I have a 2016 Impreza five door. So far so good. The AWD is everything I'd dreamed it would be. Banff is somewhere I dream of going. I hope you'll share some pictures and experiences here, because I'd love to see them. I'm heading east tomorrow myself for some day hikes. Friday weather is fantastic, but that might be it for the weekend. Rain is moving in Saturday afternoon, and while it's clearing up Sunday morning, soaked trails have some challenges. I'm at 31 of the 46 High Peaks.
AWD is basically a necessity in NY in the Winter. Glad to hear it's been good for you! Oh, there will be #tripreports...I do need to find some new hiking partners, though. All mine keep moving. Not sure if it's a PNW thing or Mid 20's to Early 30's thing. Which peaks are you doing this weekend?
My plan is Colvin and Blake on Friday. If it looks like rain is moving in early Saturday afternoon, I may head down to Lake George to hike some of the little peaks around the lake. I've never really had hiking partners. Maybe this summer I can work on finding them. The local MeetUp seems pretty good. It's a very broad group of people, and among them there must be one or two more who'd be eager to fly just to hike some specific trails.