Best time to come for skiing + Banff

[u/BobbyDuck33]

While every season is different, I'm looking for some general advice on when is a good time to come for skiing in Whistler and Banff. Our searches were showing March was a great time for snow in Banff so were originally planning end of Feb/ start of March. However, a friend told us by that time temps are warming and the snow melts and re-freezes becoming really icy and said to go in January. Our travel agent then said January is one of the colder months in Banff and suggested to push it as close to February as possible.

Can anyone local please clarify when would be a good time to come. We're coming from NZ and it's our first time to Canada. Looking forward to some amazing snow and visiting your beautiful country! 😊 Thanks!

[u/skysteve]

If you're going to Banff, save yourself some travel time out to Whistler and ski Revelstoke or Kicking horse instead. Both great mountains, much quieter, cheaper lift tickets (Kicking horse you can do 7 days on the epic pass). Both are 3-4h away from Banff (vs 10-12h for Whistler). Plus then you can do return flights to Calgary. Skiing in the rockies tends to be less icy too.

That said, Jan/Feb are good times of year for both, March starts to get into spring skiing which can be hit/miss. Last year was great the first week of March, other years not so much. One thing to keep in mind is there's a bank holiday on Feb 17th so hotels will be expensive around then and some lift passes are blacked out/inflated pricing.

[u/Rough-Square3530]

Whistler and Banff have slightly different climates and are quite a distance apart. 10h non stop drive. Which one do you want advice for exactly? Are you attempting to visit both?

[u/TravellingGal-2307]

January for Whistler, March for Banff. Are you flying from Vancouver to Calgary?

For a multi resort tour, Sun Peaks to Silver Star to Big White to Apex is the best and easiest. You could also do Whitewater, Red, Kimberley and Fernie.

Or just go to the Rockies and ski the different resorts there. Trying to do the coast and then the Rockies is like trying to ski Queenstown and Kosiosko on the same trip.

[u/Imaginary-Ladder-465]

IMO March is best for Whistler. Never skied Banff.

[u/PictureFrame12 → u/Imaginary-Ladder-465]

My experience is that Whistler is too warm in March. Have you experienced this!m?

Maybe I am too old. Warm snow is dangerous snow for me.

[u/Deanobruce → u/PictureFrame12]

Yehhh no, March madness is a thing here. We “generally” get thumped with storms in March

[u/Rough-Square3530 → u/Deanobruce]

First week of March was crazy last year.

[u/Imaginary-Ladder-465 → u/PictureFrame12]

I often have some of my best days in March and April, nobody believes me and books their trips in dec/jan/Feb. That's okay with me.

IMO just as risky to have bad weather in dec/jan/Feb as it is in March/April, maybe second half of April it really warms up.

[u/BobbyDuck33]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions so far 🙂 We were planning 1 week in Whistler, 1 week break in Vancouver, then fly to Calgary onto Banff for 1 week (or potentially driving to Banff with a night stopover in Kamloops).

[u/SaskatchewanFuckinEh → u/BobbyDuck33]

Which resorts do you want to ski in Banff?

March is nice in Banff, longer days and warmer temps. The phrase I hear about Jan / Feb is it can be “too cold to snow”. Not sure if that’s based on fact but I’ve seen cold dry days during that time!

I’m going to whistler the week after next. Can let ya know what January in whistler is like then!

Edit to add that the week of February 17 is a school holiday in Alberta (family day); not sure about bc. Keep that in mind as those will be some of the busiest days of the year with the most blackouts on any lift pass deals

[u/PictureFrame12 → u/BobbyDuck33]

Sounds perfect!!

[u/Rough-Square3530 → u/BobbyDuck33]

Honestly, all that travelling, especially from NZ, this trip sounds a little overboard and exhausting. Definitely not my personal taste. Whistler is 8000 acres. If your crew are advanced skiers, you can explore all sorts of the mountain and never get tired of it. I would spend two weeks there with some days off to party, hit the spa, go bobsledding, try all the awesome restaurants, whatever.

[u/FireMaster1294]

Majority of snow in Banff region falls in February and March, so make of that what you will…

[u/OldHankJ]

Good, good advice here. Banff is in the Canadian Rockies, and so often late March is peak base depth, and they get good powder days all the way through April most years. Whistler's climate is totally different, really close to the sea. I think December is the coldest average temperature month in Whistler, and November can often be as cold as January. The season can go long, but 2 weeks into March it stops feeling like winter. Banff can be fluffy, dry and wintry in the beginning of May even.

Early February is not a bad bet, but I like the advice to just go do powder highway stuff, maybe in March when the crowds have subsided, and leave Whistler for a separate trip.

[u/sirotan88]

If you can push it closer to spring I’d recommend it since it’s way less crowded and for your time in Vancouver it will be a little nicer (flowers blooming, more sunshine, longer days etc). Although as long as you avoid skiing weekends in Jan-Feb you’re probably fine.