If you are planning to celebrate New Years in the Canadian Rockies, Lake Louise is well worth having on your shortlist of potential destinations. With attractive hotel packages, awe inspiring scenery, and world class skiing on your doorstep, New Years in Lake Louise is sure to provide an experience to remember.
If you are looking for a New Year package at a Lake Louise hotel, we have listed some interesting options below:

New Years at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

Surrounded by magnificent views on the shore of Lake Louise, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise boasts an idyllic location for any occasion, and will indeed be a memorable place to celebrate New Year’s Eve 2012. Throughout the Christmas and New Year period the hotel is offering a special Holiday Package which includes your hotel accommodation, one sleigh ride per stay, daily breakfast, and self parking. The package is valid from December 1 2012 to January 17 2013 with rates starting at $329 per room per night.

In true Fairmont style, the Chateau Lake Louise has a wide variety of fun activities and events taking place during the holiday period, with several options for both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day:

New Year’s Eve Dinner Buffet – December 31
In the Victoria Ballroom, a family friendly New Year’s Eve dinner buffet will be offered on December 31 2012.
5.30-6.30pm first seating (recommended for families)
8.00-9.00pm second seating
Adults $89, Children 6-12 yrs $44.50

New Year’s Eve Family Fair – December 31
A special party for the children in the Mount Temple Wing with face painting, balloon artist, bouncy castle and other exciting kids’ entertainment. Kids must be accompanied by parents.
7.30-10.30pm

Fairview Dining Room – December 31
An adult only New Years celebration featuring a four course New Year’s Eve menu.
5.30-10.00pm
Adults $99

Glacier Saloon – December 31
See in 2013 in a fun pub style atmosphere in the Glacier Saloon, including a live DJ. (not recommended for children)
10pm-2am

Lakeview Lounge – December 31
A sophisticated venue for enjoying your favorite drink and celebrating New Year’s Eve.
9pm-12.30am

New Year’s Day Brunch – January 1
For your first meal of 2013, the famous New Year brunch at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is sure to please the whole family, with an impressive buffet including children’s specialties, taking place in the Victoria Dining Room.
1st Seating 10.00-11.00am
2nd Seating 12.30-1.30pm
Adults $59, Children 6-12 yrs $29.50

As well as the dining options above, there is a whole host of festive activities taking place at the Chateau Lake Louise on December 31 and January 1 including Ice Walks, Snowshoeing, Cross Country Skiing, Mitten Making, and a Children’s Pool Party.

New Year at the Lake Louise Inn

At the time of writing, the Lake Louise Inn still has rooms available over the New Year period. To check current availability and rates, click here.
If you are interested in a special package, the Lake Louise Inn also has a 1 night deal for New Years, which includes accommodation for one night, plus a New Year’s Eve dinner buffet for 2 adults. This package is valid for arrivals on December 31 only and rates start at $219.

Deer Lodge New Year’s Eve

Deer Lodge is offering a one night special package for New Year’s Eve. The New Year’s Eve Extravaganza Package includes accommodations for one night, plus a gala dinner with a glass of sparkling wine and DJ entertainment on December 31 and a buffet breakfast on New Year’s Day, with rooms starting at $394.
To check room only availability at Deer Lodge click here.

*The above rates are generally based on double occupancy, are subject to applicable taxes, subject to availability, and subject to change without notice. To check current rates and availability please use the links provided.

On Saturday April 9 from 7-9pm, the opening reception for the exhibition White Mountain will take place in the Main Gallery at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff Alberta. The exhibition is a tribute to artist Phil (Gaspar) Michaud (1935 – 2010) who lived and painted in Banff from 1964 to 2001. The exhibition, which runs from April 9 to June 12 2011, documents the journey of an artist from the prairies, through the foothills, to the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, and features Phil’s last body of work “White Mountain”.

Also opening the same evening is the exhibition Reckonings: Michael Cameron & Karen Maiolo, featuring the work of 2 contemporary Bow Valley artists.

Short opening speeches introducing both exhibitions will take place in the Main Gallery around 7pm.

For more information about these and other exhibitions at the Whyte Museum, visit www.whyte.org

After treating festival goers to 9 days of awe inspiring speakers, seminars, and the very best in mountain films and literature, the 2010 Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival came to an end on Sunday November 7th.

For those of you who missed the announcement of the Best of the Festival award winners on Sunday evening, here is a list of the 2010 award winning films from the Banff Mountain Film Festival:

Grand Prize: Mi Chacra
Directed and produced by Jason Burlage
Set in the Peruvian Andes, this film documents a year in the life of Feliciano who lives in a farming community above the Sacred Valley, and works both as a farmer and as a porter on the famous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Like many in his rural village, he struggles with the lure of seeking a better life for himself and his family in the city.

