clubbinclaire

Hi, im new to theforum and have just decided to book a holiday to banff to learn to snowboard .
I'd be grateful for any advice, resort info etc..
Claire.

Snowjoe

Well if you go to Lake Louise then you can have lessons off me But if its your first time ever then I'd probably recommend Mt Norquay out of the three resorts as its the cheapest one for lift tickets and lessons, as your not gonna be using the whole hill like you would be at Lake Louise or Sunshine.

Lake Louise is 60km away from Banff so you gotta have an early morning. Sunshine is about 26km if I remember correctly, not bad for travel, great resort but if its your first time you won't make use of it.

So yeah I would recommend Norquay, it;ll be cheaper to learn and I would imagine not as busy.

clubbinclaire

ahh thats great. We plan to get some lessons in here before we go at a simulated snow place in the uk.
Cant wait its going to be really wicked as ive never visited Canada before.
Whats the nightlife like?

Snowjoe

Thats what I did, learnt at Tamworth snowdome before I went for the first time, really helpful. In fact if your coming from england I'd recommend visiting either Sunshine or Lake Louise once just to experience someo f the great scenery. What time of year are you going? Because if its later I know a few good spots for a relaxing walk with awesome scenery too!

Nightlife is pretty good, usually busy plenty of people about. Clubs theres either Auroras or Hoodoo. They aren't on the scale of clubs in england but they serve a purpose. Theres mel's bar which sell cheap drinks Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Pump + Tap is a sterotypical "English Bar". Cheap hi-balls and can sometimes catch decent sport on in there. Elk + Oarsmans a nice place on steak sandwich night! Cheap steak sandwich and able to watch the hockey over dinner. Sweet.

clubbinclaire

coming mid jan. Ive got a cousin who emigrated to canada a couple of years ago so may try and rope her into being a bit of a tour guide as she lives in calgary but cant board for shit (apparently). Should i sort the passes before we arrive?

Snowjoe

Nah you can grab the pass just at the bottom of the hill, or at the skihub on Banff Avenue in banff easy enough. They don't take your photo on day or week passes so its just a print out. Ah forget what I said about the walks, it'll just be white lol. But you should have decent snow at least.

Getting your friend in is a good shout, but Banff really isn't big, you'll know it after a day or two.

clubbinclaire

ahh thanks for your help...probably be on here again real soon. t.c.

Slaughterhouse

The pitch might be too steep for Norquay if you are just learning though. Just coming off the lift to the green run put my wife off ever returning to Norquay. All the slopes at Norquay have a sinister pitch that has a tendancy to put off a lot of people. The reason I am not too keen on it is if the conditions are there, the powder on the slope slides off the ice created by cold conditions (Norquay will operate even below -32 degrees Celsius). For a snowboarder this can get really annoying because if you try and carve your board will lose it's edge and slide you down the slope (thanks to the steep pitch) a good five or 6 feet. Good training for handling adverse conditions but maybe too much for a beginner.

Sunshine Village has some nice runs that aren't too intimidating (the Rockies are definatley not your dry slope runs, lol). See if your friend can find any of the Student Union books they generally sell to office workers for fundraising. There are a lot of discounted and 2 for 1 lift passes to all the resorts like Norquay, Lake Louise and Sunshine Village. There are a few gems kicking around like Castle Mountain, Nakiska, etc that don't get as congested as the Big Three.

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clubbinclaire

ahh thats a great help..as long as i dont go breaking anything.