"Welcome back to the United States," said the immigration official at the Calgary airport. I guess there are enough flights to the USA each day that one terminal of the airport is considered 'US territory' and is controlled by US immigrations and customs officials. That way flights originating from the terminal can land at the domestic terminal of US airports -- no customs back on the US side. "Welcome back to the United States". It got me thinking... Wasn't that a wonderful vacation? Has it really only been one week? Wouldn't this make a great intro to my ski trip story? The answer to all three questions: Yes.

Ski Canada 1999. The exchange rate is good and we have a better than average chance of seeing snow during spring break. Rock and roll.

Saturday was the usual semi-fiasco of trying to get 15 people coming in on 10 different flights to meet in one airport. While my flight was fine, one flight was delayed which means everyone else had the opportunity to tour the lovely Calgary airport. After finally assembling our motley crew we drove to Banff National Park and settled in to our four identical condos.

Day one was pretty straightforward: Downhill skiing. The warm weather meant that the snow was soft, heavy and wet. The snow conditions meant that the slopes were forgiving and slow. Of course, slow is a relative term when blasting down black diamonds on the 2000' vertical face of Alberta's largest ski resort.

A tour of the town of Lake Louise started day two. Then off to Athabasca glacier; about 200km North of our home base. Like the glaciers I saw in Alaska four years ago, Athabasca was stunning. Sunglasses and sunscreen were essential equipment on this day (and most other days of the vacation). Maintaining stable body core temperature was difficult with warm weather and sunshine offset by stiff, cold glacial winds and long treks post-holing across snowfields. The drive South from Athabasca took a bit longer than anticipated. I guess we should have thought a little bit more about the park rangers we passed on the way North. The rangers who were putting out large orange bags labeled "Nitrate." Those same rangers stopped us on the way South about 1km from their Kosovo memorial explosive field. They claim the explosions were to trigger controlled avalanches, but I suspect it was an adult version of "boys blowing things up." The blast wave made me glad that I have never personally experienced a war. From 1km away it felt like being in the exhaust of a 747 during takeoff. The resulting avalanche was cleared from the road a brief hour later by rangers driving large front end loaders (more toys? where do I sign up for this job). And, I feel compelled to point out, while the rangers cleaned up the road, I was cleaning up in the game of hearts that helped to pass the time.

Which is a fantastic segway into all the other games we played. Games are a way of life for this ski crew. This year the big hits were Mafia, Bleeding Sherwood, Kill Dr. Lucky, Guillotine, Balderdash and Give Me The Brain. Games, food, and hot tubs -- all considered more important than snow for a great ski vacation. We did game, we did eat, and we did hot tub. Have you ever stayed in a condo with a water slide? An indoor water slide? An indoor, three story tall water slide? Two indoor three story tall water slides? After this vacation, I can say that I have. To be honest after one trip down each slide I was quite content to sit in the hot tub and watch others take the ride. The condos were nice in other ways. We picked them because they could accommodate (literally) our large group. But we were happy with the nice rooms, furnished kitchens, and large number of deer and elk roaming the grounds (watch where you step). We had to drive down the street to see the main herd of hundreds of elk, but small groups could be seen wandering through the parking lot whenever the mule deer weren't around. But it was the water slide that was the resort's claim to fame. It is funny to be riding up the chair lift with other skiers. When the conversation turns to local lodging and you say, "Douglas Fir Condos" the response is invariably "Oh yeah, the place with the water slide."

But I digress. Day three: cross country skiing around Lake Louise. We went out beyond the North end of the lake and into the Rockies. The terrain was beautiful, but that beauty concealed some serious danger. Avalanche potential was high. The warm spring weather, incessant sun, steep slopes, and deep snow all combined to make for lots of sliding snow. Avalanches powerful enough to uproot full grown trees. We came upon the remnants of an avalanche that had snapped trees like matchsticks and filled a valley with 10 meters of snow. We also passed through some obvious avalanche chutes that had not yet triggered... oops. The most beautiful scene of the entire week took place as we crested a ridge and saw Victoria glacier on the horizon. Its unmistakable deep blue glacial ice exposed in places where it had calved around the edge.

Day four was a day of snowboarding. It was my fifth day ever on a snowboard and I was excited to be keeping up with the fast group of skiers in our crew . For the first time ever on a board I felt comfortable riding down narrow catwalks and steep black diamond runs with large moguls. I'm still much better on skis, but I no longer feel like portions of the mountain are off limits when I'm on a board. Icy patches quickly set me on my butt -- luckily they were few and far between.

Johnson Canyon is the plan for day five. A beautiful but crowded interpretive trail up the canyon. Past some great ice sculptures created by tall waterfalls. The rather obvious fact that the canyon was created by the river was repeated many times by the signs along the trail. And here I was thinking that elk with shovels did the work. Rappel and toprope anchors are visible on top of some of the larger ice formations. Lots of fun single pitch ice climbs to be had.

Day six was one last day of snowboarding. We got some fresh snow the night before, so I had my first experience riding in powder. The board is smooth and forgiving. Ahhhh. It is a wonderful finale to a week of adventure.

And on the seventh day we rested. Actually, we flew home. I slept on the plane. That counts, right? Welcome back to the United States.

Dave's Story From This Trip