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Published: March 15th 2010
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Skiing! I love it. So good to finally get on a pair of skis. I have had a great week up in the mountains and I have been super lucky with the snow conditions...aparently it hadn't snowed in two weeks but the first day I get there it is snowing the whole time! We (Madison, the girl I met in Thailand and I)stayed up in Canmore at the Canadian Rockies Chalets (the cheaper alternative to staying in Banff) had had a super cool apartment for the week (only 10 bucks more than a hostel would have been!) I would strongly recommed this as a place to stay...the outdoor hot tub was a great bonus! After hiring some equipment on monday morning we headed up to Sunshine Village for the day. It was snowing heavily and I actually loved it. The resort was awesome. So so many runs and loads of terrain to cover. Some steep, some super steep and some that were perfect for picking up a crazy amount of speed and carving all the way back down to the bottom of the lift. We also skied across the Alberta/British Columbia border which was a wierd feeling! I had some failry good skis but the boots played havock with my shin so next time i'll check in on some quality boots. Madison's friends borded with us on Monday and stayed for a party night as well...which stuipdly involved getting a photo in the deep snow outside the apartment in just swim wear...whilst it was snowing! Facebook holds the evidence of that. On Tuesday I headed out to the hill with Madison's brother (a super good snow border) and we cruised through over a foot of powder all day. The snow was literally perfect and we caught every lift in the resort to get our money's worth off the lift ticket. We didn't stop once and by the end of the day my legs were burning. The runs though the trees were awesome because they were all under deep snow and the rides through the snow park were adventerous to say the least (there is a limit to what you can do on basic hire skis!) I think my favourite run was over on the Goat's Eye mountain where the top section was perfect for racing all the way down, pretty fast. That was an awesome afternoon and the rest of the week was great too. In order to save some money we cooked up most meals in the apartemnt...one day making enough meatball pasta to probably feed 50 people. During the week we also watched the film "The Goods". This film is absolutly amazing. Watch it! On Wednesday we had another day up at Sunshine. I met a few people from England who had been out in Banff for the whole season doing there ski instrucotrs course. Looks like awesome fun but just as I thought my trip was expensive...they said theirs was crazy money! On Thursday we headed over to Lake Louise. This was again another huge resort with more runs than you knew what to do with. I did however make it a personal challange to ski every run...not sure if I did though! The snow was slightly icy on Thursday but the runs were still good. The huge power bowls with the double black diamond runs were pretty challenging as the moguls were nearly the size of me! The best runs in Lake Louise were the ones with the sun in ther afternoon but that didn't last long as by the time we left it was snowing again...which is always a good thing! On my last run of the day I pronouced myslef manly enough to try the Men's World Cup Downhill run. That thing is so steep it is rediculous! The ice made it slightly more problematic but I did eventually make it down...alive. Lake Louise is a great resort, just like Sunshine Village and I feel lucky to have had such great conditions all week and great compnay too. Before we left on friday we headed up to Banff with Travis and Sophie (Madison's mates) and checked out the Banff Spring's Hotel...which is hundred of dollars just for one night. We dodged the workers and snuck into the swimming pool and chilled in the outdoor salt water pool and the hot tub! We took a walk around Banff town and it seems like a proper cool little place. It would be great to stay there because it is closer to the mountains, but it is just so expensive! Back in Calgary we headed straight out on Friday night to the Factory Party. An old cinema turned nightclub. Everyroom had different things happening and there was a great vibe about the whole place. There were DJs, art, bands playing and bars. Aweosme party. We took a trip downtown to 17th Ave on Saturday for a look around and headed to to the cinema in the evning to watch 'The Crazies'....great but scary film! Worth a watch. Today I am sorting out my bag and everything ready for my journey over to Thunder Bay in Ontario. I have a flight this time though so now 20 hour bus ride just yet...not until next week anyway! A big thank you must go to Madison and her family for really looking after me this week and letting me stay, very kind and generous indeed...good effort whith the "Canadian bangers and Mash" as well! I have had a great week here in Calgary and up in the mountains. I have especially enjoyed getting abck on a pari of skies in some aweosme snow! As usual there are probably lots of things I have forgot to mention but I'm sure they will feature in the blog at some point. Will update again after my visit to Thunder Bay. All the photos, as ever, are making their way on to facebook so check them out!
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Eric
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I enjoyed your Canada post. It reminded me of my time there. My blog is looking for some good travel photos. If you have the time, email us some at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com or check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Eric