🚠 5 New Gondolas in Kananaskis?

Good morning, Bow Valley!

Just a quick pulse check to start today. The last time we surveyed Bow Valley Insiders, 76% of you said you wanted more “unique outdoor experiences” that go beyond the obvious. Think less Moraine Lake and Banff Gondola, more off-the-beaten-path. We don’t share these kinds of experiences often, but when our team heads out and does something genuinely cool, we sometimes write about it. On Friday, that meant a lesser-known Kananaskis hike. Afterward, we heard from a couple of readers who raised concerns that sharing these places adds pressure on wildlife and nature. So we want your take. Should we keep sharing experiences like this, or pull back? Vote below and feel free to leave a comment.

— Fortune Whelan, Ben S., Sneha Kainth, Madalyn Beach

FORTRESS PROPOSES GONDOLAS, ZIP LINES, AND MOUNTAIN COASTERS IN NEW RESORT PLAN

What’s Happening? Fortress Mountain has released its first detailed proposal for an all-season resort, outlining plans for gondolas, zip lines, mountain coasters, and a full buildout into a year-round destination. With that vision now public, the province has opened a 30-day window for formal public feedback on the plan.

Why This Is Different. For years, Fortress has been more idea than plan. This week changes that. A 103-page master plan lays out a five-phase blueprint to redevelop the former ski hill into a year-round destination in Kananaskis. The plan is not an approval, but it is the most concrete look yet at what “Fortress 2.0” could mean on the ground.

Phase 1, In Plain Terms. The opening move is summer-first and day-trip focused. Phase 1 centres on a sightseeing gondola to the alpine, paired with attractions like a via ferrata, a long zip line, a mountain coaster, climbing features, suspension bridges, mini golf, e-bike rentals, and a nighttime multimedia experience. Winter offerings are more limited early on, including tubing, tobogganing, snowshoeing, and cat skiing. Capacity planning matters here: Phase 1 is designed for roughly 3,000 daily visitors, supported by about 1,100 parking stalls, bus access, and a designated RV lot that allows overnight parking.

The Long View. Later phases shift Fortress from day-use to destination. By full buildout, the plan outlines a pedestrian resort core, hotels, and publicly rentable accommodations, hostels, glamping, and large employee housing areas. On the mountain, infrastructure expands to multiple gondolas and chairlifts, with activity zones spreading across five areas. At peak buildout, daily capacity is modeled at up to 9,650 guests.

Why Public Feedback Matters Now. The comment window, open until February 27, is the moment residents have been waiting for. Instead of debating hypotheticals, locals can respond to a defined plan, weighing in on traffic along Highway 40, development pace, workforce housing, environmental impacts, and overall scale. 

How This Fits the Bigger Picture. Earlier this month, Bow Valley Insider reported on a provincial survey showing 73% of Albertans support a small number of all-season resorts, but only with strict environmental safeguards and clear limits. That “yes, but only if” mood now sits directly beside Fortress’s proposal, making this review period a real test of how those conditions play out in practice.

How to Weigh In. We’ve got a deeper dive on the full proposal, including what’s planned in each phase and where to submit your feedback.

VALENTINE’S WEEKEND IN CANMORE, DONE PROPERLY

If Valentine’s Day usually means scrambling for reservations and settling for a rushed dinner, Winefest Canmore offers a better plan.

This special edition of Winefest turns the ballroom at The Malcolm Hotel into a relaxed, all-inclusive wine experience built for couples who value great food, great wine, and a little breathing room.

The evening unfolds as a guided journey through classic wine regions, starting with crisp European whites, moving into elegant Pinot Noir, structured Italian reds, and finishing with bold New World bottles and aged ports. Everything is thoughtfully paced. Nothing feels rushed. Chef-driven hors d’oeuvres by Executive Chef Graham Smith are paired throughout, so you are never juggling plates or hunting for food.

There are two identical sessions, so you can choose what works best: Friday, February 13 (7–10 PM) or Saturday, February 14 (6–9 PM). Same wines. Same food. Same experience.

Coming from Calgary? Make a weekend of it and stay the night at the Malcolm. Local? This is a rare chance to enjoy a world-class wine festival close to home, without crowds or city chaos.

No reservations to manage. Just wine, food, mountain views, and a Valentine’s plan that actually feels special.

