comScore pixel
Banff Mt Norquay resort snow
Lat Long: 51.17° N 115.56° W
Ski Canada - Alberta

Banff Mt Norquay Resort Reviews

Weather Forecast for Banff Mount Norquay at 1790 m altitude

Issued: 5 pm 13 May 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Next snow in Banff Mt Norquay: 0.8 cm on Fri 15th  (after 9 PM)

Visitor reviews for Banff Mt Norquay Ski Resort

Banff Mt Norquay Ratings

Overall: 3.4. Based on 20 votes and 14 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 4.1

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Banff Mt Norquay is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 3.5

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Banff Mt Norquay has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 2.4

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.0

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 3.9

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Banff Mt Norquay

Public Transport: 4.0

  • There are no buses or taxis to Banff Mt Norquay
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 4.3

  • No places to stay in/near Banff Mt Norquay
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 3.4

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 4.1

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Banff Mt Norquay

Ski in/Ski out: 2.7

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 3.4

  • There are no child care facilities at Banff Mt Norquay
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 3.8

  • Banff Mt Norquay relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 3.6

  • There are no snow groomers at Banff Mt Norquay
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Banff Mt Norquay are groomed daily

Shelter: 3.9

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Banff Mt Norquay is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 3.7

  • If snow conditions are poor at Banff Mt Norquay, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 2.6

  • Banff Mt Norquay usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 4.1

  • The staff at Banff Mt Norquay are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Banff Mt Norquay are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 4.2

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 4.0

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 3.9

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 2.6

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 3.2

  • No intermediate terrain at Banff Mt Norquay
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 4.4

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 3.4

  • Not even a kicker at Banff Mt Norquay
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 2.8

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Banff Mt Norquay
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 2.9

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Banff Mt Norquay has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 2.8

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 2.6

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 3.2

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 1.9

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 3.4

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 2.7

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 3.2

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 3.8

  • Overall, Banff Mt Norquay is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 3.4

  • Overall, Banff Mt Norquay is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

Latest
Oldest
Most useful
Top rated
Lowest rated
December 22, 2007
Chris
Why bother....?? It's OK if you just want a few hours of skiing or if you have young kids, but otherwise go just up the road to Sunshine for the real thing.
January 12, 2007
Derek
Living in Calgary, I've skiied Norquay for 25 years, and it's an interesting area, and very different from Louise or Sunshine. It's a 5 minute drive from Banff (or grab the free shuttle bus). It's tiny compared to the other two. The Day Lodge at Norquay is beautiful. And it's carved itself quite a nice and effective little pair of niche markets. First, it sells tickes by the hour. Here it serves the "ski for a couple of hours in the morning while my partner shops" crowd. Second, it's a family place with an extensive race program. The layout of the hill keeps the learners and the racers away from everyone else. Most folks ski the Mystic Chair, which has lots of vertical and a whole bunch of groomed blue and black cruisers. They groom every blue and green every day, and get less snow than Louise or Sunshine (made up for with lots of snowmaking), so this is not a place for powderhounds. Last weekend (Jan 7) was the midst of a big powder dump in the area, and Norquay got virtually none. The grooming is without question the best in the area. Still, the tops of runs , high traffic areas and steep pitches can get icy late in the day, a problem shared by parts of Louise. And then there's The North American. No snowmaking or grooming here. Big vert, big steeps, a slow double chair, and moguls the size of Volkswagens. This is the original double black area in all of Western Canada. I skiied it a few times more than a decade ago, but don't see that it has changed (good things never do). Less than 10% or Norquay skiiers go up here. More should. So long as you keep your expectations under control, you can have a lot a fun at Norquay for a day or two. I did 10,000+ vertical meters in 27 runs last weekend, on a typically unbusy weekend, just doing a lot of high speed cruising. Give it a try. You'll be glad you did.
January 10, 2006
Lee
Norquay's ok at the moment (Jan12 05) but it needs a good dump of snow to get the steeper runs open. The mountain has been a victim of an unusually warm Albertan Christmas, after a heavy load of snow around the beginning of December, precipitation since has been limited to flurries. However, the snowmaking here is excellent and the piste makers have got most of the greens and blues open and the conditions on these slopes are good. Naturally, it's best in the AM. Better conditions at Sunshine and Lake Louise mean that Norquay is not very busy at the moment which translates into queue free lifts and tons of space on the pistes. It's definitely worth a trip as it stands for intermediates and improvers.
December 05, 2005
dh from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Went there early Jan 05. Cold, but the quality of the snow made up for that hardly anyone on the the slopes. If u buy a min. 2hr ticket then u'll ski for 2hrs, not like Europe. Take warm clothes although u wont be cold due to the number of runs avialable.