getting to know western canada

6 tlm n the travel & leisure magazine www.tlm-magazine.co.uk Winter 2011/12

getting to know n Western Canada

Winter 2011/12 tlm n the travel & leisure magazine www.tlm-magazine.co.uk 7

Calgary’s Olympic Park, looking down that same slope.And I am anything but laughing now.A sit-in harness is being put on a safety helmet-clad

colleague a few steps down from me and hooked to agrab handle slung on wheels from a suspended cable thatruns from the top of the tower and all the way down thelength of the ramp to another tower 550 metres away and100 metres below us. On the other side of the track, afellow Brit is undergoing the same procedure…and Iwould be following suit moments later.We are about to take on Skyline at the Park

(http://skylineziplines.ca/calgary) – North America’sfastest zipline, which emulates the speeds and sensationsof the 90-metre ski jumpers. So fast do you travel, reach-ing speeds of between 120kph and 140kph, that theharness incorporates a parachute, which is deployed asyou leap to help slow your descent.For me, climbing the tower was ordeal enough. I am

not merely scared of heights, not even petrified; I have amorbid dread of them, probably not helped by a well-meaning PR friend in New Zealand who thought shecould help me overcome it by tricking me into doing abungy jump off a bridge when I thought I was onlygetting a behind-the-scenes tour.

adventureYet here I am, about to throw myself into nothingnessagain, and I can feel the panic levels rising. All toosoon, the moment arrives and I am hurtling down to ayell of “Geronimo!”, the force of the wind trying to pullthe skin off my face and the fear replaced by pureadrenalin. With a thump, my miniature cablecar hits thebuffers, sending arms and legs flailing. As I dismount,


Iremember seeing the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympicson TV at home and laughing, like everyone elsewatching around the world, at the antics of Britain’sclown prince of ski-jumping, Eddie the Eagle, as hehurtled down the ramp, only to plunge like a stoneinstead of soaring like his namesake.Fast forward some 20 years and I am standing on the

very spot where hapless Eddie launched himself intohistory at the top of the 90-metre ski-jump tower at

Encompassing everything fromrugged Pacific coastline and verdantrainforests to vast lakes and glacier-cloaked mountains, the outdoorsdoesn’t come any greater than inBritish Columbia and Alberta. PeterEllegard explores WesternCanada’s natural wonders and takesin some adventure on the way

The great outdoors

n Forest in Queen CharlotteIslands National Park

n Ready to fly:Calgary's Skyline

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Tourism British Columbia



ready to be hooked up to the final, gentler section, Ilook back up to where I had been…and my stomachchurns.In a land where adventure of every kind beckons, the

zipline is just a taste of what’s in store.Calgary is the biggest city in Alberta and is one of the

main gateways to explore the province and neighbouringBritish Columbia, which together are known as WesternCanada. A favourite way of combining both is to drive,go on a coach tour or take a sightseeing train betweenCalgary and Vancouver, on British Columbia’s Pacificcoast. It traverses the Rockies, several other mountain

ranges, even a desert, while also passing by forests,lakes, orchards and wineries as well as charming townsand all-season mountain resorts. I have done the journey several times myself, and it is

one I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. If you lovenature, adventure, excitement or tranquillity, there reallyisn’t anywhere that beats these two natural and spectacu-lar neighbours. They truly sum up the Great Outdoors. Calgary is just 90 minutes from the Rockies. You can

see its peaks in the distance on clear days. Before leavingthe city, step back in time at historic Fort Calgary andCalgary’s fascinating Heritage Park(www.heritagepark.ca).Then perhaps head south for a couple of days, to visit

the wonderfully-named Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump(www.head-smashed-in.com), a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site over which buffalo were driven by nativeAmericans to their deaths below, and beautiful Waterton

animal encountersBritish Columbia and Alberta have awealth of wildlife you can see. Here aresome of the opportunities to see wildcreatures up close:l Go grizzly bear viewing at Knight

Inlet Lodge(www.knightinletlodge.com),50miles north of Campbell River, inBritish Columbia. Peak season isautumn, when the salmon return tothe rivers.

l Bears are commonly seenthroughout Banff National Parkwhile elk often graze by theroadside, creating the unusualphenomenon of elk and bear jams.

