The Cascade Lodge at the base of
Mt Norquay contains most of the resort services and facilities. On the main floor is a cafeteria, the ski school desk, a retail shop, and bag and ski lockers.
Facilities for Children
Day care for children 19 months to 6 years of age is available at the Kid’s Place Daycare which is located right near the day lodge. Child care is for a half day or full day including lunch, or you can make the most of the 2 hour drop in rates. The costs are very inexpensive compared to the other Banff resorts.
Norquay Ski School
Kids snowsports school is for ages 3 to 16. They offer various lesson formats including first timer packages, terrain park lessons, and full day lessons that include lunch.
Adult group lessons are for 2 or 4 hours for first timers up to blue runners, then Norquay has 2 hour lessons for more experienced riders. They used to run “steep and deep” clinics but they obviously figured out that they couldn’t teach “deep” with so little snowfall!
Costs for the Norquay ski school are very reasonable relative to nearby ski resorts.
Norquay Ski Rentals
The Norquay ski resort offers mid and high performance ski and snowboard rentals from Rossignol, as well as snowshoes. Not surprisingly, they don’t rent out powder skis!
Prices are very affordable and are comparable to
Banff ski rental prices. There is also a tuning and repairs workshop.
Retail Shop
Norquay has a small retail shop selling a basic range of ski and snowboard gear and clothing. They also sell various Norquay souvenirs and Norquay logo-wear.
If you need to make any substantial purchases, there are various
Banff ski shops.
Eating on Mountain
The Cascade Lodge provides a couple of options for dining. On the main floor is a deli and self-service cafeteria, and an abundance of seating. On the 2nd floor of the Cascade Lodge is the Lone Pine Pub and Restaurant. Otherwise, the deck out the front of the Cascade Lodge is a great place to take in the vistas and the sunshine.
The Lone Pine Pub and Restaurant is probably the highlight of the Norquay dining, offering table service, typical pub fare and lovely views of the resort and surrounding mountains. It’s a perfect place to keep half an eye on the kids! It’s also a good spot to watch any carnage on the Lone Pine bumps run (currently there’s one big pine tree on the run but there are also many smaller pine trees trying to grow, which may ruin the name of the run and the pub in the future?!).
The Cliffhouse Bistro, located at the top of the Big Chair, is very popular with skiers and pedestrians alike (you can download the chair lift), due to the amazing views it offers. During summer it’s a full service eatery, whilst the food and beverage offerings during winter are very underwhelming.
Après Ski Drinks
You can continue to soak in the scenery whilst partaking in an après ski drink or five at the Lone Pine Pub, and have a look at the many photographs that depict the long ski history of Norquay. There is often live music to fire up the atmosphere somewhat, but the pub is more suited to a relaxed drink rather than a super party scene. Having to drive off the mountain, or shuttle buses that leave too early, put a bit of a dampener on après activities.
The other popular après venue is the Bistro and Lounge at the Juniper Hotel (formerly the Timberline Inn), which is located at the base of Mount Norquay. Apparently it’s possible when there's good snow to ski all the way down from Norquay to the bar for an après drink??
Otherwise folks head into town to enjoy the
Banff bars and nightlife.