Our family of four arrived on Friday after the slopes were closed, so it was quite in the village. After the gondola ride up and short the walk over to the lodge, I really felt like I was in a special place.

We were up early the next day to hit the runs as soon as we could. It's so convenient staying up at the lodge and being ahead of the morning rush.

The skiing was awesome, loved the great variety of terrain. I’m just a beginner and really enjoyed the green run off the Strawberry lift. My husband and kids explored many areas, but ran out of time to get to Goat’s Eye. We all downloaded the Alpine app. It was great fun comparing stats at the end of the day.

Staff were friendly and welcoming everywhere we went; front desk, rentals, coffee shop, lift operators, burger bar. Good quality burgers were a nice delight (in my experience it's rare to have such good eats at the day lodge).

Truly a unique Alberta winter experience, one that won’t be soon forgotten.

We stayed at the Lodge for 6 nights. We had never snowboarded or skied before so didn't have any expectations or even know how things worked.

You had to check in twice, once at the bottom of the mountain to get your bags sent up (This can take up to 4 hours so if there is anything you need put it in a day pack) and again when you reached the Lodge (after a stunning 25 minute gondola ride).

We were staying in a Deluxe mountain view room which was a decent size and clean- don't expect any flash furnishing. The view of the slopes was nice and if I came in for a break I could watch the family on the green run.

Food was delicious, although we did get a bit sick of the same thing by the end of the week. We found the food and drink very well priced considering the location (we are from Perth, one of Australia's most expensive cities so we may not be a good judge. I did hear some American's complaining about the price). Approx $7 for a beer, $13 for breakfast and $50 per person for dinner including drinks and multiple courses.

The hot tub was a blessing after a long days work out! It was a definitely a novelty sitting in the tub whilst it was snowing!

We all snowboarded and our equipment hire was fast, easy and looked in good condition. We had some clips break and they replaced them quickly. I'd recommend hiring a helmet as well- it saved us all from some nasty injuries.
(Also if you're a beginner look at buying some wrist guards in Banff!! They definitely helped me!)
We had 4 days of continuous snow, which meant it didn't hurt so much when you fell over!! Everyone was going nuts over the powder!

My Con's about the Lodge:
There seemed to be no one in charge, staff were friendly but most didn't go that extra mile. No one informed us upon check in that we needed lift passes and house keeping didn't come around until 3pm. Most of the staff were Australian and I'm sorry to say our hospitality skills aren't as good as Canada or America. They stuffed up our dinner order almost every night and even when the Lodge was quiet we ended up having to wait the longest for service. Having said that Lyndsey was fantastic, provided exceptional service and even came to see how our day was on her night off!

We booked a package through SkiMax and most of the staff didn't know what to do with the vouchers!

My biggest gripe would be with the ski school. On our first day we were meant to have a lesson and it was a COLD day -30C!. The lifts weren't open until midday and I called the ski school that morning to see if we should postpone our lessons to the next day. I was told we could do them that afternoon if we wanted so we said yes not realising that the conditions would make it harder to learn in- no one told us and never seeing snow before I didn't think to ask. We also had an instructor that didn't want to be there as it was too cold, all of his mates had their classes cancelled and got to home whilst still getting paid. Needless to say our first experience wasn't fun! When we complained to the director we were rudely shut down!
The next day we cancelled our lesson as it was still cold and were told to request a different trainer by another guest. Taran was AMAZING! Really made our trip and got my confidence back after the first horrible lesson.

Apart from that we had a great stay and LOVED snow boarding! Even though the Lodge had it's faults it was definitely worth staying there! Who wants to spend 45 minutes plus getting back to Banff with all your gear?!? Just stay at the Lodge- by the time the other boarders get home you've had a session in the hot tub and are sitting by the fire with a beer, watching the mountains get dark- bliss!!!!

From Calgary it is nice to spend a night on the hill or more if one can. In the old days you would get to ski on the day you arrived and the next day which was great. Now you only get next days skiing (VIP parking included). This helps but the price is still up there so we can only do it once or twice a season. Meals: The Owl's Nest was OK (sea food platter was a little salty) Mad Trappers good clam chowder and chill, Goats Eye sausage was more like a hotdog but good. Like others have said the food is lacking when compared to the resort. The room (suite) was lovely, kingbed, jet tub, fireplace, flat screen, robes and more. One of the best thinks is the hot tub outside, very nice after a day of skiing. On the Monday we were welcomed to a sunshine day, still a little cool, cold, but a very good skiing day. Sleep: well you got groomers and snow machines on the go through the night, I don't know if they woke me or I was awake anyway but I could hear them off in the distance. There is still lots of season left so maybe we can do it again.