Canadian History

No this is not about the history of Canada, plenty of that here for example.

This is about my Canadian history, which in some way will go towards explaining how and why this trip has come about.

To get things real and to be crystal clear, I don't have much history, association or otherwise with Canada. So on the one hand this post is rather pointless.  But I have been to Canada twice before.  And I once worked with a guy from Canada when I was at Vodafone, his name was Snehal and he was a jolly nice fella, as are most Canadians, Justin Bieber aside (who I'm sure is actually very nice but was an easy target).

I first went to Canada in the March of 1998.  Back in those days I used to organise a ski trip for group of work mates and anyone else who wanted to join in.  We usually went to the likes of Val d'Isere, 3 Valleys etc, but on this occasion decided to try further afield.  We stayed in Banff, some of us for 7 nights and some for 10. Skied all "Big 3" resorts (although back then they were not called the "Big 3" - but they did still share a lift pass) of Mt Norquay, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise.  It was darn cold even in March and despite not being a vintage year for snow was still excellent and we had a great time flitting between the different resorts using the free ski bus from Banff.

Don't have any photos from my first trip to Canada, but this
 was me in the same era while visiting La Plagne, France

We also had a day trip to Panorama as well as a day shared between Nakiska and Fortress Mountain and a day out on the dog sleds - this was just fantastic ... mush, mush, whoa !!! Vowed to return to Canada and the place I most wanted to visit was Fernie.  But, by this time a lot of the ski group were starting with families, myself included, and long haul travel had to be put on hold.

My second time in Canada was last year, in the January of 2017. The ski group, which by now had turned into a boys trip (usually getting away for a relaxing long weekend), decided on a week long trip to Whistler. This was just fantastic, I loved the open and challenging skiing, the friendliness of the locals, food, drink etc. I really liked just everything about it. Better in some ways than other far found destinations we've been skiing as a family (Japan and Colorado) but not universally so. The snow was much better in Japan for example as were the culture and traditions that were uniquely captivating. And I prefer to be in a "real" town rather than the purpose built somewhat fake townscape of Whistler, Breckenridge for example we really like and will certainly return.

Me and some of 'da boys' in Whistler

My eldest son Tom, carving it up on Whistler Mountain

As soon as I got home I knew what I wanted to do the following year for my 50th birthday - and that was the basis of what we are about to set sail on.  I started looking into the practicalities of combining a trip to Fernie with a visit to Lake Louise, because I always wanted to stay in the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and had for a while thought this would be the place to celebrate a special occasion. But before I knew it we were starting to spend a few extra days here, then a few extra days there and after a bit of jiggery-pokery had settled on a plan not too dissimilar to what we have now. We had to compromise on a few things, for example, will not be away for my birthday itself, this was back in January, instead we decided to travel late March / early April to minimise the time off school for Finlay.  Doing it this way means he has to take only a week out of school (naughty naughty legs slapped mum & dad) plus the two weeks he gets off for Easter.  It's the only way we can get away for a three week spell without REALLY getting into trouble at school.  Not that they really have cause to complain after shutting school down for four days recently due to a "bit of snow".  Well now he's having a week off school where he will see a "lot of snow".  We also really wanted to take in Jasper but this was just one step too far and will just have to wait for another time.

What we do have is a great mix of new and old on this trip.  I don't mean me and Karen, I mean we have a great combination of places to visit and stay at.  For example some of our accommodations are on-mountain, such as in Fernie, Revelstoke and Panorama.  Revelstoke Mountain Resort is only 11 years old.  But we're also spending time in historic Nelson which has no local skiing, both Whitewater and Red Mountain ski resorts are a decent drive or bus ride away.

Our road-trip destinations