Lake Louise Torchlight Dinner & Ski

Start with après refreshments and live music mid-mountain, followed by first tracks on a freshly groomed run, and then finish off with dinner and entertainment in the Sitzmark Lounge. Book in advance.
4:00 PM | Lake Louise Ski Area | $65 | Lake Louise Torchlight Dinner & Ski Details

NYE 2011
Bubbles flowing, campfire roaring, taste buds exploding: it must be NYE at The Bison!
5PM ($85) & 6:30PM ($125) Seatings | Bison Restaurant & Terrace, 211 Bear St.

New Years Eve 2011 with Cronic
Dinner buffet with live entertainment, two seatings.
6:30 PM | St. James Gate Olde Irish Pub | $75

New Year’s Gala
Enjoy a four course meal while Barry Shaw and The Fairmont Banff Springs Orchestra play in the back- ground.
7:00 PM | Fairmont Banff Springs, Van Horne Ballroom | $295

Torchlight Parade
Join us to ring in the New Year with our Torchlight Parade down North American Chair, which can be seen from the town of Banff.
7:00 PM | Banff Mt. Norquay

The Rocky Mountain New Year’s Eve Experience
Live DJ, all party favours and champagne included.
8:00 PM | Dancing Sasquatch | $99

Masquerade Ball
Banff’s best party with DJ Strength
9:00 PM | HooDoo Lounge | $69.99

Banff New Year’s Party, Greek Style
Enjoy a fantastic 3 course Greek feast, Banff’s only live dinner show (belly dancing, Greek dancing & plate smashing), party favours and a glass of champagne to ring in the New Year! Reservations required.
9:30 PM | Balkan Restaurant, 120 Banff Ave. | $75

Masquerade Ball New Year’s Party
Featuring the music stylings of Project Mayhem, enjoy the ball with or without dinner.
10 PM | Rose & Crown | $110 Dinner & Ball, $60 Ball

Banff’s Biggest & Best New Year’s Party
Amazing light show, 3 drinks and delicious appetizer.
10:00 PM | Aurora Night Club | $99

Matt Beatty and the Second String Cowboys
Enjoy live country music, balloon drop, champagne toast, party favours and a late night appetizer buffet.
10:00 PM | Wild Bill’s Legendary Saloon | $40

ONGOING EVENTS

Christmas Social Printings & Drawings
With works by John Snow, Margaret Shelton, George Weber, D. Helen Mackie, Dwayne Harty, Peter von Tiesen- hausen, Jean Sheppard, James Agrell Smith, Harry Wohlfarth, Illingworth Kerr, Kenojuak Ashevak, Chris Stoffel Overvoorde, Kananginak Pootoogook, Tom Willock, Napachie Pootoogook, John Topelko and others.
December 1—30 | Open daily 10 AM—6 PM | Willock & Sax Gallery, 211 Bear St.

Christmas at the Castle
Join the parade of Christmas characters as they wind their way through the grand hallways of the hotel, led by San- ta. The majestic mountains beckon all to experience a Christmas holiday filled with laughter and lasting memories. Throughout the holiday season we blend new and old world traditions together with activities designed to intrigue, spoil and inspire you.
December 19—January 2 | The Fairmont Banff Springs | Reservations – 1-866-540-4406

Current exhibits at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, 111 Bear Street Bow Valley Fibrearts
Whether revealed through fabric, yarn or other materials, the artistic ambitions of the Bow Valley are explored in this exhibition. A selection of quilting, knitted soft sculpture and painting on silk are just some of the examples fea- tured in this informal survey.

Small Treasures Art Show & Sale
Good things come in small packages! A favourite tradition of locals and visitors, the Museum hosts its annual holi- day season Art Show and Sale. Choose from individual works of art or handcrafted artisan-made gift items.

Women of Fibre & Bow Valley Fibrearts
Whether revealed through fabric, yarn or other materials, the artistic ambitions of the Bow Valley are explored in this exhibition. A selection of quilting, knitted soft sculpture and painting on silk are just some of the examples fea- tured in this informal survey.

