13 clubs with 177 participants joined the fun this year for Chicago Week February 24, 2424 – March 2, 2424 in Banff, Alberta, Canada. Since our setting was Banff National Park, full of wildlife, our theme “The Wild Side of Banff” fit perfectly! Thanks to everyone for the great participation and creativity with your wildlife wear this year. We also welcomed two new clubs on their very first Chicago Week: Lincoln Park and Pine Point.

For a couple of months, snow was quite scarce in Banff UNTIL the snow fairy followed Chicago Week-ers flight path to Banff! The snow slowly started the day of arrival and it kept snowing the entire week, with the sun peeking through for ½ day on Tuesday. At least 32” fell while we were there. Fresh snow every day 😊. It was magical!

Saturday, arrival day, we had 3 flights arrive and our 4 buses (Wolf Bus, Elk Bus, Fox Bus, and Moose Bus) transported most to our lodging properties. Lodging was spread along Banff Avenue: Caribou Lodge, Moose Hotel & Suites, Ptarmigan Inn, and Banff Park Lodge. They welcomed us with open arms and handled us with great care. Many joined the Meet ‘n Greet at Elk and Oarsmen for a drink, a bite to each, and enjoy each other’s company.
Sunday started our wonderful, snowy ski week. Lots and lots of snow. While some joined the mountain tours; others skied on their own. What a fabulous day of skiing. Everyone was so happy! Sunday’s welcome reception at Melissa’s was an awesome venue. The appetizers were tasty & plentiful with an extensive variety including multiple deserts and drinks. Many joined in the fun with their “Wild Side of Banff” wear. CMSC Trip Leaders Noreen and Gray Wolf Vicki conducted a raffle with donations from Viking, SkiGroup.Net, SkiBig3, Melissa’s, and our Pub Crawl partners. Thank you for your donations!

Now, hold on to your seat....a confession was made......it was a purely innocent accident ........Vicki raffled off Randy's ski gloves – LOL. The gloves were sitting with all of the other raffle prizes waiting to be raffled off! Luckily, we had another set of brand-new gloves that we saved to raffle at the banquet so that we could make the exchange with the winning raffle ticket holder.

Monday was a jam-packed activity day. First was the race at Lake Louise. Although we experienced a few hiccups with the bus transportation, we managed to make it up to the race, travelling slowly in the snow. We had one very cold day at the race, and 55 brave skiers joined in the fun. A variety of categories were included such as “fastest” male & female in various age categories, and closest to match their own time.

The race was followed by lunch at Whisky Jacks, which was a welcomed warm-up for the skiers. We lunched on burgers, brats and sides…very tasty. Not only did we have a cold race day, but Monday Night Pub Crawl was FRRRIGGGID. Our 6 featured pubs included Banff Ave Brewing, Canadian Brewhouse, Elk & Oarsman, Rose & Crown, St James Gate, & Tommys. Over 60 CMSC-ers joined the Pub Crawl on this very cold night! They may not have made all 6 pubs, but everyone was a trooper to brave the cold at all! Cheers!

Tuesday was, indeed, a beautiful ski day – the sun came out for us 😊 (Norquay on the left) Our first Après started at 4pm at Banff Ave Brewing, where they offer flights of their own tasty beer as well as other drink selections. They are known for their unusual, delicious pizzas, and we tried a variety of them. Mmm good, and we were certainly well fed.

Wednesday was a "ski-day off" for many. 10 of our 177 joined the trip specifically for the non-skiing activities. There is so much to do in Banff! A number of people went ice climbing, toured waterfalls (pic on right), some took the Banff Gondola up to Sulphur Mountain, others took wildlife tours, the hot springs was a popular venue, visiting museums, attending high tea, and checking out the Fairmount Banff Springs Hotel.......and, of course, shopping and dining. Many also saw wildlife on the road (left).

Thursday was another snowy day of fabulous skiing – fun, fun, fun! At 6:00pm, the banquet kicked off at Banff Park Lodge beginning with happy hour followed by an unbelievable variety of delicious food, salads, and deserts for dinner. Personally, I was stuffed and there was plenty more! The well attended banquet included some creative “Wild Side of Banff” wear. We saw moose, fox, wolves, bear, deer, and elk, to name a few. Racing trophies, more raffles/prizes, costume contest, and dancing took place into the night. We had quite a few dancers "shakin' their booties" to the tunes of an excellent DJ! Club costume contest winner was Ft Wayne (top right). Check out the individual runners up (bottom left). The bear took 1st place individual. Guess what? The snow was still coming down on the way back to our rooms.

Sadly, Friday was our last ski day. The good news was we had plenty of snow. We gathered for our 2nd Après at Canadian Brewhouse at 4:00pm where we enjoyed a delicious, endless taco bar with a variety of drinks. Saturday was the journey home.

Everyone was loving the snowfall and the skiing at all 3 mountains. Great ski stories every day. The events were super fun, and boy did they feed us well !!!! Absolutely NO complaints, and many, many compliments. I was even told on a couple of occasions that it was the best Chicago Week they had been on.

Until next year, everyone, when we will gather together at Jackson Hole!

Thanks for joining the trip! Vicki & Noreen