Banff lift pass/ bus to slopes ?

I am thinking of taking my girlfriend to banff in jan/feb for a 7 night holiday. Its a long way for 7 days but unfortunately, work commitments wont allow any longer.
If i remember correctly, if you buy a 6 day pass, the bus to the slopes is included. but, i will only be skiing 3/4 days and my girlfriend will just be coming to the slopes to watch and read a book whilst drinking hot chocolate :-) so will need the bus but not the liftpass. Again if i remember correctly, the bus tickets are crazy expensive on their own.
Does anybody know a cost effective way for us to get to the slopes? can i buy a day skipass/bus tickets? is it too expensive to buy lift passes by the day? we dont really fancy hiring a car.
any other tips would be gratefully accepted :)

Hi Moogy

The shuttle bus to the ski resorts is included when you buy a multi-day (3+) tri-area lift ticket. So for a 3 or 4 day tri-area ticket, your bus is included.

Without a lift ticket, a return bus fare from Banff to the resorts is $15. This can be paid as you get on the bus. This is a much cheaper alternative to hiring a car; you will only need to buy extra bus tickets for your girlfriend. A multi-day lift pass is also much cheaper than buying a ticket per day.

More details are online at http://www.skibig3.com/banff-lake-louise/banff-lake-louise-shopping/banff-lake-louise-lift-tickets

Hi Moogy, the Banff area sells tickets based on a 3 out of 4 days, or 5 out of 7 days type of deal. Look under the pricing tab for full details on this site..

http://www.skibig3.com/banff-lake-louise/banff-lake-louise-shopping/banff-lake-louise-lift-tickets

I do not know about just bus tickets, but there is contact info on the above site, so you may want to drop them an email.

Finally, if you are going to ski up Sunshine, I would have thought there is a pretty good chance your gf would want to come up in the Gondola with you. There is a hotel at the top of the Gondola, so I am guessing they must do some sort of foot passenger ticket, again you may need to ask via email.

Sorry I can't help further. Enjoy the trip :)

Edit.. Doh, must type faster, I have been sniped :roll:

Maybe one of the other resorts for ski in/out? Say Fernie, Kimberley or Kicking Horse, although Banff would be much better for a non-skier. There is a hotel up in Sunshine but it may be restricting up there?

Cheers guys. that is a big big help!

ski in/out was another option i was thinking about. i have skied kicking horse and i'm a lot heavier and nowhere near as fit as i used to be so kicking horse would be wasted on me!
My main priority for a resort would be activities for my girlfriend as a non skier....snowmobiling, dog sledding that we can do together and some nice slopes for an unfit rusty advanced skier.
I skied banff about 5 times many years ago. fernie and kimberly sounds promising. are they good resorts for non skiers?

:)

Kimberely is quiet but there are a few activities for non-skiers, Fernie would probably be better as there is a bit more going on but its still relatively quiet compared to Banff. However, I would choose them over Banff because of the ease of it all. Hope this helps!

Sunshine will be great for getting back and shaking the rust off some lovely runs, great run back down the mountain at the end of the day to the base station. We went as a group in Jan 2010 and then as two familys in April 2011. Jan was cold at times April was a joy. Some of our group did the dog sledding from Banff and also a ice walk, and snowmobiling. Try and get her on some skis if only for a couple of days. the ski school there is great and as i say the tree lined run back to the base station is a nice easy green. Some nice easy greens to start of the strawberry lift.
Enjoy.