Slumming it

It was shortly after returning home from Whistler last January when I knew what I wanted to do to mark my 50th birthday.  I really enjoyed my time in Canada and knew I wanted to return.  But not to Whistler, not because I didn't enjoy it there, I thought Whistler was really neat, but I had wanted for very many years to stay at what I think is one of the most iconic and recognised ski hotels in the world.

Let's go to Lake Louise for a week and stay at the Chateau Lake Louise, I suggested to Karen.  But my birthday was in the middle of January and that presented two problems.  First, Lake Louise is very cold in March and April, its absolutely blooming freezing in January.  Second, middle of January is awkward as there are no school holidays.  So we decided to push it back to March/April when the weather should be a little more pleasant and we can take advantage of the early Easter school holidays this year to make a more extended trip and maybe do something for more than just a week, maybe a twin centre holiday with one of the other Canadian ski areas. Possibly stay for 10 nights or two weeks at a stretch.

It was then when we started looking at which other ski resort to include to make it a twin centre trip when we got to that "spoilt for choice" conundrum.  So many options came into play.  I had also wanted to visit Fernie for so long so this was high on the list.  As was Jasper, and then Revelstoke, Kicking Horse and Kimberley. And then Panorama, Red Resort and Whitewater equally came into the equation.  This was starting to build into something bigger than I ever imagined.  But all the while, it was important to me that whatever compromises had to be made the one dead cert was that at some point in the trip we would be staying at the Lake, at the Chateau.

And so as the plan evolved and as we fine tuned it, it felt fitting that Lake Louise would be the final stop on our itinerary.  Finish with a blast, or so we hoped.  It felt like a good way to mark the end of a memorable holiday.

I remember driving in Switzerland one August, winding our way up the Val d'Anniviers towards Lac de Moiry.  I had read beforehand that the view of the lake would take your breath away, what with it's turquoise waters and snowy mountain backdrop.  As the road climbed up to the lake it passed through a short tunnel and at the end of the tunnel the incredibly bright sunshine made you close your eyes for a split second, than when your eyes re-opened the sight that greeted you was like nothing before. I'm going back almost 20 years now, but still remember the moment I exited that tunnel for the very first time. It was, and I'm sure still is, jaw droppingly beautiful.

And today I think we all experienced something very similar.  Despite having seen a million photos of the Chateau Lake Louise and it's surroundings and having all the resources of the internet to hand, nothing can quite prepare you for the staggering, staggering, staggering beauty of this place.  From the drive up to the main entrance, to the grand main atrium, to all the little bits of detail dotted around the hotel ... and that's before you take a look out of the dining room window.  And then you can take a wander outside and revel in the splendour in every single direction, the lake deep in ice, narrowing in distance all the way back to the Victoria glacier.  A narrow path leads down the middle of the lake to the far end and at the forefront of the lake are four natural ice skating rinks with people skating, playing hockey or just being there doing their own thing.  Horse and carriage rides around the lake.  It really is the winter wonderland.

We arrive a little before our room is ready, so we have some lunch in what may possibly be the best located restaurant on the planet.  It is that good.  The food wasn't too shoddy either.  And then we are told our room is ready.  Room 330.  We don't have a lake view, we knew that, but was secretly hoping for an upgrade.  It didn't happen, so if anything this is the only disappointment.  When we booked we had to choose between 2 x standard rooms with a lake view, or a larger 2 bedroom suite without a window onto the lake. Our budget wouldn't stretch to both.  So we decided on having more space and boy oh boy are we happy with that choice.

Quite without doubt, the best hotel room we have ever stayed in.  Just brilliant.  Two huge bedrooms, each with en-suite, plus a third bathroom (thats what they call toilets over here, it doesn't have a bath in it).  Then there's a lovely sitting room with everything you could ever want for.  The view from the room isn't quite what it could be, but it 'aint bad.  The valet parking that comes as part of the Suite Life package is ace, just pull up at the entrance and the guys unloaded all our luggage from the car then they went and parked it.  The next time we saw the bags they were all in our room, don't know what we've been doing wrong all these years lugging them up and down hotel corridors.  How the other half live eh?  Could get used to this.  We're only here for three nights though, then it's back to a very stern reality check.  And a credit card bill.

After settling into the room we went out for a walk on the lake.  Fin loved watching himself "walk on water" as I showed him exactly where he was using google maps on the phone. Right in the middle of the lake, that's clever!

Today has been wonderful.  This evening we had dinner in one of the hotel restaurants and we spoilt ourselves silly with cocktails, fondue and chateubriand. Tomorrow we are off to ski again, at Lake Louise ski resort, it's just a short courtesy bus ride from the hotel and the snow conditions up on the mountain really do look excellent. Cannot wait.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.  Some of the ones out on the lake aren't too shabby, I hope you'll agree.

