Final thoughts on Banff

All in all a great start to our trip. Snow could perhaps have been slightly better - but a reasonable amount of fresh snow on and off over the last week kept things interesting and even gave Sam a decent powder day (Al was recovering from a strained back - which, as at time of posting this is thankfully well on its way to recovery).
We enjoyed skiing in both Lake Louise and Sunshine - the former with slightly more vertical and wider choice of runs, but the latter with some great little areas, particularly off Wawa chair (unfortunately Delerium Dive wasn't open during our trip).
The area is famous for its wildlife - our highlights were a wolf that walked past Sam on the piste, numerous Elk around the town and a Racoon (or similar) running through the trees (we weren't quick enough for any photos I'm afraid!).
Having never done it before, we had been slightly apprehensive about the bus journeys up to the resorts, but it was fine, and gave us a great opportunity to fit in our twice daily Spanish lessons (thanks Moira and Jess for recommending Michel Thomas - we can certainly add our recommendation too!)
Banff was a good town to stay in with a very wide range of restaurants and bars (see other post) and lots of other stuff going on - we fitted in Jonny Cash tribute band, quiz night at Bruno's, the parade of lights, a slightly underwhelming Rail Jam (snowboarders getting towed along a small amount of snow shovelled onto the street and up a jump onto a rail), the hot springs (definitely worth a visit) and a trip to the cinema to catch The Hobbit.
Our accommodation at Irwin's Mountain Inn was pretty much as expected - having a fridge and coffee making facilities worked well for us (daily cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch), bed was huge, and bedroom was a good size. We were disturbed on a couple of night by extremely noisy neighbours, but other than that slept very well. And the hot tub provided a good way to relax our muscles at the end of each day.
So, all in all it has been a great way to relax and unwind before our back-packing adventure really begins...