By far, the most beautiful places in the world are protected, usually national parks, offering equal access to anyone willing to travel and pay an entrance fee. Banff National Park is Canada’s first national park and the flagship of the country’s park system. It is known worldwide for its towering peaks and turquoise glacial lakes. The park has even been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This title only shows how beautiful and unique this corner of Canada is.
Aside from the ski resorts and hiking trails, two communities within the park have long served as a base camp for visitors exploring Banff National Park: the resort town of Banff and the Village of Lake Louise. These communities are well-equipped to cater to the needs of visitors, providing a comfortable and convenient starting point for your adventure.
These communities also glow in winter, with the annual Snow Day celebration turning them into an entire snowball.
This season’s snow days will run from January 19 to February 4, 2024, with cold weather in Banff and Lake Louise. Highlights include a ski display on Banff Avenue, where skiers and snowboarders are pulled across a course by a horse and rider. There’s plenty of ongoing winter fun to be had here, including a vast winter gallery of snow sculptures, downhill and cross-country skiing, dog sledding, sledding, and ice skating on the most beautiful ice rink in the world: Lake Louise.
The unveiling of the snow sculpture and Snow Day play area, both in Banff, began on January 19. The former includes the work of snow artists from all over the world who come to Banff to carve their creations on a giant block of snow. At the same time, the latter is a winter recreation area with everything from sledding to curling and biking.
While events such as snow sculpture Tours and play areas are ongoing, others will occur within a specific time frame. One of the highlights is skiing, where visitors can see Alberta cowboys and cowgirls riding on pistes with skiers or snowboarders behind them. You have to see to believe the January 20 event in Banff.
Down the road from Lake Louise, a showcase of ice magic was held on the Fairmont Lake Louise Castle Hotel grounds. This official international ice sculpture competition has been held on the shores of the lake for 30 years and will welcome world-class ice sculptors to compete in ideas and skills. On January 26 and January 27, a 30-hour live ice sculpture competition will occur over the weekend of January 28 and February 2-4, with finished, lit sculptures viewed at night. An ice sculpture show will also be held from February 2 to 4. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch an ice sculptor at work and walk among the lighted ice sculptures at night.
In addition to special snow day activities, horse-drawn sledding and dog-sledding adventures are available in the region’s SkiBig3 mountains: Lake Louise ski resort, Mount Noqui, and Banff Sunshine.
The Snow Day activities are all free except for the Ice Magic on Lake Louise, which requires booking online. Tickets are $14 for adults and $7 for children ages 3 to 12. Those who ski at the Lake Louise ski resort on the weekend can enjoy half-price, while guests staying at hotels in Banff or Lake Louise can enter for free.
