Non Region Specific Milestone Birthday Trip Advice

[PlainsSkier]

Banff is a great town, it is a lot like Bend where you have to drive/shuttle to the mountains since there is very limited ski in/out. If that isn't a problem then it would be worth looking into. Could also do a day trip to Kicking Horse which the intense skiers would love, there isn't a more challenging mountain in NA.

 

[raytseng]

Is there no personal preference to any of this? It is your birthday. Or are you compromising to be more inclusive?
Pick where you want to go that you otherwise wouldn't be able to have such an event.

 

[JoeSchmoe]

A couple of things, and happy to be corrected as I haven't been there...

1) My info is just from reading on here, and I have the impression that there isn't a town so to speak, so not much other than the resorts. Maybe I've gotten the wrong impression.
2) And I'm not sure what "other things" you're considering, but I wasn't very specific unfortunately; I really did mean a town with non-winter/non-outdoor activities. Like a Park City, or Bend, OR, or Telluride, etc. Does Banff have that?

Banff is the town. The actual village / pedestrian area within the town is probably as big if not bigger than the Park City Main Street area. It's been a while since I've been to Park City though. The ski resorts are driving distance away, but I would do these drives just for the scenery alone.

Some things you can do (among many others) just based on what I did there a couple years ago...

-Skate on Lake Louise and/or hit the ice bar for drinks.
-Take a walk/hike into Johnston Canyon.
-Go to the Hot Springs.
-Tour the Banff Springs hotel and the Chateau Lake Louise.
-Spot wildlife

The first pic below isn't mine... The rest are.

 

[crosscountry]

What about this January?

Virtually every resort in north America has had an abysmal season so far this year and it's not going to get any better.

And if it's going to be a special trip, may as well go big and get out of the US.

But the risk of abysmal snow condition is much higher in Europe than in the US.

Better plan a beach vacation instead.

 

[crosscountry]

This is a strange comment, considering it is an El Nino year which won't be the case next year and even then a number of major resorts across Utah and Colorado are doing just fine. Far from abysmal.

Yep!

A classic case of focusing on one anecdotal case and missing out the overall pattern.