Sunshine 2 - Friday, January 2

On my last day I wanted to return to Sunshine as I had only spent one day there and it had the best snow, both in terms of coverage and consistency. Mike Romano from Voyageurs was in Calgary for a family wedding so we arranged to meet and ski together. I was a little worried as the forecast was for -16C temperatures but the day turned out to be amazing. It was our first sunny day from start to finish. There was even a vertical rainbow in the centre of the resort for most of the day. The snow was fantastic - tons of loose snow and no icy patches like Lake Louise and Norquay. My freshly tuned edges felt sooooo much better than my railed skis did at Norquay.

Mike and I skiied A LOT. We skiied off every lift and spent a great deal of time at Goat's Eye as conditions were better there than when I was there earlier in the week. We started pretty much when the lifts opened and skiied through to around 3:00 pm. With my "private shuttle" (Mike's rented Prius) I was back in no time and even had time to go for a hot tub before beginning to pack.

The group went to Bumpers for another beef dinner. I swear I am not going to eat steak or any kind of beef for probably three months after this trip! We will be leaving early tomorrow for Calgary. So another trip winds down. I am glad I got a lot of big mountain skiing in. I am happy I found some great people to ski with. After over two weeks away from home I am actually looking forward to seeing my renovated condo, sleeping in my own bed, and just being by myself doing what I want when I want. Ahhhhh!

Norquay - Thursday, January 1

After a late night, we had a bit of a lie in, waking up at 8:00 am. After four days of frenetically getting ready to catch shuttles to hills and enduring the long transfers back in the evening to get only minutes to get ready each night, I was ready to take it easy. I took my time getting ready and caught the 9:12 shuttle to Norquay with Pat. I remembered liking the oft-overlooked hill the last time I was in Banff and was looking forward to avoiding the crowds and having only a 15 minute commute.

Norquay did not disappoint. It was a picturesque drive and a beautiful hill. There were no rocks poking through on the moderate blues and blacks we did and a fair bit of fresh snow on the sides of the runs from yesterday evening's snowfall. My only problem was that one of my skis kept washing out any time I was on firmer snow. Upon inspection I realized I had rolled an edge, so I traded skis to move that edge to an inside edge to minimize its impact. Then when I returned to Banff I took my skis in to get the edges done.

Pat and I had a nice lunch at a pub on one of the side streets and then returned to the hotel to chill for a bit. The outdoor hot tubs have now been repaired and are likely my next stop.

Kicking Horse - New Year's Eve

[Photos above: Craig and Bruce before diving in; Pat and I at New Year's Dinner, the scene on Banff Avenue at midnight]

The High Park trip included five days of skiing at your choice of Lake Louise, Sunshine, or Norquay. For most that was all the skiing they planned to do. I however did not come all the way to Banff to visit souvenir shops. I'd rather be making some souvenirs (memories). With that in mind, three of us - Craig, Bruce, and I - booked a day trip to Kicking Horse in Golden, BC. It was $91 for the door to door coach and lift ticket, pretty good considering a lift ticket alone is $67.

The trip to Kicking Horse took about 2 1/2 hours with pick-ups. As it was still dark when we left at 7:00 pm, we didn't see much early on but the scenery was stunning as we got close. I was glad I was on a bus as I sure wouldn't want to drive that highway! It snowed hard all day which made for awesome snow conditions but not great visibility which made the tougher runs a challenge. The most interesting run we did today was one off Redemption Ridge. We had to follow the ridge down a way to where we wanted to ski. The downhill traverse kept us on our toes as a lot of wood and rocks were still uncovered this time of year. But once we dove down it was deep, deep powder.

We had planned to eat at the Eagle's Eye restaurant on top the mountain but as visibility was so poor we elected to grab a sandwich at a coffee shop at the base of the mountain. It was delish - probably my best sandwich since the bakeries in New Zealand. Appropriate as almost everyone working in Banff and Kicking Horse seems to be either Kiwi or Aussie. We then skiied hard all afternoon, just taking a brief pause at the end of the day to get a gluewine (Yes! They even have mulled wine there) and a cute Kicking Horse t-shirt. OK, so I did get my souvenir after all!

As today is New Year's Eve, once I got back to the hotel o had to quickly get ready and hightail it over to the pre-arranged New Year's party. Really, who plans a formal in Banff!?! Dinner was fantastic. I ate several different things than usual - beef carpaccio (me and basically raw meet?), scallops, and bison. The creme brule dessert had saskatoon berries in it so I explained to the easterners what they were. It was not a very wild crowd with most departing before midnight. For those of us who hung in we were treated to a huge fireworks display for the gigantic crowd on Banff Avenue. Rather than watch from above, we joined the crowd in the street. It was fabulous. Happy New Year!

Lake Louise 2 - Tuesday, December 30

Day 3 brought a return visit to Lake Louise. This time we caught the earliest bus at 7:40. It turned out to be a good move as the best light was earlier in the day. It was our first sunny day. You could see the Chateau and Lake Louise. There was a lot of photo taking, to the point of "Enough already! I came here to ski!"

The day didn't start well for me as my feet cramped up on the first run. I think it was a combination of thinner socks and doing a harder effort than I usually would apply right out the gate. I loosened my boots up and took it easy for the next run and luckily they felt a lot better. By mid-morning I was able to buckle them up properly and they were comfortable the rest of the day.

We skiied in the same group as the day previous - Bruce, Craig, Pat, and me. We covered a lot of terrain once again. Perhaps the most interesting run was one I had no interest in doing initially. We had to take a poma lift (little saucer like disc that is inserted between your legs and pulls you up the hill) to the summit. Once there we were able to traverse over to a bowl of soft fluffy snow. With the bright sun out it was the perfect day and time to ski it.

