In this day and age, certain regions have been more susceptible to climate change than ever before. Seasons without snow in the Northeast and Southwest have left bitter tastes in the mouths of cold weather people and there’s never been a better time to ski climate resilient locales like the Canadian Rockies with your Ikon Pass.
If you miss winter, Banff sports cold weather like Phoenix does toasty temps. From the months of November-March, the town of Banff sports an average high temp of 30°F (average low is 12°F) and gets somewhere in the 170″ range.
Also Read: Five Reasons Why Banff National Park is Canada’s Best Backcountry Ski Destination
During my first visit this past season, I met a skier from New Mexico who decided that he and his wife are coming up here to do their skiing from now on because the winter temps are so predictable. Although the fondue and hot springs are what brought them here first, he admitted.
Although Lake Louise might only see 180″ each year (294″ in 2017), the cold temps keep the skiing buffed with the occasional deep day.
Just up the road at Sunshine Village, the average annual snowfall is one of the highest in all of Canada for a ski area with 360″ of extremely light, Canadian Rockies powder falling each year. When those big storms do roll through, they’re often followed by extremely cold temps, allowing for good snow to stick around as long as the weather cooperates.
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Average Annual Snowfalls:
*snowfall totals from last year
- Sunshine Village — 360″ (*297)
- Lake Louise — 180″ (294″)
- Mt Norquay — 170″ (*113″)
So don’t be fooled and think Sunshine Village is the only ski area with good snow and better yet– good skiing. Lake Louise wasn’t a Top 3 Finalist for World’s Best Ski Resort for nothing… Just make sure to bundle up, bring that extra buff and a thicker pair of ski gloves.