# BANFF, when is the best time to go?



## anti-bling (Apr 21, 2010)

Mid-January to March. February gets pretty cold some years, but its gorgeous all winter. Might snow a bit closer to March.


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## roremc (Oct 25, 2009)

Early April without a doubt. I have been here two seasons and early April is always powdery gold! Having said that you will only get good powder at Sunshine and spring conditions (awesome) at Lake Louise. Kicking Horse will be closed. 
If you want powder Early April is guranteed! As said above Dec and Jan can be cold. Feb can go either way and March is usually pretty good! 

Where are you flying from? What sort of accom are you after? 

Hope that helps!


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## zeeden (Sep 29, 2008)

Hey guys,

We'll be flying from Toronto, gotta get out of the ice coast!

As for accomodations we're not looking for anything too fancy as long as they are close to the hills, if its on the resort even better. Would be better to stay outside of the resort and rent a car to get around?


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## chupacabraman (Jul 30, 2009)

I lived in Banff for 7 years (100-150 days per season)

DO NOT go between Mid-January and Early-March... you will be disappointed, there is always a dry spell then.
Best times for pow: November, early January, Late March -> Mid April
Sunshine Village gets lots of snow, consistently. Lake Louise gets only 1/3 of that snow, and is always icy. Kicking Horse is wicked (one of the best hills in Canada) and is a must hit.
Even though Banff is the first to open in early November, everyone knows it's all about the dry spring pow.

Base yourself out of Banff, use a car to get to the hills (sunshine 12 mins, louise 40 mins, kicking horse 1.5 hrs) You're going to have a blast in Banff! (you may never leave)


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## roremc (Oct 25, 2009)

chupacabraman said:


> I lived in Banff for 7 years (100-150 days per season)
> 
> DO NOT go between Mid-January and Early-March... you will be disappointed, there is always a dry spell then.
> Best times for pow: November, early January, Late March -> Mid April
> ...


How do you find living in Revelstoke as opposed to Banff? 

I was there a few weeks ago and it was amazing! I had only seen it in winter previously.


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## chupacabraman (Jul 30, 2009)

roremc said:


> How do you find living in Revelstoke as opposed to Banff?
> I was there a few weeks ago and it was amazing! I had only seen it in winter previously.


I love it here! Don't get me wrong some of the best years of my life (so far) were in Banff and I took full advantage of everything there is to do there. I like it better here though for a few reasons.... 
- i'm 27 now so i don't need a crazy party bar scene like banff anymore
- revelstoke is not in a national park like banff so you don't get all those restrictions
- it's closer to the okanagan and the summer is twice as long as banff
- winters are SH*TLOADS of snow and are never cold

The one thing that surprised me though is how expensive it is. Coming from Banff I figured "it can't be as expensive"... well it is. Rent is cheaper (in the summer) but relatively the same in the winter... it's just a lot easier to find a place to live in Revy as opposed to Banff. The following things cost more in Revy than Banff: food, beer, utilities


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## RaID (Aug 27, 2009)

chupacabraman said:


> The following things cost more in Revy than Banff: food, beer, utilities


But thats mostly due to the different taxes between Alberta and BC right?


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## chupacabraman (Jul 30, 2009)

RaID said:


> But thats mostly due to the different taxes between Alberta and BC right?


Yeah most likely. 5% AB vs 12% BC. Revy is just isolated, so they jack everything up in price (you can still get cheap groceries in bigger town in BC such as Vernon). Beer is crazy in BC though... $30 + tax + deposit for a 15 pack.


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## lisevolution (Sep 20, 2007)

chupacabraman said:


> Yeah most likely. 5% AB vs 12% BC. Revy is just isolated, so they jack everything up in price (you can still get cheap groceries in bigger town in BC such as Vernon). Beer is crazy in BC though... $30 + tax + deposit for a 15 pack.


You know your thought of how expensive things are is warped when this seems cheap! Gotta love NY...


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## roremc (Oct 25, 2009)

Shit that is expensive. Whats the work situation? I'm not talking shitty lifty work more getting a position with career prospects etc etc.


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## chupacabraman (Jul 30, 2009)

roremc said:


> Shit that is expensive. Whats the work situation? I'm not talking shitty lifty work more getting a position with career prospects etc etc.


