Banff was
a great trip and one of our largest groups with 61 people. Most
of us met very early on Sat morning, Feb 2nd, in the
Ericsson parking lot (former Telcordia). As everyone was on
time, we quickly loaded the bus and got to Newark airport
according to plan. The boarding was a little bit of a hassle as
Air Canada was very slow, and our group created a significant
line, but in a happy end everybody made it into the airplane all
right. The flight was good and offered great view as we
approached Calgary.
Once
landed in Calgary airport, due to the large size of the group,
we had a number of people leaving with the first bus while a few
of us remained in the airport to wait for the people arriving
from San Francisco and from Seattle. About 45 min later the
second bus was on its way to Banff. The mountains were now
getting closer.
After the short 1.5 hours bus ride we arrived at the impressive
Fairmont Banff Springs hotel.
People scattered to settle down into their rooms, then used the
afternoon to go into the little yet nice and quaint “downtown
Banff”, a brief 20 min walk from the hotel. The weather was
great and the views from some of the rooms were filling us with
anticipation for the great days of skiing ahead. At 5:30 we had
welcome reception with representatives from the hotel and from
the ski areas. It was a really nice meet and greet and everyone
was happy to receive their lift tickets and the $40 refund that
the club was able to share with the trip members as a result of
the discounts achieved for the larger group in the trip.
From the
next day, Sun Feb 3rd, through Fri Feb 8th,
people enjoyed great skiing at the three different locations
listed below, offering a combined total of almost 8,000 acres
of skiable terrain. The “big 3” were available via a free
shuttle (with the tri-area lift tickets) that stopped right at
the hotel.
Sunshine Village
Straddling both Alberta and British Columbia provinces and the
Continental Divide, Sunshine is Canada’s highest elevated
resort. From the shuttle bus stop we took an eight person
gondola to get to the mountain base area. We were lucky to get
some fresh snow in several of the six full days of skiing we had
available.
The Great Divide Express quad was a very popular option for all
ability levels and offered some of the best large bowl skiing.
The Mount Standish express and the Wawa quad offered access to
great blues. Several of the experienced people in the group had
some excellent descents on the funny named double blacks (“Think
Again”, “Far Side”, “Wild Side”) and blacks (“Mother in Law”,
“Cleavage”) accessible via the Goat’s Eye Express quad.
On Wed Feb 6th four thrill seekers went on to try the
famous Delirium Dive. It was a great experience that I will
never forget. A very determined member in our trip signed up for
a private advanced instructor/guide from Sunshine Village’s
ski-school program. Since this allowed for up to 5 skiers in the
group, three of us met at 1 PM in front of the Old Sunshine
Lodge and joined in the adventure. After testing our abilities
in two rides on the regular chairlifts and slopes our guide took
us up to the Dive gate. As we were all given radio transponders,
the electronic gate opened the way to the short ascent on foot
to the dive’s “launch point”. We were lucky to have nice weather
and good snow that afternoon and we succeeded to get two
descents.
FYI,
Travel and Leisure rates Delirium Dive
as No. 2 in the World's Scariest Ski Slopes: “The topography
of this off-piste free-ride zone (it starts with a horizontal
rock band that funnels into a tight channel) paired with its
ludicrous pitch (much of it around 50 degrees) makes it
extremely avalanche-prone. So much so, in fact, that only skiers
outfitted with a radio transponder (which, of course, helps
rescuers find you in an avalanche) are allowed through a special
gate that accesses it.”
Lake Louise
When we went to the Lake Louise ski area, the shuttle dropped us
off right behind the Lodge of the Ten Peaks, an impressive log
building.
This is a 4,200 acres ski area spread across four mountain faces
and offering some of the most spectacular bowls and high alpine
terrain one can find in the Rockies. The views from the
different top points were indeed something we won’t forget soon.
The Front Side / South face has 1,100 skiable acres and you get
to the top in one shot via the Grizzly Express Gondola, or by
riding The Glacier Express quad for the first part of the ascent
and then taking the Top of The World 6-Pack Express for the
second part of the way. This later chair lift is the way to get
to the Saddleback Ridge. There are rides for all levels, so
everyone had a great time
A select
attraction on the Upper Front Side is the Summit Platter, a
single person lift that whenever it was working, it was
definitely a special treat, for the deep snow on the Outer
Limits, Motown and Headwall expert trails.
Also,
from the saddleback Ridge, one can “fall back” into the 2,500
skiable acres of the “Back Bowls”, an area with a lot of “blacks
and double blacks". We had some really great fresh snow and cut
some awesome first tracks in the Boomerang Bowl, The Whitehorn 1
and 2, The Saddleback Bowl, The Paradise Bowl, and the Eagle
Ridge 1-3. The Paradise triple chair is the only lift for these
wide yet steep bowls
The Larch area offers another 600 skiable acres accessible via
the quad with the same name, on the opposite side of the
Paradise triple chair, from the bottom of the collector valley
for all the bowls. This is a well distributed area, with trails
for all levels.
Mt. Norquay
The smallest yet closest, just minutes from the town of Banff,
Mt. Norquay offers outstanding conditions for skiers and riders
of every ability. It has snow tubbing and the only night skiing
in the area, including a fully lit terrain park. Yet with so
much available during the day and with the numerous places to go
for dinner in town, we didn’t have much interest for night
skiing in our group.
It was another great trip for the club, and we were happy to
have extended it to accommodate as many of the people who were
interested to come. In the end, it turned out to be a great
experience. Besides the great skiing, we had some awesome
dinners in the nice town of Banff, where lots of restaurants and
pubs are ready to satisfy anyone’s taste. The two I liked were
Grizzly House Restaurant, The Elk and Oarsman Restaurant and
Pub. I heard that The Bison Restaurant, The Maple Leaf, Earls
and Tony Roma’s Famous Ribs were also excellent.
The flight back home went without any incidents and we landed in
Newark on time. Although New Jersey got quite a good amount of
snow while we were away, cleaning our cars once we were back in
the Ericsson parking lot was easier than expected.
John and
Bogdan would like to thank everyone for being such a great group
and making it a memorable trip for all.
Trip report written by Bogdan Ungureanu.
