This past weekend, we hiked/x-country/back-country skied in to “Skoki Lodge” (www.skoki.com) : a “luxury” backcountry lodge about 12km from Lake Louise ski resort. If you check out the website, you will see that this is the equivalent of a backcountry hut, with no running water or electricity, but perfect for someone like me, in that all the meals are provided (and excellent home-cooked “gourmet” type meals!), along with enough woodstoves, propane heaters, and solar lighting to make it quite cozy and comfortable!
The lodge itself is beautiful, and has been well-kept over the years (built in 1930) to keep it pretty authentic. The staff there pride themselves on telling stories about the history and “friendly ghosts” who frequent the lodge. There is room for about 20 people, who all eat together “family style”, so it was great to hear stories about other people’s experiences in and around Skoki and other backcountry lodges.
We had a gorgeous day on Saturday to head in: sunny and clear, and relatively warm: hence our ridiculous sunburns (apparently our hats and sunglasses, and our time in Costa Rica did nothing to protect us from the glare off the snow!). Sunday was a bit windier, but still beautiful—we managed to avoid the rain and snow that had been forecast for sometime on Sunday.
Those were all the good parts of the trip: the x-country skiing part was a bit of a challenge for me…I guess “cross-country” skiing here is similar to “cross-country” mountain biking, in that, by living in the mountains, anything “cross-country” involves climbing up mountains, going through sketchy mountain passes, and zooming down mountains at uncomfortable speeds! The relatively flat cross-country skiing I was used to in Ontario didn’t do much to prepare me for this trek, so I ended up taking my skiis off and hiking a fair bit to avoid frustration on all the hills! I’m still pretty sore though today, despite the slow speeds I was traveling at: a lot of muscles you don’t usually use, and x-country ski equipment doesn’t seem to do much to support and/or prevent injuries: i.e. “snowplow” in x-country skiis is not all that effective without edges!
Dave got “skins” for his alpine skis, and wore them with his touring bindings, so he was much better off than I, and even got to enjoy a few turns on the way down yesterday. The views were spectacular, the weather great, and the company fantastic, so despite my lack of skill and athleticism, both days were still enjoyable (although exhausting!).
We spent the weekend with friends Chris and Marla Holliday, as well as Ryan Strom; all old friends from Engineering days at Guelph: a great crew to hang out with, and thanks to all of them for being so patient and waiting for me on our endless treks!
All in all, it was a great “finale” to winter, here in the mountains, and a trip that I would definitely love to do again (although maybe not on skiis!).
We’ve been keeping busy here in the city too, both enjoying jobs and “extra-curricular”, with Dave training for his bike race this summer and playing volleyball, and me keeping up with book club, my card-making/scrapbooking club, and yoga. Dave and I went to see “Beauty and the Beast” at Theatre Calgary’s Max Bell theatre last week, which was also quite good.
We are looking forward to a visit from Mom and Dad Jackson in just over 2 weeks, and the possibility of a visit from Tara later on in May. In the meantime, Happy Birthday to Dad Brewin/Barrie, and Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad Jackson/Dan and Joyce!
Hope everyone else is doing well.B (and D)
Skiing at Sunshine Village, Banff
Hiking near the Hoodoos at Tunnel Mountain.
Skiing at Sunshine Village, Banff
Hiking near the Hoodoos at Tunnel Mountain.
