Christmas in Banff 🎄🏔️🎿
Spend New Year’s in the Canadian Rockies with UTSSC. Seven nights in Banff, world-class skiing, holiday energy, and one unforgettable week with the club. Ikon Pass accepted.
Trip Dates: December 27, 2026–January 3, 2027 (Sun–Sun) — 7 nights
Maximum Capacity: 35 participants.
This trip will not exceed 35 people. Once all 35 spaces are filled, registration will close.
Important: This is currently a proposed trip.
We are collecting refundable deposits to determine whether there is enough interest to officially launch the trip. If we do not receive enough registrations to make the trip financially and logistically viable, the trip will not move forward and all deposits will be refunded.
📍 Trip Overview
- Flights:
Flights have not yet been booked or finalized. We are planning for a Toronto departure on December 27 and a return flight from Calgary on January 3.
Because this trip takes place during the Christmas and New Year’s travel period, airfare is expected to be considerably more expensive than the flights used for our previous spring Banff trips.
We are currently estimating approximately $800 round trip. Final flight schedules, airline, baggage allowances, and fare conditions will be shared before booking.
- Calgary Airport Transportation:
Group transportation between Calgary International Airport and Banff will be arranged by UTSSC. The final vehicle type will depend on the number of registered participants and may include a private coach, school bus, or group shuttle.
- Transportation Within Banff:
SkiBig3 provides complimentary mountain transportation between Banff and the ski resorts. These buses make it easy to reach Lake Louise Ski Resort, Sunshine Village, and Mt. Norquay without needing a private vehicle each day.
- Trip Format:
This will be a longer and more flexible Banff trip than our usual Reading Week and end-of-season trips. Members will have the freedom to ski, explore Banff, celebrate New Year’s, take rest days, and participate in optional group activities throughout the week.
Why Banff for New Year’s?
This will be the first UTSSC Banff Holiday Trip. We have organized several successful Banff trips in the past, but we have never brought the club to Banff over the Christmas and New Year’s period.
Banff during the holidays offers a completely different experience: snowy mountain scenery, holiday lights throughout town, seven nights together, and the chance to begin the new year in one of Canada’s most iconic ski destinations.
- New Year’s in Banff: Celebrate with the UTSSC community in the heart of the Rockies.
- SkiBig3 access: Ski Lake Louise, Sunshine Village, and Mt. Norquay.
- Seven-night trip: More time to ski, explore, relax, and actually enjoy the destination.
- Mountain-town atmosphere: Restaurants, cafés, shops, bars, and activities beyond the slopes.
- Ikon-friendly: Ikon Pass holders can use their eligible SkiBig3 access.
🍻 Off-Mountain Vibes
This trip is not designed to be ski → sleep → repeat. Banff has plenty to do when you are taking a rest day or when the lifts close.
- New Year’s Celebrations: Spend New Year’s Eve with the UTSSC community in Banff.
- Banff Avenue: Explore the shops, restaurants, cafés, holiday lights, and mountain-town atmosphere.
- Outdoor Hot Tub Sessions: Recover after skiing and decompress properly.
- Banff Upper Hot Springs: Natural hot springs surrounded by mountain views.
- Sasquatch Bowling Night: A UTSSC Banff classic.
- Group Dinners and Après: Optional dinners, drinks, and social activities throughout the week.
- Rest-Day Flexibility: Ski every day, take a day off, explore town, or create your own schedule.
🏨 Accommodations & Room Sharing
We are currently considering either The Dorothy Motel or The Rundlestone Lodge in Banff.
Both properties are currently priced within a similar range. The final accommodation will depend on availability, contract conditions, and which property provides the best overall value and experience for the group.
Rooms are expected to include two queen beds. The standard trip price is calculated using four participants per room.
How Standard Room Sharing Works:
A standard room has two queen beds and four participants. Two participants share one queen bed, and the other two participants share the second queen bed.
If you register with friends, a partner, or someone you already intend to share with, you will be able to submit roommate and bed-sharing requests. We will do our best to keep requested groups together.
Gender and Bed-Sharing Policy:
UTSSC will never assign strangers of different genders to share a bed.
Participants may voluntarily request to share with a partner, friend, or another specific person. Otherwise, bed-sharing assignments will be arranged with participant comfort, gender, and roommate requests in mind.
Private-Bed Upgrade: approximately $920
A private-bed upgrade means that you receive one queen bed entirely to yourself and are not required to share your bed with another participant.
This does not necessarily mean you will have the entire room to yourself or that there will only be two people in the room.
A typical private-bed room may contain three participants:
• One participant has one queen bed privately.
• Two other participants share the second queen bed.
The upgrade reflects the additional accommodation space used by the participant receiving their own bed. Private-bed upgrades are subject to room availability and may be limited by the final number of rooms secured.
Room and bed assignments will be finalized closer to departure. We will collect roommate requests, bed-sharing requests, private-bed requests, and any relevant accommodation information through the registration process.
We will do our best to accommodate friends travelling together, couples, requested roommates, gender preferences, and private-bed selections. Final arrangements remain subject to the room inventory available.
🎟️ Lift Tickets
Lift tickets are not included and must be purchased separately.
