Saturday, February 26, 2005

Last Sunday I returned from a memorable week traveling in the Canadian Rockies with a group guided by Mike Taylor of CASA Tours from Calgary to Golden to Banff to Fernie and back to Calgary for the return flight, skiing on the Purcell range with Purcell Helicopter Skiing, and at Kicking Horse, Lake Louise, Sunshine, and Fernie. So it had been a bit dry, and it didn't dump powder when we were there. But the skiing was still very good, steep, scenic, almost always uncrowded. The heli day was sweet, but my favorite was the somewhat scary Delirium Dive at Sunshine. Banff is predictably touristy and expensive, but the surrounding landscape swamps the kitsch. Golden and Fernie are more congenial, two old mountain towns that don't yet take themselves too seriously. More pictures here. 10:35:59 PM