UPCOMING EVENTS

SnowDays | January 14—February 12, 2012
New events such as the Mountain Adventure Weekend and “Take it to the Street” hockey tournament on Banff Ave, combined with the ever popular Ice Magic Festival, now two weekends of fun, will add to the excitement of the season. Throw in a new outdoor skating rink decked out with lights, festive atmosphere and new programming by Parks Canada and Banff Heritage Tourism, we’ll all have something to celebrate and share. Full details coming soon…

Watermedia in the Rockies | January 21 through March 20, 2012 | Whyte Museum Watermedia has been a traditional medium for artists in the Rocky Mountains. Keeping with tradition this show will feature the work of watermedia artists who have portrayed their love and respect for the Rocky Mountains and areas nearby.

Free Tea Tasting
Enjoy this educational and entertaining weekly event.
6:30—8:30 PM | Banff Tea Co, 208 Caribou St.

Grant Slavin Boxing Day Special
10:00 PM | Rose & Crown

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

Banff Gondola Skating Rink
Enjoy free skate rentals, cookies and hot chocolate while skating with the Brewster Bear.
10 AM—4 PM | Banff Sulphur Mtn. Gondola

Santa Family Photo Days
Get your photo taken with Santa and his elves & receive a complimentary e-card! (Santa hits the slopes at 2pm.)
11 AM—1 PM | Lodge of Ten Peaks, Lake Louise Ski Area

Torchlight Dinner & Ski
This ultimate way for your group to wrap up a wonderful day on the slopes. The excitement begins at Whitehorn Lodge, where you will enjoy après drinks, appetizers and live music in a majestic setting.
Where? Lake Louise Ski Area (tickets still available)

Santa Family Photo Days
Get your photo taken with Santa and his elves & receive a complimentary e-card! (Santa hits the slopes at 2pm.)
11 AM—1 PM | Lodge of Ten Peaks, Lake Louise Ski Area

Hockey & Karaoke
Hockey, karaoke and dancing, to please every taste!
5:00 PM | Beaver Bar, Samesun Hostel, 433 Banff Ave.

Heavy Metal Techno Christmas
Archimedean Groove & No World Order II Live
10:00 PM | Bruno’s

3 Days of Christmas
Grant Slavin kicks the Scrooge for 3 straight nights
10:00 PM | Rose & Crown

Dave Lang and the Black Squirrels
Country/Swing
10:00 PM | Wild Bill’s Legendary Saloon

Tea House, Sightseeing & Tubing Opening Day
All Day | Mt. Norquay

Santa Family Photo Days
Get your photo taken with Santa and his elves & receive a complimentary e-card! (Santa hits the slopes at 2pm.)
1 AM—1 PM | Lodge of Ten Peaks, Lake Louise Ski Area

Country Christmas
Enjoy a sleigh ride followed by a delicious dinner and live music! Reservations required, 403-522-1898
6:30 PM | Brewster Dance Barn, Lake Louise

Daniel Sky Live
A singer/songwriter originally from Winnipeg. In September he released his new record “Spider Milk.”
9:00 PM—11:00 PM | The Beaver Bar, SameSun

3 Days of Christmas
Grant Slavin kicks the Scrooge for 3 straight nights
10:00 PM | Rose & Crown

Dave Lang and the Black Squirrels
Country/Swing
10:00 PM | Wild Bill’s Legendary Saloon

Stan Jacobs Live!
Offering up the best in 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s pop, blues, R&B, jazz standards, light rock, reggae, calypso and country music styling’s.
9 PM| Rundle Lounge, Fairmont Banff Springs

Al Barrett Trio
9:30 PM | St. James Gate Olde Irish Pub

Greek Night
With live belly dancing, Greek dancing Zorba-style and plate smashing, this is a weekly treat not to be missed!
8:30 PM | Balkan Restaurant, 120 Banff Ave.