Estimated Lift-Ticket Cost:
Participants without eligible Ikon access should budget approximately $125–$150 per ski day.
The exact price will depend on the resort, number of ski days, advance-purchase options, and available multi-day products.
- Ikon Pass accepted: Eligible Ikon Pass holders may already have access to SkiBig3 resorts, subject to the conditions attached to their specific pass.
- Shorter Ikon products: Ikon also offers limited-day products that may provide three or four days of access without purchasing a full-season pass.
- Multi-day resort tickets: Three-day, four-day, and other multi-day ticket packages may offer better value than purchasing individual day tickets.
- Buy in advance: Participants who know how many days they plan to ski may be able to save by purchasing tickets or multi-day products before the trip.
- Flexible ski schedule: You are not required to ski every day. Choose the number of ski days that works for your schedule and budget.
Example Lift-Ticket Budget:
• 3 ski days: approximately $375–$450
• 4 ski days: approximately $500–$600
• 5 ski days: approximately $625–$750
These are planning estimates only. Advance-purchase and multi-day packages may reduce the final cost.
🏂 Equipment Rentals
Equipment rentals are not included. Participants who need skis, a snowboard, boots, poles, or a helmet should budget approximately $50–$70 per day, depending on the equipment package selected.
Example Rental Budget:
• 3 rental days: approximately $150–$210
• 4 rental days: approximately $200–$280
• 5 rental days: approximately $250–$350
Final pricing will depend on the rental shop, equipment level, number of days, and whether equipment is reserved in advance.
💰 Estimated Trip Pricing
After researching peak holiday accommodation rates, Calgary–Banff transportation, and expected Christmas and New Year’s airfare, we have updated the estimated cost of this trip.
Our original preliminary estimate was approximately $1,200. That estimate was based heavily on our previous Banff trips, which took place during significantly less expensive travel periods.
This is the first time UTSSC has planned a flight-based Canadian ski trip over Christmas and New Year’s. After reviewing current holiday accommodation rates and expected airfare, we now know that the trip will cost more than originally estimated.
Estimated Full Package: $1,875 CAD
Estimated Ground-Only Package: $1,075 CAD
Estimated Private-Bed Upgrade: +$920 CAD
Estimated Full Package with Private Bed: $2,795 CAD
Estimated Ground-Only Package with Private Bed: $1,995 CAD
Full Package includes: estimated round-trip flight from Toronto to Calgary, seven nights of accommodation, and group transportation between Calgary Airport and Banff.
Ground-Only Package includes: seven nights of accommodation and group transportation between Calgary Airport and Banff. Participants selecting this option are responsible for arranging their own flights and arriving in Calgary in time for the scheduled group transfer.
Lift tickets, equipment rentals, meals, travel insurance, and personal expenses are not included.
Please Note:
These prices are strong estimates, not finalized prices. Flights and accommodations have not yet been booked. The final total may change depending on airfare at the time of booking, final participation, confirmed accommodation costs, rooming selections, and transportation costs.
We currently estimate airfare at approximately $800 round trip. Holiday flight pricing can fluctuate, so we expect to begin booking flights during the September–October booking period.
If the estimated trip cost changes materially before non-refundable bookings are made, everyone registered will be notified and will have the opportunity to review the updated cost before their deposit becomes non-refundable.
💳 Deposits, Payments & Refunds
Minimum Deposit: $250 due at signup.
You may choose to pay more than the minimum deposit if you would like.
- Trip confirmation: The trip will only launch if we receive enough registrations to make the accommodations and transportation financially viable.
- Maximum capacity: The trip is capped at 35 participants.
- If the trip does not launch: All deposits will be refunded in full.
- Current refund period: Deposits will remain fully refundable until UTSSC begins making non-refundable bookings.
- Expected booking period: We currently expect to begin securing flights and accommodations sometime in September or October 2026.
- Advance notice: Everyone registered will be notified before the final refund deadline and before any portion of their payment becomes non-refundable.
- Flight rule: Once a participant’s flight has been booked, the flight portion of their payment may become non-refundable or subject to the airline’s fare conditions.
- Remaining balance: The payment schedule and final balance deadline will be shared once the trip is confirmed and major bookings are ready to proceed.
Bottom Line: Your deposit is currently an expression of serious interest. It helps us determine whether there are enough participants to launch the trip, but it will remain refundable until we notify you that non-refundable bookings are about to begin.
✅ Who Should Sign Up?
- You want to spend New Year’s in Banff with the UTSSC community.
- You understand that this is a peak-season trip and will be more expensive than our spring Banff trips.
- You are comfortable placing a refundable deposit while we confirm final participation.
- You want the flexibility to ski, explore Banff, relax, and participate in optional group activities.
- You understand that the standard package is based on four participants sharing a room and two participants sharing each queen bed.
- You may select a private-bed upgrade if you prefer not to share your bed, subject to availability.
- You understand that lift tickets and equipment rentals are separate from the advertised trip-package price.
Ready to spend New Year’s in Banff?
Submit the form and pay your deposit below. Once we know there is enough interest, we will move forward with final accommodation, flight, and transportation arrangements.
Questions? Email UTSSC@studentorg.utoronto.ca