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 I enjoy skiing!   I've been skiing in many places in the United States, Canada, and Europe.  I've posted pictures from Banff in Canada, and Chamonix, France and some local places.

Click on any of these pictures to see a larger and clearer image. 

 

Stowe Vermont

 

 

 

This was taken at Stowe, Vermont. It is one of the most gorgeous pictures I have ever taken.   I didn't retouch this photo in any way.  The sky at Stowe really was that shade of blue!  I don't know where that white dot came from, but it is definitely in the picture. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

Banff, Alberta, Canada

 

 

These three photos were taken in the back bowl at Lake Louise

 

 

 

 

The cornice just to the right of center and the area below it  was closed because of avalanche danger.  It is difficult to judge distances in photos without size references, but the top of that cornice is about a mile away!.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is me standing in front of a mogul field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the back bowl at Lake Louise.  Click on the photo to see a full size photo.  There are five skiers in the photo.  Can you find them?

Distances are deceptive when there are no points of reference.  That mongol field is about a mile away!

 

 

 

When we got to the bottom of the back bowl, we broke out the wino, and hoagie sandwiches.  Stick your skiis in the snow and take it easy!  AAAHHHH!!!  It's a tough life, but someone's got to do it.

 

 

 

 

 

My ski buddies, Frank, Mary and Claire.  Again tough life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closeup of Mary and Claire.  Take a look at the background scenery.   The scenery comes in BIG bites!

 

 

 

This is the Banff Springs Hotel we stayed at.  Robin Leach named it number 5 in the 10 best hotels in North America.  The first night we acted like hicks.  We asked how to get a taxi cab to go into town.  The answer, "You call the concierge desk and he gets you one!"  I took a tour of the hotel.  We got to see one of the honeymoon suites in the top towers.  It has it's own private indoor pool and jacuzzi!  The hotel has a music conservatory, and its own wine cellar!  We attended a wine tasting party.  The wine steward and his assistant opened about 15 bottles of very good wine and explained in-detail the nuances of what qualities make up a good wine.  He said "During a true wine tasting competition the judges would spit out the wine after tasting it, but here, you can swallow!

 

 

 

A closeup of the hotel.  Skiis, poles, and boots are NOT allowed in the hotel.  They have a separate building for them.  Show your room key to the attendant and your skiis and poles are whisked away, your shoes appear, and you turn in your boots until the next day.  A professional ski tuner is on premises to take care of that detail should you need it.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a good photo taken of the hotel from the air

 

 

 

 


 

 

Chamonix, France

 

 

 

This is one of the trail maps.  Note the pole on the left, THAT IS A SNOW DEPTH GAUGE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just another day in paradise.  The object in the lower center is a ski lift.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wasn't sure how to orient this photo!!??  Our guide for the ski trip on the glacier was standing upright!  

 

 

 

 

 

OK, I cropped and rotated the Photo above so he is standing upright.  And YES it was that steep.  Nice powder snow though.  This was our skii trip out onto the glacier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is me on top of Aiguille Du Midi (The Needle of the South).  There is a television tower up there.  Note the altitude marker.   I minded the altitude, but didn't get sick.  My asthma kicked up though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bunch of us ate in the restaurant at the top of the mountain.  This is the view out the window.  You can see the town and valley of Chamonix at the center bottom.  You really want to click on this one!  A new window will open.  Sigh. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tram building was separated by a walkway about 25 feet wide and 100 feet long. The walkway is an iron grillwork so snow can fall thru the floor.  It is about a 300 foot drop.  One person in our party couldn't walk across.  So two of us took her arms, closed eyes and walked across!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were there late in the season.  You could ski down, but it was a bit bare toward the bottom.  So you could ride the lift down too.  It was very disconcerting as it appeared you were much higher that you really were.