We spent a two week holiday in Banff, Canada arriving on New Year's Day in 2003. Unfortunately for us, the region was experiencing one of their 'El Niño' years which meant the snow base wasn't very deep and there was little in the way of powder dumps whilst we were there.

In hard times such as this, snowboarding on icy corduroy pistes can be a bit of a ball-acher after a while. So we opted to learn skiing since we regularly observe skiers ecstatic at the prospect of zig-zagging through icy mogul fields and making stops every five minutes to have a rest and observe the view. I jest :-)

We had a good time in Banff. We splashed out a bit and stayed in the fantastic Fairmont Banff Springs hotel which was perfect for a trip like this. The resorts were challenging and varied. Canadian hospitality and Banff town very accommodating. Highly recommended.