l The communities of Tofino andUcluelet on Vancouver Island holdan annual Pacific Rim Whale Festival(www.pacificrimwhalefestival.com)each March to celebrate themigrating grey whales.

l Venture below the waters of PugetSound between Vancouver Islandand the mainland and you mightcatch a glimpse of the fearsomewolf eel or the giant octopus.

l Up to 4,000 bald eagles congregateeach year around Brackendale, nearSquamish, in British Columbia. Theybegin arriving in November and stayuntil mid-February.

l Whale-watching cruises head outfrom Victoria to see the residentkiller whales off Vancouver Island’ssouthern coast. Prime viewing is latespring to early autumn.

n Mountain vistas from Lake Agnes Teahouse, Alberta

n Bears can often be seen

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moss-draped rainforests and Canada’s only desert amongthem.The Kootenay Rockies region is rich in attractions

and activities. There are heritage towns such as Bavar-ian-flavoured Kimberley, ghost towns and restored 1890spioneer town Fort Steele (www.fortsteele.ca). You canexplore the region’s four national parks – Glacier, Koote-nay, Mt Revelstoke and Yoho – or get a close encounterof the furred kind at the world’s largest grizzly bear habi-tat at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. Other activities toindulge in include hiking, mountain biking and white-water kayaking.Half-way between Vancouver and the Rockies, the

Thompson Okanagan region makes a good place to stopoff for a few days to relax. The region’s landscapeencompasses an amazing variety and contrasts, witheverything from lakes and gentle, rolling hills to loftymountains and from lush orchards and vineyards to ariddesert; this is where the Sonora Desert reaches right upinto Canada. It also takes in alpine resort Sun Peaks.Whistler is a year-round mountain playground domi-

nated by its twin peaks, with plenty to do by day,including four top golf courses, and lots of restaurants,bars and stylish shops in the resort. It hosted the down-hill ski races and bobsleigh events in the 2010 WinterOlympics. I was lucky enough to fly in to Whistler’s lake on a

vintage Beaver floatplane as a birthday treat some yearsback, having taken off from Vancouver Harbour.Although mid-May, snowboarders were enjoying somelate spring snow on the mountain top when we took the

cable car up to the peak, but it was a lovely day back inthe village and my companions and I sat in shirtsleevesas they helped me celebrate the occasion. Once the snow has gone, you can enjoy hiking on

mountain trails, rent a mountain bike or ride the Peak 2Peak Gondola which links the summits of Whistler andBlackcomb mountains.

totem polesThrill-seekers can hurl themselves down Whistler’sZiptrek (www.ziptrek.com/whistler-canada) zipwireor go bungee jumping over a white-water river. Bearsare often seen around Whistler, while other wildlifeincludes bald eagles. Brackendale is famed as the baldeagle capital of the world and nearly 4,000 werecounted there on one occasion. The downside is theyonly visit in winter.The road between Whistler and Vancouver is known

as the Sea to Sky Highway. There are several photo stopsalong the highway. They include Shannon Falls, BC’sthird-highest waterfall and scenic rest areas overlookingHowe Sound. At Horseshoe Bay, you can take a ferryover to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. From there, it is90 minutes to Victoria, with Duncan (for its 80 totempoles) and Chemainus (murals and statues) worth stop-ping off for on the way.British Columbia’s elegant capital is a delight, its

bustling Inner Harbour overlooked by the stately provin-cial Parliament Buildings. Take a horse-drawn carriagetour of the city then savour the early-evening atmosphereon foot. The mild climate is the reason behind the exotic

Winter 2011/12 tlm n the travel & leisure magazine www.tlm-magazine.co.uk 11


Lakes National Park, where you can cruise on a historicsteamer into US state Montana and get a commemora-tive but unofficial stamp in your passport when youmake a brief landing to stretch your legs.