Best Film on Exploration and Adventure: Crossing the Ditch
Produced by Greg Quail and Douglas Howard
Raw adventure as two friends attempt to be the first people to successfully cross the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand by kayak.

Best Film on Mountain Culture: A Life Ascending
Directed and produced by Stephen Grynberg
Set in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, this stunning and emotional film brings us an up-close and personal view of the lives of mountain guide Ruedi Beglinger and family who operate a backcountry ski mecca based out of the Durrand Glacier Chalet.

Best Film on Mountain Environment: L’Eau Qui Fait Tourner La Roue
Directed and produced by Jean-François Amiguet
An almost mesmerizing experience showing the intricate operations of an over 100 year old watermill in Switzerland and the beautiful simplicity of the life of Monsieur Cristinel who still operates the sawmill approaching 90 years of age.

Best Film on Climbing: The Asgard Project
Directed and produced by Alastair Lee
High adrenaline, stunning cinematography and hilariously entertaining characters find epic rock climbing in Spain, Italy and California before arriving at Baffin Island in Canada’s Arctic with the goal of making the first free ascent of the north face of Mt Asgard, one of the world’s toughest rock walls.

Best Film on Mountain Sports: Eastern Rises
Directed by Ben Knight and produced by Travis Rummel
An amusing film about fly fishing in the remote and wild landscape of the far east of Russia.

Best Short Mountain Film: The Longest Way
Directed and produced by Christoph Rehage
A year long walk through China compressed into a 5 minute film.

Best Feature Length Mountain Film: Summer Pasture
Directed and produced by Lynn True and Nelson Walker
Set in eastern Tibet, this film chronicles one summer in the life of a nomadic family and the challenges that modern life presents to their culture and traditions.

People’s Choice Award: A Life Ascending
Directed and produced by Stephen Grynberg
Set in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, this stunning and emotional film brings us an up-close and personal view of the lives of mountain guide Ruedi Beglinger and family who operate a backcountry ski mecca based out of the Durrand Glacier Chalet.

Radical Reels People’s Choice Award: Dream Result
Directed and produced by Rush Sturges and Tyler Bradt
High adrenaline paddling in Canada, Chile and Scandanavia.

Special Jury Award: Fly or Die
Produced by Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen
Free solo climbing and base jumping with Dean Potter.

Special Jury Award: Cross Country Snowboarding
Directed by Adam Brodie and produced by Geoff McLean
Hilarious short film about Nordic snowboarding.

Award for Creative Excellence: Salt
Directed and produced by Michael Angus and Murray Fredericks
Photographer, Murray Fredericks, camps out in isolation on Lake Eyre in Southern Australia to find inspiration from the 360 degree horizon and featureless landscape, which results in stunning cinematography, photography and an interesting glimpse into Murray’s own life.

Audio Post-Production Award: A Life Ascending
Directed and produced by Stephen Grynberg

Much to the excitement of mountain film lovers across the world, the annual Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival will take place at the Banff Centre from October 30 to November 7 2010.

The first weekend October 30 and 31 will see the feature length film screenings in the Eric Harvie Theatre at 12 noon, 3.30pm and 7.30pm each day, with all tickets costing $9. These feature length movies are typically of a very high quality and often produce some award winners.
One of the highlights of the first weekend is the showing of A Life Ascending which follows the life of Ruedi Beglinger, a mountain guide and founder/owner of Selkirk Mountain Experience, which operates lodges in the backcountry ski mecca of the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia. Preceded by Expedition Grizzly which features the grizzly bear population in Yellowstone, and a 6 minute short film Morocco, Saturday’s noon show is not to be missed.
Of interest in Saturday’s 3.30pm screening is the film Mi Chacra which follows a year in the life of a porter on the Inca Trail in Peru. The Inca Trail is a multi day hike/backpack from Cuzco to Machu Picchu, which, like our own Mountain Parks, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the landscape shots promise to be very impressive.
Also of particular local interest is the 7.30pm screening on Saturday when La Vie de Guy Lacelle will honour the life of world famous ice climber Guy Lacelle, a friend to many in the Banff/Canmore area, who was killed by an avalanche while climbing in 2009, followed by Nanga Parbat about the fateful climb of the Messner brothers in 1970.
Sunday starts strong with the main film in the noon screening being Rosso 70 Storie E Memorie De 70 Anni Di Alpinismo, an Italian film featuring the 70 year history of the Dolomites based Cortina d’Ampezzo Climbing Club, Scoiattoli de Cortina. Fans of mountaineering literature will have seen this club mentioned and revered in Harrer’s classic White Spider.