🎟️ Tickets and more info here 

_{*Presented by Rocky Mountain Wine Fest.}

THE DIGEST

• 🚧 Lussier Hot Springs Closed Indefinitely After Rockfall Risk. Located near Radium but long popular with Bow Valley locals willing to make the drive, the natural Lussier Hot Springs has closed indefinitely after a containment wall failure caused large support boulders to collapse into the main pool, leaving unstable rock overhead. BC Parks has gated the access trail and is actively enforcing the closure. There is currently no timeline for reopening while engineers assess how to stabilize the site.

• 🏕️ Frontcountry Camping Reservations Pushed to Feb. 12. While backcountry camping reservations for Banff, Yoho, Kootenay, and Jasper opened last week, Parks Canada delayed the launch for frontcountry sites due to technical issues. Reservations for Banff National Park frontcountry campgrounds, including Lake Louise and the Icefields Parkway, will now open February 12 at 8 AM. Parks Canada says the delay was to ensure fair access after the issues were resolved.

• 🔥 Wildfire Burning Out of Control Near Ya Ha Tinda. An out-of-control wildfire is burning near Ya Ha Tinda, a popular hiking and climbing area for Bow Valley locals. The fire, now estimated at 125 hectares, was last confirmed as out of control Sunday morning and is under investigation. With low humidity and warmer winter temperatures, climbers and hikers are being urged to avoid unnecessary activity in the area and take extra care. Footage shared online shows active burning near Eagle Mountain.

• 🚐 Roam Transit Hit 3 Million Riders in 2025. Big year on the bus. Roam Transit says it carried just over 3.09 million riders in 2025, with Banff local routes accounting for nearly two million trips and Canmore locals topping 370,000. The fleet added nine new buses, including electric and hybrid models, and Route 12 became year-round with service to the Banff Springs Hotel. Roam also picked up Bow Valley awards for Best Use of Tax Dollars in both Banff and Canmore.

• 🕵🏻‍♀️ People Magazine Revisits a Tragic Mount Robson Disappearance. People Magazine has published a long-form look back at the 1984 disappearance of Nicholas Vanderbilt on Mount Robson. Vanderbilt was not a public figure, but an heir to a prominent Gilded Age family, which is why the case drew international attention. He vanished during a summer climb after weather deteriorated near the summit. Despite extensive public and privately funded searches, neither he nor his climbing partner were found.

We recently chatted with a local community group.

They were running workshops and needed more people to sign up. It cost $30 per person.

They told us they spent $500 on print ads to promote it.

Only two people signed up because of the ads.

That means they spent $500 to make $60. Tough math.

Print can work sometimes. For this group, it didn’t. The point is this: your marketing should clearly pay for itself.

If you want to talk about marketing with results, fill out this quick form.

A NEW STUDY SHOWS THE BOW RIVER’S SNOW SUPPLY IS GROWING LESS PREDICTABLE

What’s Happening? A new peer-reviewed study finds that while Canada as a whole is holding more snow than it did two decades ago, the mountain snow that feeds the Bow River is becoming far less reliable, with some western headwaters seeing drops in usable snow water of more than 70% since 2000.

The Big Idea. Snowpack has long acted as the Bow Valley’s quiet reservoir, storing winter precipitation and releasing it slowly into the Bow and Elbow rivers through spring and summer. But research published in Communications Earth & Environment suggests warming temperatures are disrupting that role in subtle but serious ways.

The Headwaters Problem. Using data from 2000 to 2019, researchers found total snow water across Canada increased overall. But about 3% of the study area showed sharp declines, concentrated in western and southern Canada and, critically, in mountainous headwaters between 800 and 2,200 metres. These are the elevations that feed rivers like the Bow. For areas above 1,500 metres, the likelihood of significant snow water losses rose to as much as 14%. In nearly every case, thinner snowpacks were the driver.

Why the Bow Valley Should Care. The Bow Valley sits squarely in one of the vulnerable regions identified by the study. Thinner, more fragile snowpacks melt earlier, are more prone to mid-winter thaw, and store less water by spring, even if snowfall totals look normal. The researchers link this pattern to past “snow droughts,” including 2015, when low mountain snowpack triggered water shortages and ecological impacts across Alberta and B.C.

The Quiet Warning. The study does not predict an immediate crisis. Instead, it flags a creeping risk. Snow is still falling, but its reliability as a slow, stable water source is weakening. For headwater communities like those in the Bow Valley, that shift matters, not just locally, but for everyone downstream who depends on that water.

