Canmore+ Banff (April 6 - 10)

April 6th

Finally no more long drives. It took me only an hour and half to get to Canmore, and I headed straight to the Nordic Ski Centre. The sight of the picturesque Rockies around me was a bit mesmerizing. After being out of shape for a week, I decided to just do an easy 1hr xc ski through the easy and intermediate sections of the trails. The view was great, but the xc skiing itself was nothing spectacular. Personally I liked Gatineau and Mont Saint Anne more than this but no doubt it won in the scenery category. Despite doing a light route, my body felt beat. I bought a case of Rutting Elk beer (wanted to try the local bear), and downed two of them to ease the soreness. It sort of worked. Now feeling tired I ended the night with watching True Grit (for the second of course).


April 7th

The second day was simply tiring. I used the wrong grip wax on my skis as I went back for more xc skiing. In addition, it had snowed like 15 cm, leaving the classic xc skiing tracks mostly un-groomed. I had to stop lots of times to scrap the snow of the bottom of my skis, and it felt like I was snowshoeing more than gliding on skis. I did manage to get some photos while out skiing though. As I drove back to my hostel I nearly got my car stuck, my car slid backwards into the snow bank because of the slippery snow on the steep road that goes up the hill towards the hostel.

I do have to admit that this is the nicest hostel I’ve been to so far. It looks like a rustic cabin on the outside, nestled on the side of a mountain with a spectacular view. However, the inside is totally furnished and modern, everything here is clean and the living room is so spacious with wide open windows for you to enjoy the view.

So far I really only met two people who seemed pretty cool. One guy was named Jeff, who came here for ice climbing and skiing – we talked for a bit. The other person is a girl, who came with her friend for downhill skiing. Both of them were Japanese, living in Edmonton and working at an old person home helping out disabled people. Her name was Haneko, she was a pretty cool person. We talked a bit about ourselves, and she told me that she was from the Northern part of Japan, near the area of the earthquake. But because of the radiation problems that have occurred there, she told she has no plans to ever move back there, except to visit her parents. She goes on and tells me that she wishes the government informed the public with more details of what is happening over there. I felt bad for her, as having to leave your home and your country must be tough.


Later that night I was able to meet up a with an old friend (Dave) from Ottawa and his girlfriend (Theresa). I knew Dave from the old MEC days working in backstock, and now he is a downhill ski instructor in Canmore. We caught up on old times at the Rose and Crown Restaurant and Pub.

April 8th

Yesterday (my third day), I decided to give my knees a break from xc skiing and go explore the downtown area of Canmore and Banff. I picked up a few tourist gifts and postcards. My impression of Banff was just as everybody says it is; a town for you to go shopping and nothing else that special. I also drove around and took some pictures at Minnewanka Lake and Mt. Rundle. Later that night I had dinner at Dave and Theresa place, and got pretty buzzed from polishing off at least 2 bottles of wine.

April 9th

I went back xc skiing again, but this time with Dave’s girlfriend Theresa who wanted to try xc skiing at the Canmore Nordic Centre. I tried my best to explain the proper technique of classic xc skiing but I think I did ok because I’m not the greatest at explaining things on the spot. We covered intermediate and beginner sections, covering probably about 14 kms. I guess I forgot how much it was going to kill the body for someone who hasn’t done it for a while, because Theresa was pretty wiped out. I was pretty wiped out too and took a nap. But later on I forced myself to get up and check out the Banff gondola, it was kind of cool.

April 10th

It was time do some sightseeing and give myself a break from all that xc skiing. I drove around Banff (mainly on the Bow Valley Parkway) stopping at sightseeing points. I also ventured past Banff on Hwy 93 into B.C. in Yoho National Park and stopped at some sightseeing points at well. At one spot I noticed there was a short hiking trail called Mine Canyon, so I finally busted out my snowshoes and up I went. It was a lot of fun and picturesque. I completely bailed trying to pose in front of the camera (with a 10 sec timer on).