Fondue Tour on the top of Blueberry hill. One of the rare times that it is very clear and no wind

By Dion

We set out for beautiful Kanannaskis Country on Friday. This is the first ski trip with the Parkland Ski Club that I have ever participated in. I had heard a lot of good things about the trip before I signed up. I actually heard more about the food than about the skiing itself! The last of us arrived at around 8pm on Friday night at the Ribbon Creek Hostel. It was a cold night, about -26 Celsius, and very dark. We had a trip meeting that night and decided that we would start off the ski as group and then separate into two groups. Marilyn was the leader for one group and Jane lead the other group.

When we woke up in the morning the weather was warming up, it was now -24 Celsius. We packed up and headed out to the Elk Pass parking lot. We waxed up our skis and got on the trail as quickly as possible to avoid getting cold. The trail conditions were excellent as there was a big snow dump a few days before we arrived and most of the trails were groomed. We started skiing with the goal being the summit of Blueberry hill for lunch. Blueberry Hill was a slow, steady climb. But the sun started to come out from behind the clouds and we were rewarded with some great views of mountains. When we arrived at the top of the hill, the view was breath taking. A spectacular view of the Kanannaskis Lakes and mountains. It was like looking at a picture perfect postcard except a bit colder.

Then after lunch, we were all excited to ski down the mighty Blueberry Hill. It was a fun ski down. We then split up again and headed for the Hydro line. This part was ungroomed and we skied through some deep snow and had some fun going down some pretty steep slopes which were ungroomed as well. But we all made it down, some of us “whiter” than others. We then made our way back to the cars via the beautiful Fox Creek Trail. This small and windy trail runs alongside a beautiful little creek. It felt like something out of a Tolkien novel. We then headed back to the hostel for the famed Fondue supper.

Food. As far as the eye could see! We had 2 chees fondues, a beef broth, and chicken broth fondue. We all had different colored Fondue forks and Frank ended up being the Fondue king as he somehow ended up with 5 green Fondue forks. This was just the beginning! As the chocolate fondue was being prepared, Dion and Phil were fortunate enough to get an extra treat. Phil got to lick the beater that made the chocolate fondue and Dion was rewarded with a finger licking good chocolate covered bowl! We then had chocolate Fondue and Bumble berry Fondue for dessert. With a little bit of wine of course. We all deserved the extra calories after our hard day of skiing. And then it was time for dishes.

Nancy started washing and enlisted a few men to help. But the project really took off after Steve step in and supplied some quality leadership to the dish washing crew! We ended the evening by more conversation, some wine, and a few of us played a board game. We all slept very well in the nice warm hostel. A few scouts that were there braved the cold and slept in a Quincy they had built.

The next day we skied close the hostel. We skied up to the huge and mighty Troll Falls. They were absolutely wonderful. To the left of the falls, it looked like a small face was carved in the cliff face. The weather was considerably warmer on Sunday and we had amazing ski conditions. After the falls we made our way to the café in Delta Hotel in Kanannaskis Village. We had some food and said our good byes.  This was a fantastic trip with great skiing and great laughs. Thanks so much to our fearless leader Marilyn for organizing this wonderful trip. And a big thanks to Jane for being the assistant Tour leader. If you like to eat, then this is must do trip!