Our full review walks through the entire study, with the data points most relevant to locals.

THINGS TO DO

Monday

• Glaciers’ Preservation Talk. Join a talk marking the UN-declared International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation. Sarah Karasiuk will explain why glaciers matter, global efforts to protect them, and what their loss means for water, tourism, and energy, drawing on her work with the Alpine Club of Canada. 2:00-3:00 PM. Canmore Senior Centre. By donation.

• Now Playing: It Was Just an Accident. It Was Just an Accident is a searing moral thriller from acclaimed director Jafar Panahi. Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival, the film explores truth, justice, and revenge through a tense journey across Tehran. 7:00 PM. Lux Theatre, Banff. $14.

Tuesday

• Stone Seal Carving. Learn the traditional East Asian art of seal carving in this four-week introductory course running Feb. 3-24. Explore the history of zhuanke, carve a personalized stone seal, and leave with a functional work of art. Taught by instructor Ann Fu, this beginner-friendly class includes all materials. 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM. artsPlace, Canmore. $190.*

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• 🥗 Super Bowl Sunday Plans, Sorted. Catch the big game on Sunday, February 8, with a Super Bowl party at Sandtraps. Festivities kick off at 4 PM with chili cheese dogs, pitchers of beer, wine features, and draw prizes throughout the game. Free parking makes it easy to settle in, and a Prime Rib feature is available for $39. A classic game-day lineup, done right.*

• 🏅 Local Volunteer Honoured for Caring for Banff’s Veterans’ Graves. The Banff Legion has recognized Paulette Zarkos with a Legion Centenary Medal, an award given to people who have made significant community contributions. Zarkos has spent years restoring veterans’ headstones in the Old Banff Cemetery, working with families and involving Banff students in remembering and honouring those who served.*

• 🍝 New on Main Street: Luigi’s Italian Kitchen. A new Italian restaurant has quietly opened on Main Street in Canmore. It’s called Luigi’s Italian Kitchen and, for longtime locals, it’s in the former Santa Lucia Trattoria spot. It’s not yet clear if it’s the same ownership, but we’ll report back after we check it out. For now, it’s open and serving classic, share-friendly Italian food like pastas and pizzas made from traditional recipes. If you beat us there, let us know what you think.

• 📣 Call for Artists. The Homegrown Art Show celebrates young, new, and emerging artists from across the Bow Valley, turning Banff Town Hall into a community gallery each spring. Artists living in Banff, Canmore, or the surrounding area are invited to apply by March 6. Selected works will be exhibited March 13-April 10.

• 🎸 30 Years Ago: Goo Goo Dolls in Banff. We came across an old YouTube video filmed in Banff in 1996, capturing the Goo Goo Dolls during MuchMusic’s Snow Job concert series. At the height of ’90s alternative rock, the band was building its following through relentless touring and emotionally charged songs. The outdoor show is a time capsule from an era when bands earned their reputation one cold, night at a time.

CIVIC NEWS

• Banff E-Bike Program Shifts Administration. The Town of Banff plans to transition administration of its popular e-bike rebate program to Community Cruisers, a local volunteer-run organization that promotes cycling as everyday transportation through education, events, and advocacy. Funded by visitor-paid parking revenue, the program has issued $435,000 in rebates since 2022.

LIVE MUSIC

• Monday, February 2nd, 2025, 10:00 PM: Karaoke Monday. Location: Drake Pub, Canmore. No Cover.

• Tuesday, February 3rd, 2025, 10:00 PM:Banff Punk Night. Location: Pump and Tap, Banff. No Cover.

SPORTS

• Bow Valley Freeskiers Sweep Kimberley Podium. Bow Valley athletes dominated a major youth freeride skiing competition in Kimberley, earning multiple podium finishes across several age groups. Banff skier Seth Sands took first place in the under-19 boys category after a strong finals run, while Canmore and Banff athletes filled several other top spots. The event is seen as an important stepping stone for athletes aiming to qualify for higher-level competitions later this season.

That’s all, folks!

We’ll see you back here on Wednesday, same time, same place! 

Heads Up: We sometimes feature paid promotion from local businesses and organizations we trust. When you see a little asterisk (*), that means it’s a sponsored post. We only work with partners we think our readers will actually care about.