My 21st year with High Park Ski Club, and today was my 1st Nordic outing. And was I ever lucky to get such a fabulous day weather-wise on this first time. I was in a great group — a very relaxed and easy-going group. No performance needed here, only smiles, as you can see from the photos below, even though Cynthia drove us hard! And of course, there was a wine and cheese party in the warm-up hut afterward. I can definitely recommend the Scenic Caves as a very good place for snow-shoeing or x-country skiing.
Archive for the ‘Skiing’ Category
View GallerySölden, Austria, January, 2007
This ski trip was more like a European vacation, with 5 days skiing at Sölden, a day in Innsbruck, and finally, a whole Saturday afternoon and night in München (Munich), before flaying back to Toronto. Sölden is south of Innsbruck, about 20 km north of Italy.
When we first got there, there was not much happiness, as Austria was just as brown and grey as Toronto. But the skiing was pretty good, especially in the higher glacier areas. But on the 3rd day, we got a 40 cm dump, with 2 feet of powder in some places. We were closer to heavan than just the altitude.
And finally Munich, which I think is just about my favourite city, after having visiting it twice. Munich is very safe, alive, and vibrant, and I really noticed this on Saturday night in the shopping area of the old city. The way people were walking around in the snow storm, shopping from store to store, reminded me of the week before Christmas in Toronto 20 years ago. Now, here, of course, there is no enjoyment left in Christmas shopping. Just driving giant SUV’s from one strip mall to the next, trying to push aside the next person.
Skiing in Trois Vallees, France, January 2006
This was a HPSC ski club trip and our first ski trip to Europe. Trois Vallees is the largest ski area in the world, and we covered a lot of it. We stayed at Club Med in the town of Les Menuires. Although I don’t like the Disneyland atmosphere of Club Med, the trip did include 6 days with a ski instructor/mountain guide, which was great. Stephane took us off-piste all week, even though it was mostly rocks, crust, and frozen crud. The groomers were very icy and crowded, so we avoided them, which was fine with me, since I hate groomers. We get enough of those in Ontario.
Cat Skiing in BC, 2005
This was a HPSC ski club trip, but was more like 3 trips in one! One day skiing at Whitewater, 2 days cat-skiing in the Valhalla area of the Selkirk Mountains, and three days at Red Mountain. We stayed 3 nights in Nelson, and 4 nights in Rosslind.
This post was entered in 2009 (due to website overhaul), but I still dream of cat-skiing and hope to do this again some day!
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