By Lisa Brand
The Canadian Rocky Mountains of Alberta are magnificent! Snow-capped craggy mountains dotted with picture-perfect tall straight evergreens dressed with caps of white snow, and blue-gray skies with swirling mist, greeted us as we climbed into the mountains in our shuttle bus that transported us from the Calgary airport to Banff.
We arrived at the Calgary, Alberta airport on Saturday, March 7 . A comfortable bus ride of less than two hours brought us to the Ptarmigan Hotel in Banff. There we were treated to a welcome reception of pizza, veggies, dips and drinks, and an over- load of information about BANFF SkiBig3: Lake Louise, Banff Sunshine, and Mt. Norquay.
The weather was frigid most of the week we were there: well below freezing, often in the teens, and even below zero some mornings; Fahrenheit! The wind was our constant companion; sometimes gentle, but sometimes so fierce that it wanted to eat our ski poles and permanently numb our noses.
The sun greeted us with its bright welcome on day number one, but thereafter, despite its best efforts to shine, except for a short sweet performance now and again, the dark clouds won the battle for the rest of the week. But nothing could darken our spirits…. well, except for the malevolent creep of coronavirus throughout the world.
We were also enticed with details about other activities to fill our time if we weren’t skiing: a public hot tub/pool set outside with a great view of the mountains, just a short bus ride through town; canyons to hike (after renting crampons for safety); ice sculptures at Lake Louise; spa services; shopping in town; a local movie theater.
Lake Louise, one of the largest ski resorts in North America, is vast. It presented magnificent, never- ending views, and countless chair lifts to all sorts of terrain: wide open bowls; chutes; groomed slopes; and gentle blue and green tracks. A one hour plus shuttle bus ride there provided an opportunity for a few extra winks in the morning heading out, and a much-needed quick nap on the way back after a strenuous day.
Banff Sunshine, with three beautiful mountains to ski, was less than one half hour away by shuttle bus. It’s substantially smaller than Lake Louise, but also had all types and levels of runs, crisscrossing three mountains. In fact, because of its location straddling the continental divide, it receives more snow than the neighboring ski resorts. One slope at Sunshine is called “Tincan Alley”, because early settlers dumped their cans and trash at the bottom, creating on environmentally toxic humongous heap of crap, which was cleaned up in the 70s. Beans anyone?
Mt. Norquay was only a ten-minute ride by shuttle. It’s a small friendly family-type ski resort, which was a favorite with some, due its close proximity. However, it didn’t have the variety of runs as the other ski resorts. The local free shuttle bus service to all three resorts, with pick-up right outside our hotel was so good, that if a bus was full, another would be called for, and within minutes, the rest of the gang would be on their way.
All three ski resorts are located in the Banff National Park. It was established in 1885 and is one of Canada’s oldest national parks. It encompasses over 6500 square miles of mountainous terrain that includes glaciers, ice fields, dense coniferous forest, alpine landscapes and much wildlife: elk, moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, caribou, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, bison, and occasionally, that rare species: Chagrin Valley Ski Club members! Some of us were lucky enough to observe elk in the wild: roaming around the perimeter of the hotel parking lot, nibbling on the branches of young bushes and eyeing the guests, who were eyeing them.
We headed back to the states on March 14th, after a wonderful week of skiing; socializing; sharing meals, including a pizza party mid-week; and sharing stories and laughs with friends. But some anxiety pervaded our thoughts, as we had heard the disturbing news all week about the spread of coronavirus, and airport TVs were a constant reminder about the risks of travel. Planes were only partially filled, and we were all aware of precautions to take: lots of handwashing, and there were very few good-bye hugs at Hopkins airport. Let’s hope that the coronavirus pandemic is soon cut short, and that our memories of this trip, last long.