posted 01-08-2004 10:41               

However, I see the Atomic 9.18 are 106/64/96. I think that qualifies as a mid-fat, or at least pretty close to it. You could always wing it - if it really dumps out there and you find that the phun factor isn't doing it for you on the 9.18s, then you run to a ski shop and rent something fatter.

Powder is a completely different feel by the way - hope you get some.

posted 01-08-2004 20:44               

A good starting place for information is SkiBig3.com. It has info about the 3 ski areas (Norquay, Sunshine Village, Lake Louise) and the towns. Norquay is small(~30 runs) and just outside Banff. It does/did have night skiing. The other resorts have ~100 runs each. Lake Louise has some very good bowl skiing. What's nice is that you can buy ski passes that allow you to ski all 3 resorts on the same pass. You can ski one place in the morning and another in the afternoon. Additionally, the slopes during the week tend to be rather empty. This is because of the limited number of hotel rooms available inside the park. On the weekend, there are lots of day-trippers, but during the week, it's very quiet.

You might also want to check the message boards on Fodors.com. In general, I think that the forums there are the best on the web for destination specific information.

It's been a while since I've been there, so I hesitate to recommend any restaurants. As to car rentals, I usually use which is the least expensive for the model that I need (excluding Alamo and National). The driving is pretty easy to/between the ski areas. One thing that I would recommend is stopping by both of the Fairmont properties (Banff Springs Hotel and Chateau Lake Louise). They are attractions in themselves and have excellent views of the surrounding areas.

Here's some other sites that might be of use:
10Best-Banff
10Best-Lake Louise
Taxi Mike's Dining Guide
Banff-Lake Louise Tourism Bureau
ChowHound
TripAdvisor-Banff
TripAdvisor-Lake Louise
Frommer's

posted 01-12-2004 14:26               

But I would also put in a plug for Pepper's, the cafe/lounge that's right in the Banff Rocky Mountain Resort - same level as the pool in the main lodge where you check in. Good food, decent prices. I see from our quick visit over New Year's that for some reason they swapped out their larger-screen TV for a smaller tube-style one, but I didn't get a chance to ask about that.

They used to have *awesome* pizza there, but they did switch chefs last year so I couldn't say for sure if it's still as good.

Remember, too, that you have nearly a full kitchen in your suite, so you could always make a short trip into town to the Safeway grocery store (or for a more local feel, try the Keller's Foods store further downtown, in behind) and pick up stuff to make your own meals if you really want to stretch your dollars. There's no oven, but there's a convection oven/microwave that works fairly well.

We were just at Giorgio's over New Year's as well, and it was "OK" - not as good as we had remembered, and we found a hair in one dish and a short string in a dessert (both taken off the bill in the end). A little disconcerting.

I would go to Balkan's Greek restaurant just for the flaming Saganaki (essentially pan-fried kefalotyri cheese) - a great appetizer.

I would say that there are more cheaper places to eat in Canmore than Banff, but it's definitely possible.

I can't help with the skiing questions, but feel free to ask away about other Banff-area questions. We own at Banff Rocky Mountain Resort (week #9), by the way, so we're pretty familiar with it.