tumbling glaciersVisit Alberta’s Badlands to see Dinosaur Provincial Parkand visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology(www.tyrrellmuseum.com), of the world’s largestdisplays of complete dinosaur skeletons. Banff National Park is Canada’s oldest, most visited

and most famous national park and came about thanks tothe chance discovery of hot springs in a mountain caveby three Canadian Pacific Railway construction workersin Alberta’s Rocky Mountains in 1883. Together withneighbouring Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay national parksand three British Columbia provincial parks, it forms theCanadian Rocky Mountains Parks, a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site since 1984.It is a landscape of towering mountains reflected in

exquisite blue lakes, of tumbling glaciers and icefieldsand of lush, forested valleys and pretty alpine meadows.The park attracts over five million visitors annually,

thanks to easy road and rail access. The railway’s arrivallinked it with the rest of Canada and inspired two Rock-ies icons – the turreted Fairmont Banff Springs hotel,built in 1888 to resemble a Scottish baronial castle, andthe Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Both enjoy picture-postcard settings, the chateau’s romantic views acrossLake Louise to Victoria Glacier perhaps just shading it.There is boating on the lake plus hiking in the surround-ing mountains and nearby Moraine Lake.In winter, the area is a haven for skiers, notably Lake

Louise and Sunshine Village. When the snow melts,Sunshine Meadows’ high alpine trails become a hikers’paradise. For more highs, savour the sweeping vista of Banff

and the Bow Valley from the Sulphur Mountain Gondolaor ride the Lake Louise Sightseeing Gondola and join aguided nature walk. I took part in a bear-spotting rambleled by a ranger on my last visit.You can ride horses in the mountains and canoe on

the Bow River, far from the madding tourist crowds yetjust minutes from town. A gentle paddle to VermillionLakes reveals a glorious view of Mount Rundle. Driveback at sunset for stunning reflections of pink-tingedmountain tops. But mind the mozzies; they attack insquadrons, underlined by the 50-plus bites on my back.

heritage townsBeyond Lake Louise, you can take a cruise on Jasper’sturquoise Maligne Lake. En route, ride a specialSnocoach bus on a three-mile excursion up theAthabasca Glacier in Jasper’s Columbia Icefield.In Edmonton, the sprawling West Edmonton Mall

(www.wem.ca) not only offers over 800 stores, but alsohas a water park, the world’s second-largest indooramusement park complete with seven thrill rides, and asea lion habitat along with an adjacent themed hotel.British Columbia brims with superlatives: rivers

deep, mountains high, cascading waterfalls, ancient


rodeo gagaFor 10 days every July, Calgary lets itshair down and goes rodeo gaga whenthe Calgary Stampede takes overCanada’s Cowtown. A nationalinstitution visited last year by royalnewlyweds Wills and Kate and annuallyby over a million people, the so-called“Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth”celebrates its centenary this year. It could also be called the bravest

show on earth. Cowboys climb ontothe backs of three-quarters of a ton ofangry bull or wild-eyed broncs (theydon’t call them broncos) in tiny pens,then hang on for dear life as the gate isopened and the thrashing beasts launchthemselves into the air in a series offrenzied bucksThe fast and furious chuckwagon

races recall when cowboys had tobreak camp quickly and race rivals toget the best location at the next site.For sheer speed, nothing beats the

steer wrestling and roping events. Blink

and you’ve missed the action, as it is allover in just three or four seconds. The Calgary Stampede is a giant

party which takes over the city. Manymalls and communities put on freebreakfasts. The 193-acre Stampede Parkalso features a funfair, shops and foodstalls, a nightly Grandstand show andplenty of live entertainment. Downtown Calgary has parades,

dances, entertainment, old-fashionedgunfights and even a hat stomp contestas well as wagon rides through citystreets. There are cowboys and cowgirls

strutting their stuff everywhere inCalgary. The most eye-catching outfitsare worn by “Buckle Bunnies”, youngladies who sport massive belt buckles,micro-skirts and little else. TheStampede Queen and StampedePrincesses have their own distinctivesilver buckles.lThe 2012 Calgary Stampede runsfrom July 6-15.www.cs.calgarystampede.com

“There reallyisn’tanywherethat beatsthese twonatural andspectacularneighbours”n Bull riding at

Calgary Stampede

n Horse-drawn carriagepassing Victoria’sParliament Building

n Totem pole in StanleyPark, Vancouver

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n Canoeing on the BowRiver, near Banff

floral displays of 55-acre Butchart Gardens, a popularattraction. The city itself blossoms with plants and flow-ers, and it is the only place in Canada where palm treesgrow. You can also take a boat trip from Victoria to see

killer whales, otherwise known as orcas. There is a resi-dent pod of about 80 which lives in its waters. Vancouver Island’s rugged Pacific coast is a long trek

from Victoria but is worth it for its natural splendour.The road from Nanaimo to Tofino is one of the mostspectacular in the world and goes through towering, old-growth forests and through the stunning Pacific RimNational Park.

