jamesdeluxe
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
For my final day in Alberta (and what may be my last turns of the season), I scooted over to Norquay, the Snow King of Banff in several ways. Just a few minutes from town, almost the exact same vertical (1,300 feet), very steep in spots, similar snow totals/conditions, zero tourists, family-oriented, etc. They offer lift tickets by the hour, so I bought a two-hour ticket for $30 CDN, but ended up skiing for almost four hours (no one was checking).
I was conflicted about going there as many people from Calgary said that it wasn’t worth the effort. However, I’d taken note of Patrick’s defense of Norquay as a worthy day trip. Plus, my legs were getting sore from the four previous days of all-day skiing so it was a no-brainer. It was my only spring skiing day of the season. Unfortunately, temps had gotten cold overnight so things never softened up enough except toward the very bottom. This made my one trip down the “North American” double chair — which is all legitimate blacks and double-blacks with huge bumps — a challenge. Too bad that things weren’t softer as I would’ve loved to spend more time over there.
On the far looker’s right is an older HSQ, so you can rack up a lot of vertical quickly. Norquay is definitely pitched toward local families, but as was the case at LL, a few of the blues had pretty steep sections. Also off that chair, what looked from below like a natural half-pipe (Bruno’s Gully) was filled with avy debris from the previous week. Never heard of a blue trail that’s prone to slides, but what do I know.
It’d be great to ski Norquay after a fresh dump, as there is definitely some fun terrain there. A completely different kettle of fish than LL or SSV, but a fun detour.
I was conflicted about going there as many people from Calgary said that it wasn’t worth the effort. However, I’d taken note of Patrick’s defense of Norquay as a worthy day trip. Plus, my legs were getting sore from the four previous days of all-day skiing so it was a no-brainer. It was my only spring skiing day of the season. Unfortunately, temps had gotten cold overnight so things never softened up enough except toward the very bottom. This made my one trip down the “North American” double chair — which is all legitimate blacks and double-blacks with huge bumps — a challenge. Too bad that things weren’t softer as I would’ve loved to spend more time over there.
On the far looker’s right is an older HSQ, so you can rack up a lot of vertical quickly. Norquay is definitely pitched toward local families, but as was the case at LL, a few of the blues had pretty steep sections. Also off that chair, what looked from below like a natural half-pipe (Bruno’s Gully) was filled with avy debris from the previous week. Never heard of a blue trail that’s prone to slides, but what do I know.
It’d be great to ski Norquay after a fresh dump, as there is definitely some fun terrain there. A completely different kettle of fish than LL or SSV, but a fun detour.
