Where to Ski (and Party) this Spring

As the days grow longer and temperatures climb, ski resorts in the Great White North come alive.  Locals shed their layers and it seems plenty of pent-up energy comes rushing to the surface.  The general atmosphere becomes pretty wild, almost akin to an adults Spring Break.  Sprintime events feature live … Read more

Shopping for Ski Gear

Shopping for Ski Gear

Another ski season has come and gone. Apart from western Canada’s Whistler Blackcomb, which stays open until May 26, most ski resorts are shutting down their lifts.  And most ski shops are rolling out their summer inventory of mountain bikes and skateboards. It’s the perfect time to buy ski gear. … Read more

Backcountry Skiing

An Introduction to Backcountry Skiing

With skiing, achieving the perfect balance of technique, speed and leg strength is essential and once these are in sync the resulting sensation of flying downhill floating on bottomless snow is addictive. And as any avid skier will tell you, it’s all about the conditions. There is a reason the … Read more

Let’s Talk About Snow

Let’s Talk About Snow

It’s a myth that Canada’s Inuit have hundreds of words for snow.  Counting generously, according to anthropologist Franz Boaz, experts can come up with about a dozen. I’d counter that the English-speaking subculture of skiers and snowboarders reigns supreme when it comes to terms for Ullr’s gift to winter sports. … Read more

Skiing the Powder Highway

Skiing the Powder Highway

To celebrate another new year of skiing, I ventured down British Columbia’s Powder Highway for the first time to see if it truly was the skier’s ultimate pilgrimage. The numbers make a strong case:  the circular route links 8 ski resorts in interior British Columbia that average 50 feet of … Read more

Skiing Canada’s West Coast

I’ll never forget my first day skiing at Whistler Blackcomb. Freshly laid-off from a seasonal job in northern British Columbia’s oil and gas industry, I headed south to Whistler with no goal other than to lose myself in the snow for the remainder of the winter. It was snowing the … Read more

Skiing in the Alberta Rockies

Skiing in the Alberta Rockies

It’s no accident that I call the Alberta Rockies home.  I didn’t even have a job lined up when I moved to Jasper, Alberta; I just knew I wanted to spend my days skiing the Rocky Mountains. The region is so beautiful that it inspired the first two Canadian National … Read more

Skiing in Canada

Skiing in Canada

I’m a skier.  That’s probably the most accurate introduction I can offer. It’s a good thing, too, because I live in the Canadian Rockies, a region with snowy winters harsh enough to single-handedly make it responsible for Canada’s “Great White North” nickname. More often than not there’s snow in my … Read more