In Banff or Revy? Banff has lots of work always. Revelstoke is pretty dead, and it's usually hard to get a job (even a shitty one). Right now (summertime) is your best bet... to get an idea of some stuff available take a look at the current job postings: View job postings or post a job at the Revelstoke Employment Services Centre (probably more currently posted here than i've seen anytime in the past 2 years)


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2010)

chupacabraman said:


> I love it here! Don't get me wrong some of the best years of my life (so far) were in Banff and I took full advantage of everything there is to do there. I like it better here though for a few reasons....
> - i'm 27 now so i don't need a crazy party bar scene like banff anymore
> - revelstoke is not in a national park like banff so you don't get all those restrictions
> - it's closer to the okanagan and the summer is twice as long as banff
> ...




Dude, what do you do for work ? Do you just work seasonal jobs and try and make everything work every year ? 


Im going threw a quarter life crisis ( just turned 24 and have no idea what to do for a career), was laid off last year and working a shitty job now  Been thinking about moving to whistler or Banff for this season.


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## PaoloSmythe (Aug 19, 2007)

January 15th


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## chupacabraman (Jul 30, 2009)

Nevergymless said:


> Dude, what do you do for work ? Do you just work seasonal jobs and try and make everything work every year ?
> Im going threw a quarter life crisis ( just turned 24 and have no idea what to do for a career), was laid off last year and working a shitty job now  Been thinking about moving to whistler or Banff for this season.


Yeah pretty much just different jobs here and there. In the summer it's basically "what can I get that pays me the most" and in the winter it's basically "I'll take ANYTHING as long as it's an evening shift"

Yeah go for a snowboard season, sounds like you could use a year like that. Trust me on this one, spending a season in Banff or Whistler will be one of the best times of your life!:thumbsup:
You can always get back to school/career the next year (although it's easy to keep saying that, lol)


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## roremc (Oct 25, 2009)

chupacabraman said:


> Yeah pretty much just different jobs here and there. In the summer it's basically "what can I get that pays me the most" and in the winter it's basically "I'll take ANYTHING as long as it's an evening shift"
> 
> Yeah go for a snowboard season, sounds like you could use a year like that. Trust me on this one, spending a season in Banff or Whistler will be one of the best times of your life!:thumbsup:
> You can always get back to school/career the next year (although it's easy to keep saying that, lol)


The man speaks the truth!


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## Guest (Aug 1, 2010)

Yeh, have to agree with "chupacabraman"
Avoid end of Jan - March, the season just gone we went without fresh snow for 6 weeks! The beginning of Jan is good, otherwise the beginning of April is the best!
Nov & Dec are good but not all of the runs in the big 3 are open in Nov and the temp in Dec isnt too fun

But anytime you visit Banff you are going to have a great time!


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## Guest (Aug 3, 2010)

chupacabraman said:


> Yeah pretty much just different jobs here and there. In the summer it's basically "what can I get that pays me the most" and in the winter it's basically "I'll take ANYTHING as long as it's an evening shift"
> 
> Yeah go for a snowboard season, sounds like you could use a year like that. Trust me on this one, spending a season in Banff or Whistler will be one of the best times of your life!:thumbsup:
> You can always get back to school/career the next year (although it's easy to keep saying that, lol)




Do you have the 411 on living in Lake Louise and working for the fairmount ? Got a email back from them , but I'm not feeling all the rules on this page , Living and Working in Lake Louise . Sounds like its going to be a nazi run camp , when you get there :dunno: 



If anyone needs work in Revy, Sandman is hiring , starting at $13 a hour. Got a email from them too.


