AW Travel Blog

We were up early to catch the first ski shuttle to Marmot Basin which took 20 minutes from our Jasper hotel. This was our first day of skiing and what a day it was! This mountain is heaven, just heaven. I had been told about powder snow but WOW!! It was so light and soft that we couldn’t even make proper snow balls as they kept falling apart. There was not the sound of ice to be heard (a far cry from the skiing in NZ I have experienced!) They had received the highest snowfall for the month of November in a decade, three days before we arrived. Double WOW!!!

We had a snow host with us for the morning who told us all about the history of the mountain, a overview of the terrain and then guided us on the runs most applicable for our level of skiing. He also gave us some ski tips - very much needed by me as the last time I skied was eight years ago.  It was like riding a bike though and after a few minutes I was skiing like a pro – well maybe not quite that well!!

It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to ski between trees and on my first day in Canada, I got to do it and It was even better than I’d imagined.  The snow is so soft, it sounds like we are skiing on polystyrene balls!  Tt was a beautiful day with soft powder snow and blue skies and only ever one or two other people on the run I was skiing. I have never experienced skiing like this before.

I had been told Canada would ruin me forever as the snow is so light and that estimation is correct. It’s WELL worth the money to go over to Canada to experience the snow and the mountain conditions. This place is outstanding, totally outstanding.

After lunch we made our way to Lake Louise via the Icefields Parkway. It was a bit of a hairy journey as the road only re-opened after being closed for two days and there was still a high danger warning due to slips on the road.  However our transfer driver was outstanding and relaxed us immediately and drove us there safely with no issues. 

Driving through this Parkway, in the dark, felt like we were on another planet – the shadows from the mountains were imposing, the sound of ice cracking was eerie and the full moon casting it’s light over everything was an awesome sight.  It was -27 degrees as we were driving through so there was a lot of black ice on the road so we sat holding our breath a number of times as the sound under the car tires was silence until we gripped ashphelt again.  We even took the time to stop and step outside the car to experience the silence.  Sureal, totally surreal. 

Three hours later we glimpsed our first view of the Chateau Lake Louise.  Oh…my…goodness!!!!  It was even more impressive than I had seen in the photos and pictures.  I’m looking forward to catching my first sight of the Lake in the morning….