This evening I FINALLY made it to the hot springs. They were packed. Still it felt good to relieve my tired muscles. The same group that skiied together then had dinner at Giorgio's Trattoria. I had their signature dish - a pasta pinwheel that was delicious.

I then returned to the hotel to rest up for my big trip to Kicking Horse tomorrow. Stay tuned...

Sunshine - Monday, December 29

Today we got an earlier start, catching a 7:55 am shuttle to Sunshine. I started the day skiing with Pat and a fellow named Dave. We did a little tour of the mountain starting on the Angel Express chair and then skiing into B.C. on the Continental Divide before heading over to Standish. Pat and I then took a hot chocolate break to warm our tootsies. We had great timing beating out the lunch crowds.

The two of us then continued on to the Wawa chair - by far my favourite area of the day. It was lower and more treed and thus warmer. The snow there was fantastic! We skiied next to the trees in soft, soft snow. At noon we met up with a couple other High Parkers, Bruce and Craig. They decided to ski with us instead of the snow host they were about to join. After showing them the best runs on Wawa, we made our way to Goat's Eye. Enroute we ran into four other HP'ers who joined us for a couple runs. By then Pat and I were ready for a late lunch, once again managing to evade the crowds. We sat out one run and then rejoined Bruce and Craig to travel back to revisit some of our favourites of the earlier areas we had skiied before doing the ski out to the bottom of the mountain (perhaps better termed the human pinball machine run).

As you have probably already surmised from all the skiing I got in today, my newly adjusted boots felt fantastic! The cuffs have never felt better. My feet felt great all day. The only remaining issue is that my toes are freezing instantly because the toe beds are too tight. So it was back to the boot fitter after skiing today for one (hopefully last!) adjustment.

Tonight there was a group dinner planned for us at the Elk & Oarsmen - another good opportunity to meet people and swap ski stories. Tomorrow it looks like we will be heading back to Lake Louise. Best rest up!

Lake Louise - Sunday, December 28

I knew we were in for a good day today when I opened our hotel door to find fresh snow on the ground and plenty more coming down. A huge group of us boarded the 8:40 am shuttle to Lake Louise. I was the only one who wore regular boots and carried my ski boots and it was a decision that paid off in spades as the latest adjustments made to my boots are not working out at all.
Most of us began the day with a guided tour by a snow host as a way to both familiarize ourselves with the mountain and find others at the same level to ski with. I joined the highest group they had - one they termed Double Blue. There were 6 of us from High Park in the group as well as a woman from Blue Mountain whose daughter lives here. The host took us to a few different areas and showed us some Black runs we could do later in the day.

After lunch the 6 of us headed out for a run that I somehow ended up leading. After that run, two of the group decided to leave us and we were four - Pat, Richard, and Edit (pronounced Ed eat), and me. We got a few good runs in. The best was probably Paradise Bowl. It's too bad that the visibility had gotten poor by that time. I begged off a run earlier than the others as it felt like my right boot was taking a bite out of my leg.

I got on an earlier shuttle than the others and saw a huge (maybe 30?) herd of elk on the way back. After making a quick stop to drop off my skis I continued on to a ski shop to try my luck with a boot fitter there. I chose a shop that advertised guaranteed boot fitting and asked the young guys at the front if they would recommend a "kick-ass boot fitter". Simultaneously they answered "Kev" with thick Aussie surfer accents - more like Keeeeeehhhhhv. I ended up working with Kevin for two and a half hours!!! He moved over a couple buckles, blew out the back (an unusual area to blow out) where the back of my leg below the calf did not have enough room, removed some of the padding that had been added and wasn't doing me any favours, added heal lifts to give my calf more room, and blew out the area around my forefoot which will keep my toes warmer by giving me some more room there. The lesson here: buy boots that most closely resemble the shape of your feet and then have an expert boot fitter make them match your foot shape exactly. I can't wait to try out my re-worked boots tomorrow at Sunshine!

I didn't get back from the ski shop until 7:15 pm. Luckily I had called Pat to let her know I was okay and she invited me to a dinner that a group had set up for a nearby Greek restaurant. I got ready and out the door in 15 minutes (*new record*) and met them there. It was a fun group. Now I am totally ready to hit the hay to save some energy for tomorrow.

Banff - Saturday, December 27

Today was a LONG day. Dad and I woke at 2:00 am for him to drive me to Winnipeg to catch my 7:00 am flight to Calgary. We made good time, arriving at the outskirts of Winnipeg at 5:00 am. I found out later that Dad was back home asleep by 8:30 am. Good job! I cat-napped a bit on the drive in, again on the plane, and a little on the shuttle to Banff. As I got to Banff at 8:30 am I took a 9:30 am shuttle rather than wait for the group to arrive at 12:30. It turned out to be a great decision. I arrived in Banff at 11:15 am, a full five hours before the group.

During my time this afternoon I unpacked, got organized, went for a walk around town, had lunch at a local pub, and spent some time in our hotel's lovely outdoor hot tubs. It was basically a day of apres-ski without the ski.

This evening once the group arrived we met up for appy's and dinner at Wild Bill's. It was good to get to know a few more members of the group. Everyone is nice. What would make the week perfect is to have at least one really good friend with me to know I have someone I can ski with and go to dinner with, and so on. My roommate Pat is nice. We walked down to dinner together and on the way back stopped at Safeway for snacks. Sunkist Mini Bites (100% fruit and veg's) totally rock! Taste like candy. I can't stop drinking water here. It is so much drier than Manitoba. My hair is totally staticky.

OK. I just re-read what I have written so far and the random thoughts I'm now generating tell me that it's time to get some rest. I'll be sure to post after my ski day to Lake Louise tomorrow!