Canada - Kicking Horse and Banff, Apr 06

Main Road, Cranbrook

We caught the Greyhound from Rossland to Golden, it was a long trip which started at 4am and did not arrive untill 9pm. Getting up was a real bugger but Kaylene showed her champion spirit and agreed to drive us to the bus depot. We had about 8hrs transit in an uninspiring town called Cranbrook. We passed the day by visiting the shopping mall and train museum.

Terminator Ridge, Kicking Horse

We decided to go to Kicking Horse alpine resort because it was rated as an up and coming Whistler. We also got a great deal where we payed $120 for 2 days skiing plus 2 nights accommodation (a normal day pass cost $60), so we basically got free hotel accomodation on the mountain.

Our hotel next to the gondola, Kicking Horse

Kicking Horse was a good resort, unfortunately the snow was quite variable with only a trace of new stuff while we were there. We did a lot of hiking up to the Terminator ridge as there were some cool shutes up there.

Avalanches into superbowl, Kicking Horse

Base Lodge, Lake Louise

After Kicking Horse we caught the greyhound to Banff, a nice little town in the middle of the spectacular rocky mountains. We stayed at the backpackers which was bursting at the seams. We did our last day of skiing at Lake Louise, one of the most famous resorts of the rockies.

Top of Mt Whitehorn, Lake Louise

Lake louise had some cool terrian and we were loving the treeless pistes after the masses of tree skiing in previous resorts. The snow was variable again but the clear blue sky and spectacular views made up for it.

Me finding some good powder, Lake Louise

Backbowl Bliss, Lake Louise

Andy could not get enough of the air, Lake Louise

We had one day in banff where we walked around and checked out the sights. We saw the Banff Springs Hotel which was an awesome Chateu style building. After that we caught the bus to Calgary, had dinner, and then I went on to the airport where I slept the night. I flew out to LA at 7am the next day. We had a great time in canada and got to see most of the resorts we had hoped to. The thought of getting back to the Los Angeles sunshine was very good though =)

Banff Springs Hotel