Lingering at the gateway to Banff

If you decide to take a day off from skiing, the charming town of Canmore (population 12,000) has no shortage of shops, museums, and restaurants.

There is but one pitfall here for novices. Canmore is a gateway to Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies, which means there will be some hills, even on the easiest trails. More advanced skiers have plenty of intermediate and advanced trails to keep them happy.

The mix of terrain is what brought Matt and Susan Laurnen here for the second time in a week. The couple, from Enumclaw, Wash., was visiting relatives in Calgary.

A few days earlier they had brought their sons, 4 and 6. "The easier trails were just right for them," Susan Laurnen said.

I saw the Laurnens only one time while skiing, on the 4-mile-long main trail. Called the Banff Trail, it has two sets of tracks in each direction and a wide skate-ski area in the middle. We passed going in opposite directions at Meadow View, an area at 4,856 feet where the trail exits the woods and opens onto a stunning view of a wide valley flanked by soaring mountains.

On the way back to the lodge, I chatted with Aurawan Vongs from Old Bridge, N.J., who had stopped at the top of the hill overlooking Meadow View to snap some photos. She was staying in Banff, 30 minutes north, and had the afternoon free.

"No one wanted to go Nordic skiing, and I don't do downhill, so I looked online for cross-country trails and found this," Vongs said. "I didn't know what to expect; I thought it would be just some trails. Everything lacks in comparison unless you go to the Alps. When I came around this bend, oh my God, I just started to cry."

Vongs, a novice skier, found a few portions of the easiest trail challenging, but they didn't deter her.

If you need a refresher course, the center offers ski and skate lessons for all levels.

In the summer, the center has a paved roller-ski loop, single-and-double-track biking trails, a mountain-bike skills park, and an 18-hole disc golf course.

A day lodge has a large stone fireplace, picture windows looking out onto the mountains, and a cafe serving freshly baked bread, homemade soups, and made-to-order meals.