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## Guest (Aug 3, 2010)

I really advise not living in lake louise!
There really is nothing to it... 2 or 3 hotels, a mall and the ski area. Its so secluded from life!
The Fairmont hotels are brilliant to work for but go for the Banff Fairmont not the Lake Louise one! I have loads of friends that worked there, they have great staff accom and it although ive never worked there, ive visited friends and they enjoyed it.
I think that website is a bit O.T.T. but its like most places in terms of appearance and regulations, etc.
I think they are just warning you that you cant really buy anything at lake louise other than food and a ski pass! So you need to get it in Banff or Calgary


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## roremc (Oct 25, 2009)

SnoKal said:


> I really advise not living in lake louise!
> There really is nothing to it... 2 or 3 hotels, a mall and the ski area. Its so secluded from life!
> The Fairmont hotels are brilliant to work for but go for the Banff Fairmont not the Lake Louise one! I have loads of friends that worked there, they have great staff accom and it although ive never worked there, ive visited friends and they enjoyed it.
> I think that website is a bit O.T.T. but its like most places in terms of appearance and regulations, etc.
> I think they are just warning you that you cant really buy anything at lake louise other than food and a ski pass! So you need to get it in Banff or Calgary


Very true. If you have a car though the lake would be ok. You would only be 45 mins from Kicking horse which is never a bad thing.


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## chupacabraman (Jul 30, 2009)

Yeah what they said. Isolation central. Even living on-hill at Sunshine Village is better than Louise. Louise has some of the best steeps in Canada, on par with KH, Revy, Whistler... too bad you can't ride them because they don't get enough snow and the avy risk is usually too high.
Live in Banff, trust me.


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## shredder07 (Oct 18, 2008)

Nevergymless said:


> Dude, what do you do for work ? Do you just work seasonal jobs and try and make everything work every year ?
> 
> 
> Im going threw a quarter life crisis ( just turned 24 and have no idea what to do for a career), was laid off last year and working a shitty job now  Been thinking about moving to whistler or Banff for this season.


i felt exactly the same as you and did a season in banff. you will enjoy it. parties are wild, scenery is nice, winter is long and you have access to pretty much all of the best mountains in western alberta and the bc interior. busses come in and out of banff all the time so transportation isn't really an issue. had a good time, snowboarded and partied more than i ever have in my life, however, i still don't know what i want to do and now i'm in vancouver waiting for winter to come


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## Guest (Aug 9, 2010)

Hey all,

Im going over to banff for my first season with 4 other guys. We arrive in late November and are there till late april. We are all going to try and find work over there, and Ive just started sending off resumes to some places.

One of the resorts only hires staff through the Working holiday programs, so we've given them a miss. Mt Norquay are do it seperately so has any one ever worked there and how was it? 

We want to stay together and we are all keen to board and love to party.. Would you recomend trying to get on a mountain for work or working in banff. We wouldnt say no to staff accomodation either..

Just any general advice would be really appreciated!
Thanks Guys/Girls


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## Guest (Aug 9, 2010)

abe_frauman said:


> Hey all,
> 
> Im going over to banff for my first season with 4 other guys. We arrive in late November and are there till late april. We are all going to try and find work over there, and Ive just started sending off resumes to some places.
> 
> ...




Check out Job Bank - Search . look at Alberta then search Banff for jobs.


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## roremc (Oct 25, 2009)

You can try the ski hills when they get here. They often have a bit of work in November.

You could check out Brewster in Banff. They run the gondola in town and are always looking for people. Pay is not great but the work is easy. 

A mate worked at Norquay last season. He seemed to like it. From memory though if you work there the pass won't include a pass to Sunshine.


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## zeeden (Sep 29, 2008)

I booked my trip to Banff for late March, will be there 6 days. We will probably board 4 days and relax for two days. 

Can I get some ideas for some sight seeing during that time? 

Also, we will for sure be checking out sunshine, louise and kicking horse. Any other mountains you guys suggest? How's Mt. Norquay?


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## JoeR (Oct 30, 2010)

zeeden said:


> I booked my trip to Banff for late March, will be there 6 days. We will probably board 4 days and relax for two days.
> 
> Can I get some ideas for some sight seeing during that time?


Well, you'll be in Banff National Park already, so sightseeing will be inevitable.  It's beautiful everywhere you look. Banff itself is a nice little town in which to walk around -- lots of interesting shops and I think a couple small museums. There's also a gondola you can take to the top of a nearby mountain for great views.

I also suggest visiting Lake Louise itself -- the lake, not the ski resort. The lake is behind the Chateau Lake Louise hotel, which is just a few minutes from the ski resort. The lake should still be frozen during your visit, so if you park at the Chateau, you can go for a walk on the lake. It's spectacular.

A popular side trip is a visit to the glacier at Jasper National Park, which is north of Banff, but that takes more time.


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