Canada newbie

A snowHead

Hi all
Thanks in advance for any advice.

My son (adult) is going to Canada to ski for a fortnight in January. He’ll be based in Banff most of the time.
Ok, so a couple of questions - first gloves..I’m looking to get him some for Christmas. Does anyone have any recommendations? I’m thinking it’ll be colder than the European resorts at this time of year so keen to get some that’ll keep him toasty.

Are the 3 resorts relatively easy to access from Banff…as in public transport or ski transport?

Finally, any suggestions for other adventurous activities he might like to try in the area in January?

Thanks again Eh oh!

A snowHead

@skiseekers, What has your son done in terms of lift passes? Has he already purchased them? Reason for asking is there's many options around this and ways of possibly saving money.

In terms of transport to the ski areas, here's a link:

https://www.skibig3.com/ski-shuttle/

Looks as though the bus is free, I had the impression it used to cost, but not sure as i've not used it.

This page has a list of some activities outside of skiing:

https://www.skibig3.com/activities/

Haven't done any of the activities except skiing so can't give any more comment on them.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

That’s great, thanks for the help..

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Went to Banff around 10 years ago and it is amazing. Great bars and restaurants too.

The three ski areas are easy to get to by using the resort buses that run from downtown Banff via/back from the posh Fairmont hotel. Either way there are a few stops and buses are frequent and comfortable (think coaches with skis underneath rather than ski buses like Europe). Lake Louise and Sunshine are amazing and worth the longer bus ride. Norquay is ten minutes away. We didn't pay for buses as it was included on the lift pass in much the same way as European ski resorts.

We went mid January and stepped off the bus in Lake Louise with the gauge reading -23 celsius. It did seem to warm up very quickly but my wife bought some glove liners from the shop at the base of the Lake Louise resort which were "lifesavers." I'd recommend getting some warm gloves and some liners - heard that the latest Hestra Army ones are very warm and also come with liners included.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

The buses from Banff to the resorts are sufficient for most people and were free with a lift pass (assuming that's still the case).

I've skied in Canada in the -20s and then secret to warm hands is layers on the torso. As soon as your torso gets cold the blood supply to the hands decreases and they get cold. So lots of layers on the body + glove liners and most gloves should be ok. You can even add some hand warmers -https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hands-Instant-Hand-Warmers-Pairs/dp/B000YF3DUA?tag=amz07b-21

If you do want some really warm gloves though you can do worse than the black diamond mercury mitts.

There are loads of non-ski activities to do around Banff, really depends what they are interested in plenty of info online, probably all covered on the official Banff tourism pages.

You'll need to Register first of course.

As above buses are frequent and very efficiently run.

Yes it's cold, but oddly didn't feel too much different to me, as above keep the body warm and the hands will follow. I used my standard level fly snowboard gloves. I did get a bit cold one day but a couple of those 'tea bag' warmers in the pockets on the back of the hands and toastee again.

There was an outfit in one of the malls in town called Banff Adventures (or something similar) who could organise all sorts oif trips, dog sledding, horse riding, snowmobiling, snow shoeing, ice canyon walk etc. My wife used them and they seemed great.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

It can be beyond Baltic in January. In fact I was there one day when they actually had the ski hills closed because it was dangerously cold and it was advisable to run between shops etc on ths high street. Good quality mitts with an inner glove would be my recommendation ( I'm a fan of Kinco 901s) plus a proper neoprene facemask.

After all it is free

What they said. I usually have something to read if I'm using the buses, or they're good to catch up on sleep. If it's cold then regular visits to the lodge between runs may help. Bathroom hot air blowers are the quickest way to get some heat. Some of the lifts have heating. Don't expect to have exposed skin, but you can buy various accessories for that there easier than here. Mitts are warmer than gloves in general. You can buy "tea bags" (single use chemical heater packs) at the hills if you have issues. Don't expect to be comfortable wandering around the streets in jeans or without a hat in the evenings. Other adventurous activities? Not sure specifically in Banff (because I've not been paid to sample them) but expect snowshoeing, x-country skiing, sled rides, dog-sled rides, tubing, skating, [motorised] sledding, hot tubs. If you're not staying at the Banff Springs it's worth a nosy into. The nearest helicopters are probably in Golden which is accessible for a day if you have transport, maybe people arrange trips.

I didn't go when I was there, but kind of wished i'd visited a hot spring. So might be worth trying to check one of those out.

Also, the lake at Lake Louise is worth a visit, after a days skiing perhaps, and a little look around the hotel. They had a load of ice sculptures on the lake when I was there.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

It can be cold in January. Mittens are much better than gloves. Even so, I still struggle to keep my thumbs warm, so need mitts I can slide my thumb out to be kept warm by my palm on the chair lifts.
The ice sculptures are a specific festival, not sure of the dates.

Suggest snow shoeing as an activity, maybe cross country skiing

Help!!

Canada newbie

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