Thanksgiving (American - week of November 25) in Banff?

[SnowSeeker]

Hi Divas - Our family had planned to go to Kilington for Thanksgiving to catch some skiing before the women’s World Cup begins. But, then I found inexpensive flights to Calgary, which reminded me that Ikon is good at the Big3. Can any Canadian divas comment on the likelihood of skiing Lake Louise (or any open Big3) the week of November 25? Is it worth the trip vs driving a few hours to VT? The Men’s World Cup is at LL the following weekend so we would at least have that to do if all else fails. I spent part of my honeymoon in Banff 20 years ago and we haven’t been back, so my knowledge is dated! Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

 

[ski diva]

Killington is pretty crazy around World Cup time. I live fairly nearby, and I can tell you that I, personally, would not want to ski there then. If you have a deal for Lake Louise, I'd go for it.

 

[nopoleskier]

Banff is AWESOME. They've been getting snow, I went last March was brutally cold. I can't wait to go back.

We stayed in a VRBO in Canmore it included a park pass to get into the parks- you will get a ticket in the parking lot of ski areas w/out a pass! Some resorts in Banff do have bus service to the Mts.
Check out Norquay we thought it was great. skied about 15K in 2hrs!, we skied Sunshine 2 days and 1 at LL-
Here's a site I've been using looks like they are opening Nov 8th!! https://www.skibig3.com/snow-conditions/ I'd go there instead of Kmart

 

[SnowSeeker]

Banff is AWESOME. They've been getting snow, I went last March was brutally cold. I can't wait to go back.

We stayed in a VRBO in Canmore it included a park pass to get into the parks- you will get a ticket in the parking lot of ski areas w/out a pass! Some resorts in Banff do have bus service to the Mts.
Check out Norquay we thought it was great. skied about 15K in 2hrs!, we skied Sunshine 2 days and 1 at LL-
Here's a site I've been using looks like they are opening Nov 8th!! https://www.skibig3.com/snow-conditions/ I'd go there instead of KmartView attachment 11375

 

[SnowSeeker]

Thanks to all of you for the guidance. We are booked for Banff! I’ll take a look at the link. Think snow (I was very happy to see snow on the VT webcams yesterday....)

 

[Jilly]

2 weeks ago today, looking to the top of Lake Louise....

 

[SnowSeeker]

2 weeks ago today, looking to the top of Lake Louise....View attachment 11377

Hopefully it will be all white soon!

 

[Jilly]

Big 3 has a facebook page....

 

[Christy]

Thanksgiving is a crapshoot anywhere. It's still fall after all, not winter yet. If you go in with the mindset that you are happy to get some early season turns on a few runs with manmade snow, you'll be fine (and happily surprised if there is real snow and more open). Have some plan Bs (sounds like you do, if you'll be there for World Cup--very fun!) and treat it more like a vacation where hopefully you can do some skiing. We used to go to Whistler every Thanksgiving (Whistler is one of the best bets for early season) and had everything from genuinely snowy conditions where we could ski all the way to the bottom (rather than downloading) to truly abysmal conditions, with just a few runs open that were either ice or slush from rain.