about pubs. There is the IGA supermarket a few minutes walk from the Ptarmigan in the direction towards the shopping area on the right hand side. You can’t miss it as there’s a car park outside.
On the hill the food is nothing to write home about IMO (at Sunshine anyway) and will cost you a lot to feed 3 of you so I would consider bringing your own food at least some of the days and eat it in the white dome buildings, there’s a lot more room and I actually preferred that. There’s one at Sunshine Village centre and one at the Goat’s Eye chair. There is also a Beavertails pastry hut by the Goat’s Eye chair. At Lake Louise I thought the food was better. Not in the cafeteria thing downstairs at the entrance, that was rubbish, go upstairs to the sit down restaurant it’s miles better up there.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| lynnecha wrote: |
| @VolklAttivaS5, so glad you got a bit of a powder fix! Great to end the trip on a high. |
Me too after coming all the way over here!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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The Shoulder is on Lockout Mountain - starts under the TeePee Town chair. Often thought to be the easier of the free ride terrain - followed by South Side Chutes and Delirium Dive. Often accumulates wind blown powder - hence the suggestion.
I’ve done it (with an instructor) so it can’t be too hard! I recall it looked more intimidating that it was as it seemed like you were skiing towards a drop if you didn’t turn when in reality it was just the curve of the slope round the curved!
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@Gaz_H,
I think the general rule for bars, though thwre can be quite a few that are 19+ only, is that they allow under 19s whilst they are serving food, so maybe boot them out at 9 or 10 or something like that.
In Banff you'd expect to find plenty of family friendly places - many like the Keg and Earls (though don't know the about banff versions specifically) are kind of a blend of bar and restaurant anyway, or have a section that is a bit more restaurant-like, and a section that is a bit more bar like.
Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much  on Wed 25-01-23 0:28; edited 1 time in total
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You know it makes sense.
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@TommyJ, oh I see.
Just looking at the weather forecast for tomorrow onwards it looks like the temperature is going to drop considerably from Friday. On Sunday at 1600m at Sunshine with wind chill it’s forecast to be below -30 and towards -40 at the top (including wind chill). That must have been the ‘weather front coming in from Siberia’ I heard that woman talking about in the supermarket the other day. Just a forecast though and they change!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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TommyJ has it. Lookers right off the goats eye is South Side chutes which is rarely good before February.
Often getting to the shoulder through the trees on teepee town is harder than the actual pitch...
It is indeed forecast to be brisk by Sunday.
I'm struggling to think of any restaurants that wouldn't be happy to have older teenagers. There's a few late night bars but they're pretty obvious and won't be serving food.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@sweaman22, at what temperature do they close the lifts due to the cold? Is it -30 or above?
I found the temperatures these last 2 weeks, -6 to -15C enough for me really it worked out well that it was mild for the time of year by chance so I know for next time not to come in January as usually it would be colder. Around -10 seems to be enough to keep the snow light and fluffy without being too cold. I’m just not used to it skiing in the Alps as we rarely get below -12 C.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@stuarth, In Alberta its 18
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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See thoughts of a road trip and wanted to put a few ways to save out there. Some discount cards sell early , no longer available after end of December. Some, like Panos snow card have black friday or similar sales. Lake louise covers Lake Louise, Castle, Panorama, and Red Mountain. Mountain Collective pass is also worth considering
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@VolklAttivaS5, They close the lifts when it becomes dangerous for workers and when rescue becomes too difficult. They seem to close much earlier now than they ever used to. I think it can be a bit of a complex decision for them and it can vary. Wind chill, length of cold, day of the week all factor in.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@gryphea, ah I see.
Well I’ve enjoyed the trip, not as snowy as last time I came but I wanted to come back to Banff a second time so mission accomplished 
I love that little coffee shop in the Chimney Corner at Sunshine, a big cookie and a latte is 11 CAD so quite reasonable. Went there again today, didn’t bother with any lunch just had a snack bar I had with me and had a chicken burger at the Alpine Grill down the bottom while I was waiting for the bus. That was nice.
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As per gryphea I'm not sure there's a strict cut-off. Things start breaking as it gets cold and so if stuff is still open it might just be the older fixed grip lifts and tows but not the more complex detachable lifts.
Personally I find below about -25C it's very much survival skiing and even then it's a few runs followed by a warm up.
Sweajnrs club uses -20 windchill for U12 and under purely from a safety perspective.
The current forecast looks like we'll be okay at Sunshine on Saturday but Sunday (low of -29C and high of -19.5C) looks pretty marginal.
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Yeah it’s not fun is it when it’s in the -20s
Even this week I had a thermal top and bottoms, another set of bottoms, a light down gilet, my synthetic puffa jacket plus my shell jacket and pants. Thin Buff, fleece Buff as well, liner gloves inside a pair of mittens which already have liners. Plus 2 Hot Rox in my chest pockets either side switched on most days 
I think it may have been I wasn’t putting much effort in when there was no new snow so unless I’m working hard which is not very often these days I feel the cold easily. Plus not used to it in Britain, it’s never very cold even in the winter just damp!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Gaz_H, what do you usually wear skiing then?
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@Gaz_H, we had a 6, 8 and 10 year old in our group last year and the only place we couldn’t get in was a sports bar in the arcade.
No problem in Park Distillery, Banff Ave brew pub, Bear St Tavern or the Irish bar. In fact we sat at the bar in the Bear St Tavern and our 10 yo daughter got free Coke refills for a couple of hours which pleased her hugely!
