Advertisement
Published: January 22nd 2008
Edit Blog Post
Banff National Park
Beautiful Scenery all the way What a week! Being unemployed is every so busy ;-) But amongst all the riding we managed to squeeze in a little road trip, travelling over 1000kms (700m) through the beautiful Kootenay and
Banff National Parks. It started at 4am last Monday. Yep, very early start. Richard had picked up our little car, a Neon Chrysler, the night before so very sleepily we set off. Rich was concentrating on the dark, icy roads so I was navigator and, as it soon became apparent, on Elk watch.
We had passed numerous warning signs bearing impressive pictures of Deer and Elk but we hadn’t given it too much thought. That is until we got a fraction too close to one! Standing there in the middle of our lane was a ginormous Elk, and when he raised his head to look at us his antlers were well above the roof of our car. Thankfully Richard only needed to swerve mildly to miss him but trust me, 385 kilometres of 4 very peeled eyes followed!
After picking up John in Banff we hit Lake Louise. And wow what a difference it is to Fernie. The Lake gets half the average snowfall that Fernie does
Fairmont Chateau
Located in the heart of pristine Banff National Park, and within a UNESCO World Heritage Site as seen from Lake Louise ski hill and having been utterly spoilt rotten we really noticed the difference. But it was still great to be back and we had an awesome time. First off we hiked it over to the
Larch side for some Mogul madness and then after lunch John showed off his ski style. Not content with mastering the Board as a level 3 instructor John has decided to take his level 1 ski exam!
The next day was a POWDER day! Yep, we had brought the snow with us and a lovely 15cm had fallen during the night. It might not be the light fluffy champagne powder we have now become accustomed to, but powering through Pika trees in the
Backbowls or off Paradise Bowl it sure felt good.
On the subject of trees, they are FUN! Never really been brave enough before but oh my god it was awesome. And yep, Rich and I managed to keep up with two boarding instructors. But boy did they make it look good!
Tuesday night was a bit of a shocker though. Driving back to Banff John’s fiancée Sophie called to say she had been to the Hospital about a numb foot and they
Paradise Bowl
A hike up to Paradise bowl and Eagle Ridge is a chilling experience! were worried it was a stroke. So we had another road trip, this time to Calgary where Soph needed to see a specialist. Happily the neurologist instantly dismissed a stroke; unhappily Rich had to drive us on a 300km round trip to find out. And worst of all we all missed out on a steak dinner! Next time John! But cheers to good health I say.
Wednesday = lie-in! Stayed in bed to 10:30 and ate cold pizza for breakfast, awesome! We met up with John and Soph for a farewell lunch before hitting the road just before sunset.
And wow what a sunset it was. Travelling through majestic snow capped peaks, the road lined with a dense forest and a vibrant orange and pink sky above. Incredible.
Thursday it was back to good old Fernie hill. While we were away they had a dumping of 27cm of snow and even now 2 days later we were finding pockets of it. Having enjoyed the Lake tree runs so much we thought we’d try some out here and boy am I glad we did. After 2 runs through
Curry Glades we both had a powder induced high, that was
More scenery
More gorgeous scenery from Banff National Park the best day of skiing I have ever had, ever!
Oh yeah, and we joined the gym. Yes, both of us. Richard has taken me under his wing and kindly (and patiently) allowed me to train with him. It felt gooood. All our muscles feel better for the stretching.
Friday more riding and skiing! No new snow so after trying the trees, we decided some groomed runs might be better in the hard conditions. Bit of carving practise followed but nothing eventful today.
Highlight of Friday was Rich joined the Fernie Fight Club. Started 6 months ago a few of the locals are getting together at the gym to train. From the look on his face I’m guessing it was fun. Lots of press-ups and grappling I hear! One of the Snowboard instructors, Steve, was there which is quite cool.
Saturday was a lovely, gorgeous, lazy day off. And UFC night of course! We spent the day tidying, washing and catching up on emails etc and then after a superb Mexican at
El Guapo (which means The Handsome One) headed to the Royal for the fight.
Sunday back on the snow. And was it cold, -16C
John, Sophie and us!
Taken in Banff with Mt Norquay in the background. at the top. And who knows what the wind chill was. All I know was that I was an icicle and it took a hot hot bath to sort me out.
Andy’s brother Pete and his wife Helen kindly invited us around for dinner so we spent some lovely hours being entertained by their adorable 18 month old daughter Charlotte before heading home for an early night.
So here we are on Monday again. Rich’s welcome day. And it was cold, -33C I am told. I wouldn’t know though, I was snuggled warm in bed while poor Rich had to tour around town. Rich’s first day of lessons start tomorrow and he is well excited. The instructors seem brilliant and after days of anticipation it will be a relief to get right into it. I still have some time to wait though, my welcome day is Wednesday and first day of lessons will be Thursday.
So goodbye for now. Will update you all again soon xxxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.106s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 52; dbt: 0.0485s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Sa Jeans
non-member comment
Awesome!
Im loving the blog guys, keep them coming! Its great to hear what ur up to and that ur having a fab time, so wish I was there with u even though I think me and skiing = a recipe for disaster! Road trip sounds a bit hairy!! Love the car Rich....a step up from what ur used to driving I see (ah dont u miss ur sis and her teasing!) Anyway looking forward to the next installment, miss u loads! Sarah (and of course James) xxx