Sulphur Mountain Gondola in Banff

On a whim we decided to take the gondola up to the top of Sulphur Mountain in Banff. It is only a five minute drive from our hotel so we thought we would squeeze in a quick visit between other activities.

As we arrived at the base of the mountain, we looked up....and up...and up. The tops of the mountains disappeared into the clouds, but the sun shone through, making the snow twinkle all around us. It's hard not to feel humbled in the midst of such beautiful and awe-inspiring scenery!

The base of the Banff Gondola has a cute souvenir shop, and the highest altitude Starbucks in Canada. Each gondola car seats four, and only takes eight minutes to reach the top.

Not having done any research ahead of time we really didn't know what to expect, so our surprise was magnified when we reached the top of the mountain, and walked outside to discover views like this!

You can walk from the gondola station along a wooden walkway to the Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station on the next peak. It has a fascinating history, which you can read more about on the Parks Canada website.

Visiting on Christmas Day was pretty magical, with the snow-covered trees and glittering mountain tops. I can't remember ever seeing a more beautiful view!

From one side of the mountain we could even see our hotel, the Fairmont at Banff Springs (which I'll be writing a blog post about soon)!

There is something really special about standing above the clouds looking down. Really takes your breath away (and not just because of the high altitude)!

And just because I still can't get over the beauty of the Canadian Rockies, here are a few more pics...in hopes they will inspire you to visit one day!

We veered off the wooden walkway near the Cosmic Ray Station to do a little exploring down the side of the mountain. The views were worth the few slippery and scary moments we had along the edge further down.

Our 'quick visit' turned into several hours, as we explored the view from every possible angle. Check out the video below to get a better idea of just how incredible the view was!

Tips
It's very, very cold up there this time of year, and extremely windy. So wear a decent scarf, jacket, hat, gloves, and glasses. We saw so many miserable people who were completely under-dressed!

Go in the morning. As we were leaving, mid afternoon all the tour buses started arriving. There were no lines when we arrived before lunch and at times we had the mountain top to ourselves, but it got increasingly busier as the day progressed.

Let me know if you have any questions about my Banff adventures, and I'll do my best to answer them! And of course, you can see more photos over on Instagram: @SweetDivergnece