BANFF NATIONAL PARK - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 79

AN ABRIDGED HISTORY OF SKIING IN BANFF NATIONAL PARK
Banff National Park is busiest during summer, but for many visitors from outside
North America-especially Europeans and Australians-it is the winter season that
they know Banff for. Regardless of its repute, and although winter (Dec.-Apr.) is
considered low season, the park remains busy as ski enthusiasts from around the
world gather for world-class skiing and boarding. It hasn't always been this way.
As recently as the 1960s, many lodgings-including the famous Fairmont Banff
Springs-were open only for the summer season.
With winter tourism nonexistent, the first skiers were Banff locals, who would
climb local peaks under their own steam. Due mostly to its handy location close to
town, a popular spot was Mount Norquay, which was skied as early as the 1920s.
In 1948, Canada's first chairlift was installed on the mountain's eastern slopes. In
the ensuing years, newer and faster lifts have created a convenient getaway that ful-
fills the needs of locals and visitors alike, who can buzz up for an afternoon of ski-
ing or boarding on slopes that suit all levels of proficiency.
The first people to ski the Sunshine Meadows were two local men, Cliff White
and Cyril Paris, who became lost in the spring of 1929 and returned to Banff with
stories of deep snow and ideal slopes for skiing. In the following years, a primitive
cabin was used as a base for overnight ski trips in the area. In 1938 the Canadian
National Ski Championships were held here, and in 1942 a portable lift was con-
structed. The White family was synonymous with the Sunshine area for many years,
running the lodge and ski area while Brewster buses negotiated the steep, narrow
road that led to the meadows. In 1980, a gondola was installed to whisk skiers and
snowboarders six kilometers (3.7 miles) from the valley floor to the alpine village.
The best known of Banff's three resorts is Lake Louise, an hour's drive north
of town but still within park boundaries. This part of the park also attracted early
interest from local skiers, beginning in 1930 when Cliff White and Cyril Paris built
a small ski chalet in the Skoki Valley (now operating as Skoki Lodge). The remote-
ness of this hut turned out to be impractical, so another was built, closer to the road.
In 1954, a crude lift was constructed up Larch Mountain from the chalet. The lift
had only just begun operation when a young Englishman, Norman Watson (known
as the “Barmy Baronet”), who had inherited a fortune, saw the potential for a world-