Years ago, during an early morning walk in downtown Banff you could count on meeting “George,” an eight-point elk, nibbling on the shrubs in someone’s front yard on one street and a doe with her fawns on the next. They’d study you for a minute, then go back about their own business.
Today, there’s a Hard Rock Cafe downtown, a Louis Vuitton shop and a luxurious spa at the Banff Springs Hotel with pools where you sit under a mineral salt waterfall. But the elk and deer are still there too, wandering betwixt tourists at times, in this successful resort town.
In Canada’s Banff and Jasper National Parks, humans are the intruders. And great care has been taken to keep the natives at home, even as this region becomes an increasingly popular winter resort. You’ll see them everywhere. As you drive through the parks, herds of deer, elk and caribou are dwarfed yet framed by the rugged mountains. Moose forage alongside streams. Coyotes and wolves slink across the roads behind your car as your drive through the park to the town of Banff, the most popular gathering spot for winter vacationers.
Downtown Banff isn’t very big, but it’s a lively place. Set in buildings mostly two or three stories high, so you have a full view of the peaks, you’ll find Polo and Bata Shoes, Preston’s Mounty Memorabilia shop, regional arts and crafts, and Inuit sculptures. Banff is on the Hard Rock map, but you’ll also see The St. James Irish pub. Coyotes is a morphing of a Southern cafe with indigenous foods into a Canadian/alpine Tex Mex, as one local describes it. Evelyn’s coffee bar is a locals’ favorite, but there’s lots of finer dining too at Giorgio’s and Le Beaujolais.
The recent renovation of the historic Banff Upper Hot Springs Pool makes this a popular apres-winter sports stop. After a soak in this outdoor, Mother Earth-heated mineral water pool, try a Roman Wrap or a massage and you’ll need a nap before dinner.
Lodging is as diverse as the 800-plus room Banff Springs Hotel overlooking the Bow River and the new Brewsters Lodge in town. Reminiscent of life in the Great Gatsby era, with a twist of the Gothic, the ambience is unique in the Banff Springs Hotel, so large it has its own bowling alley. The rough-log trimmed Brewster Lodge is filled with handcrafted log furnishings, and photos in each room tell the tale of regional pioneers.
These days, skiers have a half-dozen ski areas to choose from in this region. The most well-known, to Americans, are Lake Louise and Sunshine Village. But there are several other choices. Banff Mt. Norquay, a smaller area perched on a mountainside at the edge of town, has long been a favorite with local families. It’s a good choice if you want to ski a half day and explore the town the rest. With a new, attractive base lodge and the purchase of the 52-room Timberline Hotel, this ski area is looking to attract vacationers. Nakiska, which hosted the alpine events when the Winter Olympic Games were in Calgary a few years ago, is a mid-size area located on the route to and from the park. Fortress Mountain, up into the mountains beyond Nakiska, is one of those classic ski areas frequented by the regional crowd and a laid-back alternative to the bigger resorts.
Along the road between Banff and Lake Louise, you’ll find a gondola base station. Hitch a ride uphill about 3 miles, and you’re at Sunshine Village, a ski area where runs start right on the Continental Divide. A lot of the slopes are wide-open, treeless terrain, but Goat’s Eye has a tangle of double-black diamond runs and glades. Your luggage will be brought up in a gondola, if you’d like to spend the night in the slopeside Sunshinen Inn.
Lake Louise is vast–about 4,000 skiable acres–and has an exciting mix of terrain descending 3,257 feet. Here, you’ll find lots of trails and slopes without that “polished” look one has come to expect in the States. It makes for more interesting skiing.
After a snowfall, the Ptarmigan Glades delivers 1,300 vertical feet of powder stashes among the trees. From the top of the slopes, you can see the elegant Chateau Lake Louise trimming a gemlike lake that is nestled in the mountains. The luxurious Post Hotel offers a more intimate type of lodging.
If you want to get away from civilization in the winter, cross-country ski to one of the popular backcountry lodges. If you’re in pretty good shape, you could head up High Tea, but if the 7 to 11 miles each way (depending upon which lodge you’re heading to) sounds like a lot of skiing, plan on spending a night or two. You meander up a valley to get to Banff’s Sundance Lodge, glide on track-set trails up to Shadow Lake Lodge or ski to the historic Skoki Lodge near the Lake Louise ski area. All offer overnight accommodations and meals, from about $65 and up, per person, double occupancy.
A drive on the Icefields Parkway, a 142-mile asphalt ribbon (that may be closed, temporarily in inclement weather) paralleling the Continental Divide up to Jasper, is a more sedentary way to escape civilization. You’ll pass the audibly creaking mountains of ice called Columbia and Athabasca glaciers that are 1,000 feet thick in spots. The occasional caribou or moose crossing the highway puts the immense scale of the scenery into perspective.
In Jasper townsite (as locals call the town to differentiate it from the park, since both are named Jasper), you might have to jockey between elk to park your car. There’s not a whole lot here: some restaurants, shops, motels, hotels and, down the road, the luxurious Jasper Park Lodge.
Edmontonians consider nearby Marmot Basin “their” area, and they arrive in droves most weekends. Conversely, the crowd can be light weekdays. It’s a friendly place, with a spiffed-up lodge this year and a lively apres-ski/snowboard crowd.
What you get at Marmot Basin is a rumpled collection of peaks, planes and ridges. The mountain face rising above the base lodge opens up black and green runs, and higher up there are some open faces above the timberline. Adventurous skiers can head off the backside for an ungroomed run and a skate-and-hike out. The tangle of natural lines on Eagle’s Peak are worth the trip, if you’re willing to hike up there on a powder day.
Canyon crawling is a “must do” if you’re in Jasper. You strap crampons onto your snow boots for a walk alongside–and inside–a 165-foot limestone chasm that was gouged into the earth eons ago by a powerful river.
You could easily spend a week at Banff, at Lake Louise or in Jasper, but many skiers package a vacation to include stops at all three. Fly into Calgary, work your way to Jasper, via the scenic Icefields Parkway, then fly home out of Edmonton with a visit to West Edmonton Mall, which has more than 800 stores, 110 eating places, a casino and an indoor amusement park. Spend the night before returning home in a themed room at the adjacent Fantasyland Hotel.
