Winter – Page 4 – HIKES & HAMSTRINGS

Kicking Off Ski Season

I’ve been here almost 4 years. In that time, I’ve managed to endure 8 month winters without immersing myself into winter activities. Well, that’s slowly starting to change. It may not be the end of November as yet, but here in Calgary and the surrounding areas, we’ve had lots of snow. And so far this year, I’ve managed to go snowshoeing, snowboarding, and this past Sunday, downhill skiing at Sunshine Village.

Similar to last year’s experience, Sunshine was quite sunny and the snow was fluffy. This made for an awesome skiing experience. Being a beginner, I did fall once, but overall I think I did pretty well. And the views while riding the gondolas and chair lifts are pretty spectacular, especially when the sun rays are beaming down on the snow and everything glistens. Overall, an incredible day with about eleven runs followed by the ski-out. I can’t wait to go again :).

Snowboarding Attempt #2

About 4 years ago, before I moved to Calgary, I tried snowboarding at Glen Eden in Milton, Ontario. My brother was teaching my mum and I, and though we fell a few times, it was lots of fun. Since then, I’ve been wanting to attempt it again, and though I had ambitious plans to do so once I moved to Calgary, it never happened. Fast forward to yesterday. I can finally say that I’ve tried snowboarding… twice.

My friend Divya from work is learning to snowboard and asked if I wanted to join for a lesson at Nakiska. I figured it was good motivation to get out to the slopes! And by slopes, I mean bunny hill, since falling was pretty much expected. Robbie was interested in trying it out as well since he had never been on a snowboard before, so we woke up early Sunday morning and headed to Kananaskis. The weather wasn’t too bad- a bit windy at times, but pretty decent conditions for learning!

We met Divya for the lesson, and before we knew it, we were strapping the bindings, learning about heel and toe edges, and attempting to change directions while descending the slopes. Our instructor, whose name I think was Leo, was awesome and very encouraging! We felt great about our progress!

But once the lesson was up and we were left to practice the skills we learned, it was downhill from there… both literally, and figuratively. Robbie and I had some good runs, but equally, some great and painful falls. And boy was it ever exhausting!! All in all, though, it was a fantastic day, and so much fun. I guess more progress was made than not, since practice makes perfect. My goal is to actually snowboard a few times this winter… as well as ski once or twice. With winter being 8 months long, it’s time to start taking advantage of this whole snow business!

Snowshoeing in West Bragg

Robbie and I had Monday off, so we decided to head to West Bragg Creek. I recently learned about this gem of a place. It’s very close to Calgary with great cross-country skiing and a nice snowshoeing trail. It was sunny and it seemed like a good day for a quick snowshoe outing. In fact, I was testing out some new winter boots, as well as the MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes that I purchased.

Like I realized last year when I went snowshoeing for the first time, I really enjoy it! This was definitely a beginner trail, but you can certainly progress and hit some mountain peaks on snowshoes. Unfortunately, this usually involves backcountry terrain, avalanche safety know-how, and use of other technical gear. One day. One day. But until then, it was an enjoyable afternoon, and a super easy way to enjoy a nice wintery day :).

The Banff Mountain Festival

BanffFF-4 Winter is most definitely here. I arrived back in Calgary earlier this week after spending a lovely few days in Halifax, where the weather was mild, the fall colours were beautiful, and the air smelled like the sea. But in Calgary, a winter storm had come through, causing havoc on the roads, and casting a gloomy mood to the week. Winter was here to stay.

BanffFF-3

But alas, Calgary and the mountains are still amazing in the winter. Why stay gloomy when there’s so much to do! Case in point, the Banff Mountain Festival started today, so Robbie and I headed out to Banff to check it out. First on the agenda: wander Banff Avenue, get something to eat, and peruse Atmosphere. Then, it was off to the Banff Centre for the festival. It was clear that Banff has quite the thriving arts and culture scene! I guess I never paid much attention to that before. We looked around the Mountain Art and Craft sale, and then waited for the “Photography on Foot” event, which was an exploration of mountain photography in and around the Banff Centre. Truthfully, after seeing some photos of the Birds of Paradise of New Guinea, we decided we were too cold and ditched the tour. Photography on Foot FAIL! But it was still a fun event. After taking some photos of our own and browsing through Monod’s and Atmosphere (again!), it was time to hit the road and head back to Calgary.

BanffFF-1

It was a short trip out to the mountains, but it did confirm one thing to me. I’m so fortunate to live so close to the mountains. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the mountains and the scenery are just gorgeous. The snow and fog among the trees and the mountain tops certainly add a completely different feel to the landscape. I think there will be many more winter adventures to come!

BanffFF-2

Skiing in the Rockies. Finally.

I finally went skiing in the Rockies. Yay! (At Lake Louise)

I’ve had the question many times since moving to Alberta:

Person: “Do you ski or snowboard?”

Me: “No, I don’t.”

Person: “But you’re so close to the Rockies!”

Me: “Yes. Yes I am. What’s your point?” *punch to the face*

Okay, so I never punched anyone in the face. And I never did say “What’s your point?”. If I did, their point would be that I’ve lived almost three years in Calgary without taking advantage of the world-class skiing and snowboarding just outside of the city. In general, I’ve had a bit of fear when it comes to downhill skiing, since my previous experiences have usually resulted in almost breaking a limb. So I was hesitant. But should that stop me from ever trying skiing again?? That ish is cray talk!

A bit nervous before ascending the gondola at Sunshine

So now I can finally say that I’ve tried skiing in the Rockies. Twice this season, to be exact.

The first was at Sunshine Village at the beginning of February. The weather conditions were incredible! It was about -1 degrees and completely sunny. Of course, after skiing there I wondered: Why did it take me so long to do this! It was a very pleasant experience. I had a few falls, but nothing to cry about. The second was this past Friday at Lake Louise, which was also fantastic and so enjoyable. One bigger fall, but it was all in good fun. Pinecone Way was definitely my favourite :). (Well, it was my favourite out of the green runs, since I’m a newb and didn’t attempt any runs above the green circle.)

Sunshine Village

A snowboarder at Sunshine

So I’ve realized that as long as I’m living in Alberta, I need to take advantage of those ski hills! I may be all over the mountains in the summer with hiking and such, but since winter feels like 8 months of the year here, I may as well occupy my time with winter-like activities. Yes, I know… this makes sense. Next season, I look forward to attempting snowboarding. Thankfully my bro lent me his snowboard and bindings, so once I get some boots, I’ll be good to go. Whoohoo!

At Sunshine. The weather was incredible!

At Lake Louise. There’s always time for a mid-ski photo-op!

Robbie is all cl-ass! (He was posing. His form is much better than this :D)

Thanks Robbie for helping me cross off an item from my list. Well, sorta. Number 9 on the 31 before 31 is to “Try cross-country skiing”, which was added so that I do SOMETHING this winter. While this is still do-able, the craziness of life these days makes it difficult to fit this in, so I’ve changed it to “Go skiing in the Rockies”. And that I gone done did right there…

Sunshine Village