Tour leaders, Richard and Marilyn took nine of us on a beginners’ tour of the trails near Lake Louise, January 28-29. The skiers were: Frank, Trudy, Sally, Lorna, Dianne, Karen, and three new members, Sheila, Marilyn and Robert. The camaraderie and support for each other was evident in our group throughout the weekend.
Nigel Pass has always been on the tour schedule as far as I can remember; and since the older tour leaders had not offered to lead, it I did. Jeff kindly offered to assist and so we had a trip. The Ramparts Hostel has a new- to- us- hostel parent, nice guy from the east.
Hello all,
I received the honor of writing the very first trip report for this year. We consisted of Steve, Kelly, Debbie, Jeff, John, David, Pat, Don, Marie and myself, Deb, and a surprise visitor to the hut Saturday evening. We all met at the Ribbon Creek hostel on Friday evening and had small visit before retiring for the night.
By Richard Townell
On behalf of Hang and Hov; Arlene; Dave Allen; Marilyn; Debbie; Sue and Richard; Karen; Dianne; Trudy; Lorna and Richard.
If you want guaranteed good weather and gourmet food, go with Marilyn! Twelve of us did on that weekend and enjoyed a beautiful ski on fresh snow in warm weather into Paradise Valley. We started at the Morraine Lake Road parking lot and followed a gradually rising trackset trail up the Morraine Lake Road to the Fairview Loop turn off. A little way up the Fairview Loop we left the beaten track and ascended through the trees to the first bridge in Paradise Valley. Such snow – white and fresh and as much as we have seen there! It is a great route for a beginner to get a sense of the backcountry with minimal risk. We skied pristine meadows to the second bridge and looked around at the mountains, capped with clouds to add a little bit of drama to the landscape. Temple on the left was not visible behind the clouds but the mountains on the right were dramatic. The second bridge was our turnaround point, though the trail goes further, across avalanche slopes, a risk we did not want to take.
Walter, Steve and Jane stop in at the historic Skoki Lodge.
Once we got vehicles unstuck and somewhat parked Karen and Steve ran a great day tour up to Skoki Lodge and back with mostly sunny weather and a few windy sections. A couple of us headed back early and got an early start on the Pub Grub themed dinner and practiced our drawing skills for a confusing game of Pictionary.