Doug Connery

Distractions:

This is what I do to help digest all of this academic upgrading!

Winter has finally arrived, and it is time to ski!!

Put the away hiking boots and walking poles and wax up the skis.

Cascade Fire Road – 24 km ski, November 28

The Cascade Fire Road heads north from near the town of Banff Alberta. The road gives non motorized access to the remote eastern sections of Banff National Park. The first 15 kilometres of the road are groomed and track set for X-Country skiing in the winter. On this beautiful crisp and sunny winters day, I skied in about 12 kilometres with a couple of good friends and then returned. It was tough staying awake to watch the Grey Cup later in the day, and any attempt to do any work on ETEC 511 was out of the question.

Canmore Nordic Centre – 13 kilometre warm up: first ski of the season – November 21

After a late start to winter and then a near week of snow and brutaly cold (wind chills to -35), the Canmore  Nordic Centre  is open and they continue to make snow to augment the natural snow that has fallen.

The Canmore Nordic Centre was built for and hosted the nordic skiing events at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. The Nordic Centre is maintained for recreational skiing and training for everyone from the citizen racer to the high performance Nordic athlete. The lodge and trail system had an upgrade in 2005 to re-certify it to international standards in preparation for the  Alberta Centennial World Cup races in December 2005. Regional X-Country ski clubs continue to host World Cup races every second year. The last World Cup race was held in early February 2010 which acted as a tune-up race for the World coming to Canada one week prior to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Several Canadian men were just shy of podium finishes in Vancouver 2010 including Devon Kershaw who was fourth and less than 2 seconds away from a gold medal after a brutal 50 kilometre race. The Senior mens and womens teams are based out of Canmore and can be seen flying around the trails when they are not away on the race circuit.

Powderface Ridge – Day Hike Oct 17

Still day hiking in the Elbow Valley however snow has fallen in the front ranges and temperatures are falling.

Old Goat Glacier – Day Hike Oct 10

Another warm but cloudy Indian summer day in Kananaskis Country. This little glacier in a well protected valley is unusual in the front ranges so close to Calgary.

Slate Patio – Built Oct 3-9

I took a week of vacation and built a slate patio with my Wife Teriesa. Lots of hard work preparing the ground and laying the slate, but well worth it.

Niles Meadows – Day Hike Oct 2

Summer returns (or perhaps finally arrives) in the southern Canadian Rockies. Niles Meadows and the Niles Col are located just on the BC side of the Alberta/BC border. The valley parallels the Yoho Valley and the lake and glacier in the pictures below feed Takakaw Falls.

Rae Lake Area – Day Hike Sept 26

Day trip into the upper Elbow and Sheep River headwaters in Kananaskis Country during the peak of larch season. The weather was variable with sun rain and snow.

Pipestone Pass – Backpack: Sept 2-5

Trip to Pipestone Pass area with my oldest son Linden, our friend Jake and possibly an unexpected visitor by the name of Karin. Pipestone Pass is in Banff National Park north of Lake Louise. We did this trip for four days just before ETEC 511 started. It was a planned 5-day trip but as you will see below we had a little surprise on day four and decided to go home early!

My header picture was also taken on this trip.