Lively downtownVancouver enjoys a stunning peninsula setting flankedby mountains and sea. It pulsates with a lively down-town full of shops, restaurants and bars, a largeChinatown and the funky Gastown and Granville Islanddistricts. Stanley Park is one of the most popular places for

locals and visitors. A 1,000-acre forested park, it isVancouver’s green lungs with wooded trails and aperimeter path offering joggers, walkers and cyclists asweeping vista of downtown from across the water. Afavourite stopping off point is the display of totem polesat Brockton Point while other attractions include theVancouver Aquarium (www.vanaqua.org), which hasbeluga whales, sharks, sea lions and otters among its60,000 marine creatures. Stanley Park’s totem poles are new, but you can see

many excellent surviving examples of north-west coastFirst Nations totem poles at the Museum of Anthropol-ogy (www.moa.ubc.ca)Across Lions Gate Bridge on the North Shore are

Grouse Mountain and the Capilano Suspension Bridge,both popular summer excursions.In summer, Vancouverites head to the coast to picnic,

sunbathe or play. A favourite spot is English Bay Beach,where the annual Celebration of Light fireworks compe-tition lights up the skies at the end of July. From Sunset Beach, another popular summer hangout,

you can take a water bus resembling an overgrown bath-

tub toy across to Granville Island to browse the publicmarket and boutique shops and take a guided tour ofGranville Island Brewing, Canada’s oldest microbrewery. Vancouver is actually my favourite city in the world

and one I never tire of visiting, with its laid-back, outdoorslifestyle and a natural wonderland right on its doorstep.Like Calgary, it, too has hosted the world’s top winterathletes for an Olympiad. Unlike Calgary, I haven’t foundsomewhere high there to throw myself off.



western canada facts

when to goWestern Canada has a similar summerclimate to that of the UK although partsof interior British Columbia enjoy hotsummer days. The west coast is proneto some rain, but May-September willsuit most for touring the country by car,coach or train. Ski the Rockies resorts orWhistler in BC from November throughuntil early May.

getting thereAir Canada (www.aircanada.com) flies daily from London Heathrowto Vancouver and Calgary year round and daily to Edmonton from April.Connecting flights to smaller interior airports are served by Air CanadaJazz. British Airways (www.ba.com) has daily flights to Calgary andVancouver while Virgin Atlantic (www.virgin-atlantic.com) will fly toVancouver four times a week from May-October. Canadian Affair(www.canadianaffair.com) has regular charter flights to Vancouver,Edmonton and Calgary from May to October.

getting aroundCanada’s roads make for easy driving and fly-drive holidays are the mostpopular offered by the tour operators below. You can also rentmotorhomes or take an escorted coach tour. Brewster Tours(www.brewster.ca) operates coach sightseeing tours through theRockies while the Rocky Mountaineer(www.rockymountaineer.com) scenic daylight rail journey hasvarious routes through the Rockies to Vancouver and Whistler.

tour operatorsOperators offering Canada include Bridge & Wickers(www.bridgeandwickers.co.uk), 1st Class Holidays(www.1stclassholidays.com), Canada4U (www.canada4u.co.uk),Frontier Canada (www.frontier-canada.co.uk), Prestige Holidays(www.prestigeholidays.co.uk), Audley Travel

(www.audleytravel.com), Tailor Made Travel (www.tailor-made.co.uk) and Thomas Cook

Holidays (www.thomascook.com).

tourist informationTourism British Columbia:http://uk.britishcolumbia.travelTravel Alberta:

http://remembertobreathe.comCanadian Tourism Commission:

http://uk.canada.travel

n Vancouver’s Granville Island

n Brewster Ice Explorer

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n Yoho National Park, BC

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getting to know western canada