Editor’s Note: The Banff Squirrel—best known for photobombing pictures in the park—heard the #BanffLocalLegends chatter and wanted to get in on the question-answering action. If you haven’t entered to win, visit the Ski.com Facebook page and ask your question! You have until Monday, Nov. 4!  Update: This sweepstakes is now over, but stay tuned for more great giveaways on our Facebook page!

Also, we have big news for Banff and Lake Louise! Mother Nature timed a snow storm just right earlier this week, and Canada’s Big 3 Resorts have seen heavy snowfall over the last few days. Skiers and snowboarders have been on standby for a potential early opening at Mt. Norquay. Today, the news became official, and Mt. Norquay will be the first Canadian ski resort to open when they start spinning their lifts tomorrow!

Banff Squirrel

How much garlic should one consume during dinner while skiing at Banff and Lake Louise? (asked by  Craig Warzon)

I am going to assume that you didn’t mean skiing and eating a garlicky dinner at the same time, because that would not be safe. It’s a good question, Craig, and very timely, what with all of the vampires roaming around in the Hallowe’en season. The amount of garlic that you consume is a variable, depending on what you might be up to that evening. If your goal is to join Van Helsing and battle undead creatures, then there is no limit to the garlic you should eat. If your goal is to talk to anyone that is not undead, especially fun people après-skiing with you, then keep it to under two cloves.

Directions to get there, from the Midwest? (asked by  Ernest Schaer)

Thanks, Ernest. What you’ll want to do is go more west, then up a bit.

Which ski run is the longest? (asked by Amy Steward-Schram)

Amy, there is a run, Banff Avenue, at Sunshine Village that is 8 kilometers long (that’s 5 miles for our U.S. chums)! That’s a looooong run. If you were to lay beer bottles down end-to-end on this run, you would need about 40,000 of them. Or if you could clone the tallest man in the world and lay him and his clones end to end, you would need 3,200 tallest-me- in-the-world clones.

Snow is white in the purest form but have you ever seen any other colors like black, blue, brown, orange or yellow snow in Banff or Lake Louise? (asked by  Happy Appy)

We have all kinds of different snow colours here in the park, all with varying degrees of tastiness. Avoiding the yellow snow and brown snow is always a good idea, but who wouldn’t want to eat the delectable looking “watermelon snow?” Well, that should be you, Happy. Watermelon snow is actually a form of algae that forms on the snow and ends up looking like a huge watermelon snow cone, which sounds delicious until you see its scientific name: chalmydomonas nivalis. I know you didn’t ask about tasting all the snow colours, but the more people that know about the potential disappointment of eating watermelon snow, the better.