Monday November 1 there is a free screening of five Canadian shorts produced by young filmmakers in conjunction with Parks Canada, followed by America’s Wild Spaces: Appalachian Trail.
7.30pm Max Bell Auditorium, FREE.

Tuesday November 2 is the ever popular high-octane Radical Reels, showing the fastest and gnarliest of mountain sports at 7.30pm in the Eric Harvie Theatre, $20.

On Wednesday November 3 the Snow Show will feature adrenalin and powder filled movies to get you pumped for the upcoming ski and snowboard season. Rev: A Buried Treasure has a local flavour, being a documentary style film about the town of Revelstoke, BC. Located close to Roger’s Pass, Revelstoke has always been a backcoutry skiers dream town and now with a new world class ski resort on their doorstep, Revelstoke is getting more attention than ever before. It will be interesting to see how the filmmakers depict this once sleepy mountain town. Eric Harvie Theatre 7.30pm, $20.

Thursday November 4 the Banff Mountain Book Festival starts, featuring various speakers at individual events at 10am, 12.30pm, and 2.00pm, each costing $13, with the evening show featuring John Vaillant, Sasha Snow and Jonathan Waterman at 7.30pm in the Eric Harvie Theatre, costing $25.
In recent years as a book festival attendee you had to commit to the full day’s events, so it’s nice to have the flexibility to pick and choose presentations this year, especially if you live locally and you are working the same day! Hopefully this flexibility will result in greater attendance.
Our vote for Thursday goes to the 10am slot when Alastair Lee will be presenting English mountain scenery at its best in his new photography book Lake District: Mountain Landscape, and Andrew Skurka will be making a presentation about his solo 4700 mile 6 month Alaska-Yukon Expedition.

Friday November 5 is day 2 of the Book Festival featuring various speakers at individual events at 10am, 12.30pm, and 2.00pm, each costing $13.
Of particular interest is the Interview with Greg Child, whose tales of climbing and mountaineering are sure to entertain.

Friday evening (Nov 5) sees the start of the main weekend of the Film Festival with Greg Mortenson speaking to a sell-out audience in the Eric Harvie Theatre at 8.00pm, with a simulcast in the Margaret Greenham Theatre which is also sold out.
Greg Mortenson is responsible for bringing education to children in some of the most sensitive areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and he shared those stories with the world in his popular books Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools and will be interviewed on stage by Losang Rabgey.
Following the interview, the films The Longest Way and The Asgard Project will be shown in the Eric Harvie Theatre, while viewers in the Margaret Greenham Theatre will see AZADI: Freedom, Sea to Peak and Song of the Forest.

Also on Friday evening the Baffin Babes will be speaking about their 1200km 80 day ski expedition across Baffin Island, followed by festival films. 8pm, Max Bell Auditorium, $32.

As usual Saturday and Sunday (Nov 6&7) will each host full day screenings of Film Festival films in various venues, with viewers being able to choose between Program A and Program B with each day costing $45.
The lucky viewers who are attending both Programs will have 21 fantastic films to enjoy over the 2 day period. From Program A we particularly like the sound of Wolverine: Chasing the Phantom about one of the Rockies’ toughest and most mysterious inhabitants, Scottish Ice Trip: Looking for Nessie in which Ueli Steck, who impressed us with his presentation in last year’s Banff Mountain Festival, flashes the hardest climb on Ben Nevis, and Mountains: Life in Thin Air in which the BBC show how millions of people across the world cope with life in the mountain environment.
Program B has its own share of highlights with Last Paradise taking a historical look at extreme sport in New Zealand, A Cry from the Top of the World documenting the 2008 disaster on K2 which was fervently discussed in a riveting noon-hour seminar during the 2008 Festival, and Le Monde de Gaston Rébuffat about the well known French mountain guide and poet and the first man to climb all 6 of the great north faces of the Alps.

Saturday evening November 6 sees accomplished free climber Alex Honnold in conversation with Peter Croft and Timmy O’Neill followed by films in competition. Eric Harvie and Margaret Greenham Theatres, $32.

On Sunday evening November 7, the Best of the Festival will show the presentation of awards to the winning film makers and Peter Fuhrmann will be presented with the 2010 Summit of Excellence Award. Screenings of a selection of award winning films will follow. Eric Harvie Theatre, $25.

For further information about the 2010 Banff Mountain Festival and for the full event schedule visit the Official Festival Website.
For special Film Festival rates at Banff hotels, click here.
To see a list of the award winning films from the 2010 Banff Mountain Festival, click here.
If you are planning to go skiing or snowboarding while you are in Banff, be sure to check out the latest Banff ski deals.