Last Snow Stop: Sunshine Village in Banff

More incredible views, great snow, no injuries ... Oooo Canada, we'll miss you!


Chasing powdery chair shadows.


Marc O finds a scenic sunny spot to lounge on.


The happy couple Mark and Becca — the leis were out in full force!


Terry bombs the glades off Tee Pee Town Chair.


Few clouds rolling in, making the stunning view even more stunnier.


Susan Brockway finds a nice patch near Tee Pee Town boundary snow fence.


Robyn Avery finds time to make angels avec skis, off Lookout Mountain.


Ski to St. John's!? You cahn't get thee-ah from hee-ah.

Bluebird Powder @ Lake Louise Resort

Our great first and only day at Lake Louise Mountain Resort — everyone was smiling.


The sign says it all.


Elliot Reed shows the group how to carve on one edge — first run!


Mark executes a tele-tail grab while Robyn spots the landing.


Becca Lamb finds the fresh stuff in the back bowls.


Robyn Avery and her photo-worthy powder turn.


Terry Jennings shuffles through the trees with ease on the front side.


Susan Brockway recovered from illness just in time!


Marc finds some late afternoon frontside freshies.


Mark "Air" Auclair debuts his new powdery "T stands for The Tragically Hip" jump.


Elliot finds some soft turns while wearing his bandito balaclava.


Kim Lamb lovin' the sunny back bowl powdah.


Mark and Terry find the rope-line a little too constrictive off Eagle Ridge.


This picture barely does the scenery justice — that's Lake Louise in the middle distance.

Third Day at Kicking Horse Resort: POWDER

A great way to finish out 3-day stint at KH in BC, with many cms of powder and countless smiles from all around. Next stop: Banff!


A few of the Ski Holiday ladies on the Stairway lift.


Denise Abdoo carves a tele-turn in the powdah.


Mark and Marc admiring each other's outfits.


Robyn Avery finds the soft stuff.


This picture only took like 23 minutes to set up for. Terry and Marc horsing around on the lower mountain.


Susan Brockway debuts her telemark abilities with ease.


Terry pointing to his next powdery schuss.


Kim, Becca, Susan and Robyn taking a breather in the glades.


Denise stepping through the white stuff with ease.


Faraway peaks peeking through the clouds late in the day.


Susan and Marc O plan their next move in giant Jenga.

Few CMs Softens Things

Mark, Elliot, and Robyn on the Kicking Horse gondola.


Mark Auclair shows off his skills off CPR Ridge.


Kim Lamb in an angel-like powder pose.


Marc O needs to work on his flip landings.


The Lambs (Kim and Becca) learn more about the Scottish whisky drinks served at The Hero.

Day One: Taking It Easy!?

Day #1 was far from taking it easy. No new snow but plenty of challenging terrain and scenic views kept us busy.


The crew taking its first steps from the Highland Lodge.


Elliot Reed does his best Flavor Flav with his new GPS compass.


Robyn Avery carves one out with the Selkirks (?) in the background.


They say snow is on the way!


Mark "Air" Auclair lives up to his nickname.


Terry Jennings shows off his Santa Fe turning style.


Mark reflecting on his first ski day at Kicking Horse, Golden BC.

Obama Goes to Canada

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama, traveling to Canada today on his first foreign trip since taking office, will focus on many of the same economic issues that are dominating domestic debate in Washington. Obama’s meeting in Ottawa with Prime Minister Stephen Harper will likely include talks about trade, energy, finance and the environment as both countries battle the global economic crisis. Full story

Bring Your Snorkel

This is banned in many U.S. states but perfectly legal and encouraged in Canada.

Phil Predicts Wintry Ski Holiday!

"Another Six Weeks of Winter"

The world's most famous groundhog saw his shadow, predicting that winter will last for six more weeks.

The annual ritual in the Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney took place just after dawn on a tiny hill called Gobbler's Knob when the groundhog named Phil emerged in front of an estimated 13,000 witnesses.

According to legend, if a hibernating animal wakes up and casts a shadow on Feb. 2, winter will last six more weeks. If there is no shadow, spring will supposedly come early.

Early American farmers relied on groundhogs, though there is no scientific evidence that the animal has any weather-predicting skills.

John Cavanaugh's Notes

From: John Cavanaugh <johcav@gmail.com>
to: Marc Oettinger
date: Fri, Jan 16, 2009
subject: Re: Ski Holiday '09

Recommendations:

Banff is great as is Banff Springs Hotel Chateau Lake Louise. Spend some time there.

Make sure everyone has plenty of warm clothes. Temps get down to -25 C (-15 F).

Swim suits [bring them] lots of outdoor hot tubs.

On your last night in Calgary hit the Kensington Pub.

New York Times on Banff

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/travel/04banff.html

By MATT GROSS Published: January 4, 2009

Highland Lodge BC Reports In ....

from: aaron williams
to: Marc Oettinger
date: Dec 12, 2008
subject: Re: Highland Lodge

Morning !

OPENING DAY & ITS SNOWING JUST NOW !!!!

See you in Feb.

Cheers,

Aaron

Highland Lodge & Ronnie's Local Hero Pub
1593 Cache Close
P.O. Box 2135
Golden, BC, V0A 1H0

Skier Bio: Rebecca "Becca" Lamb

Ms. Rebecca "Becca" Lamb is the second Lamb to sign on with the Ski Holiday crew. Becca is Mark's other significant half — in fact, the Becca-Mark newbie duo is the only couple to join this year's trip! Ms. Lamb joins us from Marblehead Massachusetts, where she works out of home and from the road, managing clinical trials for Roche Pharmaceuticals. When Becca's not poring over data, documents, protocols, and processes, she enjoys cabins in Maine, cross-country skiing, and gardening sans pruning. Becca is from the Portland Maine area, and attended Trinity College in Hartford. And she is always smiling.

Tele-Skier Bio: Mark Auclair

Mr. Mark Auclair has never Holidayed with us and for no apparent good reason. However, Mark was the motivating force behind the '04 backcountry expedition into Gaspésie National Park in Quebec Canada — the same trip that Marc used his Man v. Wild / Survivorman savvy to care for the fallen sick while sustaining fire and demonstrating foreign language skills. Mr. Auclair is IT when it comes to IT; he is a systems analyst at Kronos Inc. where he gets to express himself in SQL, XML, JSP, UNIX, and other languages that mean little to the common desktop user. When Mark is not analyzing systems, you might find him in his Marblehead Massachusetts basement building chairs from scrap..or on the Singer mending windsurfing sails or sewing wheelbags from old bike tubes..or on the couch tying monkey fists — he'll make you one upon special request.

Skier Bio: Susan Brockway

Ms. Susan Brockway is a Ski Holiday newbie! Ms. Brockway lives and works in Los Alamos (loosely translated as "The Alamos") with her daughter and cat. Susan claims to have owned a ski pass every year since 1972, which if true, fully qualifies her to be on this trip. When she is not schussing Pajarito Mountain, Susan enjoys biking, hiking, swimming, dancing .. and going to bed early in Las Vegas. Marc and Susan worked in the same office at The Alamos.

Tele-Skier Bio: Terry Jennings

Mr. Terry "T-Bone" Jennings holidayed with us on the 2007 trip to Verbier Switzerland. Terry immigrated to Nuevo Mexico from his Colorado homeland to work as an environmental consultant with North Wind Inc. in Los Alamos. When not jonesing for fresh powdah, he can be found riding his bikes, eating green chile, or saving the planet from environmental catastrophe. His hair has been known to get really big after a good day on the slopes.

Exercise #2: Jump Side to Side

Try to cover a reasonable distance with each jump.