i want to know how banff is. are you driving? flying? what's around there? how do i vacation there? these are questions i've had on the backburner for about a decade.
I spent three weeks in Canada in 2014. We were around the Jasper and Banff are for around half of that. Rather than Banff directly, we stayed in nearby Canmore. There's loads of awesome hikes to do in the surrounding area. And if you go up to the Nordic Centre in the summer, you can hire bikes and go around all the cross-country skiing trails. I definitely recommend a hike up to the ink pots in the Banff National Park. It's such a beautiful area and it's my favourite holiday I've had in my life so far. I would not hesitate at the opportunity to go back. You can read my trip report for a bit more information and pictures :).
Funny, I ended up on skis for the first time at the Canmore Nordic Centre back when I was in Calgary. So many great hikes there. Should've done more! ButterflyEffect, Kananaskis County has a few gorgeous hikes: 
Now that's a good looking peak. There's an amazing amount of hikes out there, any plans to revisit in the future?
Exactly. As far as I can remember there's a various levels of day passes. The most basic let's you follow the main trail which is fully tarmac. The next ones up allow you to go off road and down smaller and more wild tracks. It's basically a number of different circuits with various offshoots: Though I didn't get to check them out too much as my brother went over the handlebars before we had a chance. They looked awesome from what I saw. There's also a small dirt park next to the main center building. Re: the beer. There's a number of great places to drink and eat in town, which is only about a 20 minute walk from the trails. I can remember a pretty rad brewery pub we went to.so you can mountain bike on the ski trails when there's no snow?
Yes. It's ~10.5 hours to Jasper from here, then another couple down to Banff from there. No, though I suppose you could fly into Calgary and drive from there. Jasper National Park, Banff National Park, Yoho National Park, Kootenay National Park. Lake Louise, the town of Banff, uhm maybe other things that I'm 100% unaware of (likely lots of this). Option 1: Go daycamping or backpacking through yonder woods. Option 2: Find a hostel, room, or couch in the Lake Louise area and go exploring! I'll likely have more valuable input at the end of this month.are you driving?
flying?
what's around there?
how do i vacation there?
Apparently there's a bunch of hostels scattered about the area. Who knew.