I live in Calgary, and although I don’t downhill ski, Banff is an irresistible midwinter getaway. I go for a transfusion of crisp mountain scenery and also for food. Something about snow-covered peaks evokes robust dishes that smell of roasting and time.

To be truthful, the town of Banff, with its tourists and shoppers, is decidedly not nature. The trick is to look past the people, up to the mountains that cradle the town. Mysterious and inspiring, Cascade Mountain, Mount Norquay and Sulphur Mountain quietly overwhelm the humans crawling below.

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Coffee’d up, it’s time for a brunch extraordinaire at The Bison Mountain Bistro, on Bear Street, behind Banff Avenue. The bistro wears a rustic air and serves up muscular taste from fresh seasonal ingredients. The room’s wooden tables and open oven suggest a large family kitchen, but the big windows look out onto Mount Rundle and Sulphur and Tunnel mountains, a sight to make even the sated hungry. The buttermilk waffles come with raspberryrhubarb compote, and the choice of Benedicts includes roasted tomato or duck confit with fresh goat cheese. If the brunch fare doesn’t appeal, there’s the bison onion soup, rich and deep, with a sweetness that lifts it to ambrosial levels. Just as good is the General Store on the ground floor. It sells made-to-measure sandwiches of roast bison or roasted vegetables as well as the bistro’s house-made smoked tomato ketchup and seasonal preserves.

On this visit, a friend and I work off the morning meal with an easy snowshoe outing around Johnson Lake (only 3.5 kilometres and just enough fresh air to inspire circulation). By the time we finish, the light has settled into cocktail hour. We repair to the Rundle Lounge at The Fairmont Banff Springs. On the upper floor, we wiggle past visitors finishing the extravagance of afternoon tea (served from 2 to 4 p.m.) and luck into a seat at the window, allowing us to look far down Bow Valley to the east. As dusk falls, the mountains wear wreaths of cloud. In the tradition of those “grand” hotels (built by the CPR to attract tourists to the park), we settle into the comfortable wingback chairs and meditate on the vista over a glass of Prosecco and an almond latte. It’s peaceful and spectacular at the same time.

To warm up for dinner, we decide to “take the waters” at the Banff Upper Hot Springs. The mineralized water soothes even potential aches. The outdoor hot pool is always crowded but still manages to be calming, and there are quiet curves on the ledge to lean on and stare up at the snow-outlined mountains. The pool is at its most mysterious when it snows and its most romantic under the stars at night.