Banff

As a Group of four we visited in 2005 and had a terrific time. Downside is the bus journey everyday and depending on where you stay on which bus you can get. Norquay is 10 min bus ride, sunshine 40 mins and Lake Louise 45 mins (all times are when roads clear!). When you get to Sunshine you have a long gondola upto the resort centre. Be careful if you are having lessons to get earliest bus possible or you could miss start of them!! We did the 3day course with a day spent in each resort which was fabulous!. I'd go back tomorrow if could (instead Serre Che in Jan and Killington in Feb).

Boardbiker is wrong on a few counts. Norquay is more like 15 (nb Not Nor-Key) Sunshine is about 20 plus a 15 minute gondi ride. The buses are incredibly good, the earliest one is often very early in the day.. you don't wanna be kicking about at 8 if your lessons don't kick off till 10.

My apologies for the timing on sunshine, however i stand by my comment about getting to the resort for your lessons. Two of our group did not get the earliest bus and by the time they did get there, they had missed their lesson. Depending on where you are staying depends on the bus having enough seats (although the buses are in contact by radio to get more as they fill up). We stayed at Inns of Banff the first pickup point and we passed several stops when we were full and couldnt pick up others. It just a warning from our experience - maybe your experiences will be different but it did mess up the two who missed their lessons.
If you do the ski school (i cant remember the name) which does day at each resort, DO the meal at the Fairmount Hotel - fantastic food and eat as much as you can!!! yum!

That would be either ClubSki or the snowboard equivalent. The first 2 busses to all 3 resorts get you there BEFORE 10 oclock giving plenty of time to get your boots on and get in a warm up run/some stretches the 3rd one cuts it fine for Sunshine but misses Lake Louise a whole lot. Spent quite a lot of my ski days over the past 10 years of my life getting these buses!

I can highly recommend ClubSki. It also gives you a great preview of the three resorts as each day is at a the three seperate resorts.

Sunshine is my favourite as the snow is always good. The runs are a little short except in the Goatseye area which is generaly more advanced.
It has very open 'ski where you like' terrain.

Lake louise is more extensive and has some good back bowls but it can get very icy on the front sid between dumps.

Norquay is basicaly a small local hill, having steep and fast terrain. It is very good after a major dump but this is rare compared to sunshine and Lake Louise. Otherwise it makes for a great morning of fast groomers.

Be sure to hire a car and check out the Bow valley parkway and the Icefields parkway. Num ti jah lodge on the icefields parkway is great for a stop along the way.

Make sure you pay a visit to Kickinghorse as well. It is a 1-2 hour scenic drive away (better now due to the improved highway) it has some great challenging terrain and a less commercial atmosphere.

Overall you will find that Canada in comparrison to Europe, has a more open approach to skiing with a set ski area boundary rather than pistes. They do mark trails (their version of pistes) but you do not generaly have to keep to them so long as you observe roped off areas and permanent closures.

Whilst from a practical and insurance perspective, off piste in Europe is classified as being anyware outside the piste markers (that's right, if you crash outside the markers you'r insurance company can get out of the deal by claiming that you did not take a guide). The analogy to this in Canada (and US) is backcountry or out of bounds skiing, which is anyware outside the ski area boundary.

Also Check out Melisa's for breakfast and the bar.

Have a blast!

steverandomno, outta interest who taught you at clubski?

We learned with Ryan in 2002/3. We took an intermediate course with another instructor who I can't remember. It is worth pointing out that the quality of the tuition, whilst in general is good, depends heavily on the instructor. I can highly recommend Ryan, especially if you are a beginner.

P.S. I've just remembered the other instructor (we had in 2004/5 i think) was Tom. Do you know them?