Doing a season in Banff

Good choice. It is a great place to be especially if you're 25 and single.

Fernie would be good too, but on a smaller scale. Golden (Kicking Horse) is a great place also, but with some big differences. It has some of the best terrain in Canada. It is a wonderful lively town with great people, but it is much smaller than Banff. Banff has many more people passing through, staying for a few weeks and moving on. If you like a bit of hustle and bustle then Banff is probably the best choice. If you want more of a small town feel then Golden is the best choice, it is also about 20-30% cheaper.

For Banff, you could also check out the hostels for accomodation. The Hostelling International hostel is good, but a bit farther out of town than the YWCA. You could also try contacting the Banff Centre and seeing if they have any spare accomodation (I'm guessing they have some spare as summer is their busiest time?) That might be a good alternative for some interesting work that isn't washing dishes or making beds.

On the subject of transport, Banff town council may be discussing the lifting of a cap on taxi licences. Keep an eye on those developments (i.e. think about setting yourself up as a taxi service to kill two birds with one stone).

Whatever you do. Don't feel guilty about having some fun - life is too short. There are plenty of people wanting to scrounge lifts to the hills if you are worried about bad Karma. :-)

Hey Ross,

What do you call getting there early and before the hoards? When do most people that are doing a season arrive?

Here in Oz people tend to arrive at the hill the night before. I don't know when they are trained though, we tend not to have much if any snow at opening though so maybe they do it then!

I figure you wouldn't want to get there more than a week before opening because there would be noone there to meet and rent a house with and most jobs would coincide with opening.

Trav

Hi Trav & Co!

Not to hijack your thread Trav, but I thought that I would jump in with a few questions, as I am planning to do the same as you and do a season in Banff, and you might be interested in answers as well.

Forums are always the best way to find out about stuff without too much bullshit so here is my pre-emptive thank you: Thank you :)

Ok, so basically I haven't been skiing for about 4 years (been in oz for 2.5yrs) and only a couple of times before that. I thought I would learn to snowboard this time!

Banff seems like a good mix of skiing and nightlife but without being too crazy like whistler might get, which is why its where I'm aiming to go.

1. I was over in New Zealand at the start of their season last year (not skiing, just travelling), and it seems everyone turned up mega early to get a job, which was an ultra hard task! Like Trav, I was wondering what is the approximate best time to arrive in order to secure a cashflow and is it hardcore?

2. Also, as I'm not experienced enough to get anything ski related, what is the best alternative jobs that I should be aiming for? I'm really trying to avoid a cleaning job if at all possible, but you know, beggars can't be choosers!

3. Is it possible to get jobs before arriving, ie: by phoning people, sending CV etc! - I know there are some companies who you pay like $500 to, and they sort this out for you.

4. Does anybody know of any good snowboard schools in Banff?

5. Is there a good community noticeboard for Banff, like gumtree or kijiji, that might offer job listings and people buying/selling things (I will need to buy everything from scratch, clothes,board,bindings etc) and accomodation.

6. Whats the best way to go about getting in on a sharehouse with some others, I couldnt stand to live in a dorm (2 years on the road in Oz is tiring)

Any answers are most appreciated - Quid pro quo, if you have any computer related questions I would be pleased to answer them (my field of expertise!)

Trav wrote:Hey Ross,

What do you call getting there early and before the hoards? When do most people that are doing a season arrive?

Here in Oz people tend to arrive at the hill the night before. I don't know when they are trained though, we tend not to have much if any snow at opening though so maybe they do it then!

I figure you wouldn't want to get there more than a week before opening because there would be noone there to meet and rent a house with and most jobs would coincide with opening.

Trav

I didn't notice you had replied. Most people arrive around October/November time, those arriving in December have a smaller chance of getting somewhere to stay. I would go much more than a week before opening (just to be sure, you want as much of an advantage over other people as possible).

Hey pablo escobar (if thats your real name),

when is the season normally scheduled to start in Banff? i know this season it was about the 15 of november but remember seeing that this could be as early as about the 5th (ie. the first weekend about a week in to Nov.)

what about revelstoke?

planning on booking a flight in the next couple of weeks as there are some really cheap ones at the moment, gonna try get in a full week before the planned opening but just don't know when that will be?

still don't know whether going to banff or revelstoke, thinking might do banff but go to revelstoke for a month in feb, might be a bit sketchy trying to get a cheap be for only one month in revelstoke in feb though

cheers

Trav

Hi All,

I'm jumping in on this forum. As I'm planning to travel to Lake Louise Banff, in November. Im pre arranging my job through OWH, I actually think they are great I will go over with a job and accomodation organised no stress, big plus.

Anyway I will be travelling solo and this will be my first time out of Australia for more than 3wks, its tad imtimidating.

Also, I have a question. Should I buy my gear here in Oz or there.?

Thanks,

Buy it there, no question. Don't worry about the solo thing, it's easy to meet people traveling. Most people are in the same boat. It's gonna be sweeet!

Hey biancah, I am doing a season in Lake Louise this coming season too. Wanna stay in Banff though as I have heard it's pretty dry for night life in Lake Louise itself.

How much are you paying for accomodation? I haven't got any sorted at the moment, trying to gauge how much it's going to be? I have heard around $500 a month?