MT NORQUAY SNOW TUBING
There are three world-class ski resorts in Banff National Park, Alberta: Lake Louise Ski Resort, Banff Sunshine Village Ski & Snowboard Resort, and Mount Norquay. They are known as SkiBig3, and you can visit one, two, or all three of them. Because these resorts are located in a national park, you will need to display a National Parks Pass in your car, which can be purchased at any park gate or in advance on the Parks Canada website.
Out of the three, Mount Norquay is the closest from downtown Banff at just under 15 minutes. Because we went skiing at both the Lake Louise Ski Resort and the Banff Sunshine Village Ski & Snowboard Resort, we thought we’d give our legs a rest and try snow tubing at Mount Norquay! Mount Norquay in particular boasts Alberta’s longest tube lanes where you can speed down large sliding lanes solo or alongside your friends and family.
Reservations are highly recommended, where you will choose a morning or afternoon session or on select days, a night session. Once you arrive, you can put any items that you do not want to hold onto in a locker. I prefer the lockers at Lake Louise, because they come in different sizes, you can pay by credit card, and you can return to them throughout the day. At Mount Norquay’s tubing park, you cannot pay by credit card and the lockers are one time use (which means you cannot keep opening and closing them). However, there are plenty of people who leave their belongings on shared racks, which is free!
Depending on when you go, it could be crowded, and you might have to stand in a long line that snakes around, tube in tow. The good news is the line constantly moves, and once you get to the front of the line you will then hitch a ride with a super long magic carpet to bring you to the top. Select the lane that you would like to breeze down and let the attendants at the top give you a starting push! Remember to keep your feet off the ground and move swiftly out of the way once you’ve come to a stop so that the lane can be used once more. Then jump back in line to do it all over again! We had a blast, and we hope you do, too!
