Week 1
All 52 students arrived safely into the absurd temperatures of -36! It was a slow and very cold start for the snowskoolers here in Banff, with both the slopes being closed and weekend activities being cancelled due to the bitter cold.
Orientation round Banff left almost everyone with white hair, eyelashes and noses! Many a game of uno round the fire and karaoke in the storm cellar (hostel’s pub) kept everyone busy. The slopes finally opened just after midday on Saturday and a few were keen to ski whatever the weather (you can’t blame them!).
After a rather tame and cold weekend, lessons started on Monday afternoon with everyone keen to show off their skills.
Everyone’s settling in to their new home here at the HI Hostel and really enjoying lessons so far, albeit a bit chilly to say the least!
The first big weekend off saw many talented performances on karaoke, with Robbie Williams ‘Angels’, Katy perry’s ‘California girls’ and 'baseline junkie' being a few fan favourites.
Saturday saw the students immersing themselves in classic Canadian culture, with the annual skijoring spectacular down in Banff town. Some crazy cowboys and superb skiers putt on a fab show.
We rounded the weekend off with an après party at the hostel followed by a pub crawl, and a well earned lie in and some hash browns on Monday morning to soothe some sore heads.
Week 2
With temperatures coming back up, it’s been feeling practically tropical here in Banff!
Lessons have been going well with a lot of progress and minimal injuries (success!), and level one exams approaching the end of next week (good luck everyone)!
Despite the usual ‘freshers flu’ doing the rounds, the good vibes are still flowing. All we need is for it to start snowing!
More news soon!
From Heather and Connor
SnowSkool Banff Reps