It is Easter

View from the dining room

Fin explores

Sitting room, Suite 330

Not a bad view form the room.  Had worse.

The road to hell - Panorama to Lake Louise

No no no no no no, just kidding.  This one was special.

Today, Monday 2nd April we embarked upon the final leg of our road trip from Panorama to Lake Louise.  Been a little bit nervous about this one.  For the last few days the weather forecast has been predicting around 20cm snow overnight on Sunday (last night) and the main part of the journey is the mountain pass from Radium Hot Springs to Castle Junction, not to mention getting down the road from Panorama.  As it turned out the forecasters got it wrong this time, only a few cm's had fallen and the roads, although covered in snow for short sections were perfectly fine and the the AWD Highlander took it all in it's stride.

That little bit of snow that did fall was just enough to add that extra dimension to the already exceptional scenic delights we were about to experience.  Going over the pass through the Kootenay National Park was sensational, snow capped trees and mountain vistas making the journey just fly by.  We made a couple of stops to look a little bit closer ; had a short walk down to the riverside and then a slightly longer walk through a beautiful wooded area where we met the bend of the river where the views were a joy to behold.  It was really cold, probably only around -5 but very dry and very crisp air.  Nothing a warm hat and a pair of gloves won't solve and just a beautiful place to be.  It really was picture postcard stuff.

So the combination of the weather, the stops we had and what was about to come made this without doubt the best journey of the entire trip, which contrasts with our last trip which to be fair I found a bit dull after the first hour or so.

After making it safely over the pass, we found ourselves on Highway 1, the main stretch of road from Calgary, through Banff, and on to Lake Louise.  Around 15 minutes later we left Highway 1 at the Lake Louise junction and followed the beautiful Moraine Lake Road which, 5 minutes later delivered us to the Chateau.

Arriving at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise really is a sight to behold.  The hotel is majestic in every way possible and I'll do a separate post just on the hotel to do it justice.

So here are a few pictures we took on the way, but first the usual time-lapse video.  Enjoy!

Is it cold? Too right it is.

These paw prints were massive. Bear?

Didn't hang around too long to find out

Goodbye Panorama

Sunday was our last full day at Panorama.

I got up up early to have my day out heli-skiing, more of that in a blog post to follow.

Meanwhile, Karen, Ellie and Fin had a day out at nearby Invermere.  It's a nice town with plenty to do and see, unfortunately they hadn't accounted for it being Easter Sunday so more or less everything was shut.  Karen might get into this blogging thing and throw a post together, so I'm watching out for that. By all accounts they had a fab time down by lake Windermere, the local lake of Invermere.

We then all met back up at the helicopter-plex where they welcomed me back, then we had time for a couple of drinks before getting back to Room 409 @ 1000 Peaks Summit to re-pack once more.

Then at 9am prompt we were in the car and on our way to Lake Louise.

Out in the Purcell mountains with RK Heliski. In total did 7 runs, that means 7 trips in the helicopter.  It was my first time so a day full of excitement.

Not the most pleasant experience in the world, but exciting and worth it all the same

A well earned beer at the end of the day

Gentlemen

Ladies

Fin likes a cabin to himself

In the hot seat

Not the comfiest night sleep ever

And the day finished with pizza while we packed up for the next leg of our journey

Pizza with a view

They're waffle'y versatile

On the balcony, coats to the ready it's time to go

Let him be

Another hilarious video featuring the one and only Finlay Smith.

No further introduction needed, just get on and watch it.

Satski at Panorama

We have been having great time in Panorama.  Of course now there are four of us and we are absolutely ripping these slopes to shreds.

On Saturday we had another fantastic day out on the slopes.  In the morning we all skied together, Ellie did her first 'real' black run.  There are some pee easy black slopes here at Panorama, such as Fritz's, but Millennium was really a tough nut to crack, quite icy and bumpy but she slid down that slope like a knife through butter.

When the three stooges went back for lunch, I went to sample some off piste in Taynton Bowl, ended up on a run called Devils Drop - the views up there were amazing and the snow still very good, despite the fact there's no fresh goodies for a few days now. Had to walk though.

After lunch we all headed back out again and went to the very top of the resort and threw ourselves down the Top of the World run, a very nice, fairly steep and a little bit bumpy black diamond run, but this time Ellie was a little bit hesitant and struggled a bit.  Too much pasta I think.   Fin, though, he was off like a shot.  The snow was good up there.  We then just had time for one more run, in fact we were the very last people on the very last lift on our very last day of skiing Panorama, so decided to do Top of the World again and this time we all nailed it, Ellie scorched it in a one'er, making it a fantastic end to a brilliant day.

So this was the end of our skiing at Panorama Mountain Resort.  Next stop is Lake Louise.