Drawn to Nature
Hour-long Winter Solstice drawing session open to anyone in the community. Participants will be welcomed to explore various still-life sketching techniques in an informal drawing session.
6—8 PM | Banff Park Museum National Historic Site

MasqueRave VIII
SantaRave with Piranha Piranha
10:00 PM | Dancing Sasquatch

Party Beats
Featuring DJ Laela. Season pass giveaway to Lake Louise.
10:00 PM | Hoodoo Lounge

3 Days of Christmas
Grant Slavin kicks the Scrooge for 3 straight nights
10:00 PM | Rose & Crown

Sailesh
World Famous Hypnotist
10:00 PM | Wild Bill’s Legendary Saloon | $5

Melissa’s
Home of the infamous $2.75 high ball, Mel’s is a lively bar with a great atmosphere. A firm favourite with both Banff locals and visitors alike due to its chameleon nature; Mel’s is a sports bar, steak house, and party bar all rolled into one!
The ground floor restaurant serves up huge slabs of meat, chargrilled to perfection, while the 2nd Floor bar caters for all your sport watching and party needs. It’s also a great spot to pick up breakfast if you’re feeling a little fragile the next day!
Quick tip: don’t forget to tip the barman if you want to get served quickly and never ask to change the channel from Ice Hockey!

The Storm Cellar
Situated on the ground floor of the Banff Alpine Lodge at Tunnel Mountain, this lively bar is a firm favourite with young travellers and locals alike. Offering some of the most reasonably priced drinks in town along with regular open mic and karaoke nights, this lively little bar is the perfect place to start a night out in Banff. There’s also a darts board, table football, big screen TV, and an Ice Climbing wall outside. So if you’re feeling adventurous why not see if you can scale this icy behemoth… just leave the beers for afterwards!

Trapper’s
This lively mountain bar can be found at the top of the Sunshine Village high speed gondola. Trapper’s boasts some of the finest food available on mountain; serving up huge plates of Nachos, delicious pulled pork sandwiches, as well as all the usual Canadian favourites. It’s also perfect for sunny days on the hill thanks to its extensive outdoor seating area and sun terrace.
There’s really no better place to grab a cold one after a hard day’s riding with your buddies!

Wild Bill’s Saloon
One of Banff’s more lively venues, Wild Bill’s hosts regular live music nights with both local and international acts passing through on a regular basis. As the name suggests there’s a bit of a western vibe going on here, where else can you cattle roping in the mountains?! So if you fancy playing cowboy/cowgirl for a night or just want to check out some awesome live bands head on down to Wild Bill’s! They also throw a mean Superbowl party…

The Dancing Sasquatch
Not only is this nightclub the number one contender for our “Best named club in the world. Ever” award, it’s also a great place for a night out. With local and international DJ’s gracing the decks playing the very best in Dubstep, Hip-hop, Techno and everything in between coupled with unbeatable drinks deals the Dancing Sasquatch is definitely the place to party after hours in Banff!

Aurora Nightclub
The other of Banff’s nightclubs, with a relaxed atmosphere and some of Canada’s finest DJs passing through Aurora is a great place to party. Complete with pool tables and its own take-away pizza stand Aurora ticks all the boxes for a great night out! It also throws a killer Australia Day party for all you Aussies out there!

The author, Nick Coates, recommends SnowSkool for snowboard instructor courses

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We are off to a fantastic start here in the Canadian Rockies. The snowfall so far has just been incredible.  So much powder, in fact, the Kicking Horse Powder Express from Banff has been cancelled the last couple of days due to it not being able to get through!

This is the snow POWDER report from today:

• Lake Louise [Banff National Park] – 19cm received in past 24 hours (40cm in the past 2 days)
• Sunshine Village [Banff National Park] – 21cm received in the past 24 hours (42cm in the past 2 days)
• Banff Norquay [Banff National Park] – 35+cm in the past 24 hours. Their NORTH AMERICAN chair (BIG CHAIR) opened today!
• Nearby Nakiska – 28cm in the past 24 hours, 38cm in the past 48 hours, 63cm in the past 7 days.
• Nearby Kicking Horse Mountain Resort – 32 cm in the past 24 hours, 61cm in the past 48 hours (84cm in the past week). Incredible.

Have any of you managed to get up recently? If you have, we would love to hear about it!

Drive safe and enjoy this magnificent powder!

This will be one of the last Rocky Mountaineer train departures for 2010 but 2011 Rocky Mountaineer packages are now available for booking with early-bird savings of up to $1,400 per couple.