Back three weeks today - can’t wait.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| VolklAttivaS5 wrote: |
| @Gaz_H, what do you usually wear skiing then? |
Usually ski at Easter
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@Gaz_H, ah! Ok well you will need more clothes for a Canadian February then!
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Another tip for anyone coming out to Banff soon. Try Pacini’s inside the Moose Hotel. Having my lunch in there now while waiting for the bus back to Calgary.
Bread station included in the price of a meal-yummy. Tempting not to eat more than you should. Various different butters available and then you grill it yourself. They do a lunchtime menu between 11 and 3, I’ve got the cod and the linguine.
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You know it makes sense.
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I’ve enjoyed these past 2 weeks, I’d have liked to have had more snow but it could have been really cold instead of mild. So it worked out well for me. Do I need to come back to Banff again? Not for a while. Would like to try other places in Canada next.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@VolklAttivaS5, safe travels. Thanks for the updates.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@lynnecha, have a nice time next month
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@sweaman22, What's your kids club? Alpine or freestyle?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Question for those that might know-when I first went to Banff in 2020 I did the Kicking Horse day trip and Panorama day trip, both were great!! This season I noticed the tour company weren’t offering the Panorama trip at all (but were still offering KH) and also last season it was the same. I thought they might have dropped Panorama last season due to fewer people around because of Covid restrictions in resorts or something like that. I asked them how come they weren’t offering Panorama this season and they said ‘logistical reasons’
They might just have a staff shortage but does anyone know what they mean, is there road closures or something along that road which would make it a nuisance?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Gryphea. He's U10 NASA Alpine.
93 South is one of my least favorite stretches of road in the winter. It's almost all single lane with no services, no cell coverage and no lighting. If something does go wrong (even someone else crashing) then it's a long delay purely because recovery takes a long time. I'm in awe of the locals who have places in Pano and do the trip weekly as it wouldn't be for me (and after 13 years in Canada my comfort with sketchy conditions is higher than it was in the UK).
This year it's a bit busier because of the roadworks just before Golden on highway 1 where there's overnight closures. So everything gets diverted through Radium overnight. So depending on when the bus from Banff departs it might see more traffic but I think most trucks are aware of the potential delays and just rest accordingly.
I suspect it's partly a staffing thing and partly that kicking horse is that bit closer so the day isn't quite as long for the drivers.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@sweaman22, Huh! My kids were at NASA. Son is now a Dino and races ski cross, which he started in FIS, daughter on Alberta team, after a couple of years of FIS at NASA. We know quite a few of the coaches at NASA, as some are old ski buddies of the kids. We put them in a race club in the early years and somehow got sucked in
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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93 South to Pano can be tricky. Since the works on Highway 1 at Kicking Horse canyon, there are lots of Highway 1 closures, which routes the traffic on the 93. The closures can be for weeks (before christmas) to all week days to nights only depending on the month. The 93 then gets truck traffic which struggles with the road and that can cause problems and reckless driving. Last year we got stuck in an epic 14 hr car/truck park for a normally less than 3 hr journey from invermere. This year my daughter was in a car with a friend driving and they slid and came off the road and ended up in the opposite direction snow bank. They were very lucky there was no one coming in the opposite direction. But the logistics of no cell reception make everything tricky. Plus probably no drivers around.
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We have just been in Banff area for the last 11 days and did the drive over to Pano for a day trip (we couldn’t decide between pano or kicking horse and given lack of snow went for pano).
Thankfully the road conditions were fine, but we were a bit naive in not realising that large stretch had no cell coverage/services etc in case we had any issues. We set out early morning for the drive and barely saw another car in either direction!
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@sweaman22, @gryphea, ah ok that makes sense, thank you.
When is the work on Hwy1 at KH canyon due to be complete?
@PisteQueen, I do remember the lack of mobile coverage when on the bus now you mention it!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Has anyone done the day trip to Kicking Horse from Banff? Back to Banff for our seventh trip(!) this April and wondering if it’s worth it for a change of scenery.
I’d call myself a reasonable intermediate. I’m happy on many of the single blacks including some of the ungroomed stuff. I’ve even done The Shoulder and Wildside at Banff - once!
Is there much for a skier like me at KH or is it a step up and best left for the more experienced skiers?
At least I know not to try and drive to Panorama now!! Our first year we thought we’d take a day out along the Icefields Parkway from Lake Louise. The road was marked as open. It was ‘interesting’
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@TommyJ, yes I’ve done it twice. Excellent value for money as the cost includes the lift ticket and the return bus. Early start, usually picks up in Banff about 7am.
There’s a fair few single diamond blacks at KH, the good thing about the runs off the right hand side of the Stairway To Heaven traverse (the left hand side takes you into a bowl which has a much longer descent) is the pitches are quite steep but short so it wouldn’t be too much to commit to before you can ski back to the Stairway to Heaven chair.
There is a lot more advanced stuff there too but I think you’d enjoy what’s there for a day without it being too much.
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FAQ
not just the wind blowing the existing snow around a bit. Well I was delighted! It was lightly snowing when I arrived and that got a lot faster throughout the day, it’s slowed up now but up top at Great Divide it’s very windy. There’s maybe 5-6cm of new snow which then becomes more like 20cm-25cm in the wind blown powder.
WTF are you meant to do then?!
