Most people file Banff under 'ski trip', but a week in Alberta's Rockies in early January makes a strong case for a broader winter itinerary — one that mixes snowshoeing, Nordic skiing, ice canyon walks and long soaks in thermal water, with a bit of downhill thrown in.
The writer behind this story stayed at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, a 539-room Renaissance Revival giant that traces its roots to a humble log chalet built by Canadian Pacific Railway executive William Cornelius Van Horne in the 1880s. Van Horne imported Swiss mountain guides to keep his guests safe, and those guides are partly credited with introducing Canadians to skiing. Traces of that heritage remain: staff in lederhosen-inspired uniforms, a fondue-heavy restaurant called Walliser Stube, and a lobby Guide's Cabin where guests book snowshoe hikes, curling lessons and skate rentals.
With a 61-inch snowbase plus a foot of fresh powder, a guided 'Powderfest' snowshoe outing left the groomed lakeshore and climbed into frosted forest on the shoulder of Fairview Mountain — three hours that doubled as a history lesson about how the lake got its name. (An Indigenous guide led a young wrangler to what the Stoney Nakoda called Ho-run-num-nay, Lake of the Little Fishes; he rebranded it Emerald Lake, and the government later renamed it for Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria.) Back at the hotel, the new guests-only Basin Glacial Waters bathhouse, designed by Italian architect Matteo Thun, pairs hot-stone rooms and an indoor-outdoor vitality pool with a theatrical Aufguss sauna ritual — towel-waving, scented snowballs and all — that only recently crossed over from European spas to North America.
Skiers still get their share. Lake Louise Ski Resort, part of the SkiBig3 trio alongside Banff Sunshine and Mount Norquay, is now Canada's third-largest ski area at 4,200 skiable acres thanks to the new Richardson's Ridge glades. A complimentary hotel shuttle gets you there in 10 minutes, and on-mountain lunch at Whitehorn Bistro — pickled beet carpaccio, crispy duck with black cherry jus — makes an early start doubly worthwhile. Cross-country options include the four-mile Bow River Loop with Bikescape, whose owner partners with a Kainaiwa Nation guide who weaves Indigenous storytelling and a smudge ceremony into the outing.
In the town of Banff itself, strict design rules mean even chain stores sit in stone-and-timber buildings, and recent openings include the 67-room boutique Kenrick Hotel with its thermal circuit spa and Italian restaurant The Fat Ox. The trip's standout finale: an Icewalk through Johnston Canyon with Discover Banff Tours, crampons strapped on before the bus tours arrive, to stand beneath frozen electric-blue waterfalls. As the guide put it, in summer you'd be elbowing phones out of the way for that view; in winter you get the Mona Lisa to yourself. Banff draws over 4.25 million visitors a year, and roughly two thirds come in summer — which is exactly why winter might be the smarter time to go.
Story credit: Condé Nast Traveler
