First Tracks

Reading Time: 5 minutes ‘‘If you’re a strong skier, particularly one who loves the steeps, La Grave—along with La Meije, the imposing monster of a mountain that rises vertically from the valley opposite—is your […]

Reading Time: 5 minutes It was about this time last year when our middle-child, Meg, then in her final year of high school, decided our upcoming, and “last-ever,” March Break trip to France wasn’t […]

Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s fun to live vicariously through ski writers and photographers. This season you might just want to take it a step further and join one of them. I don’t personally […]

Reading Time: 3 minutes “We’re not as well known as we think we are.” When the Epic Pass was first introduced in 2008 offering unlimited skiing at five Vail resorts, I was on a […]

Reading Time: 3 minutes Everyone knows it but few like to admit it: the largest group of skiers is also the least sexy—the on-piste gang. I had a pretty typical teenage skier bedroom growing up, […]

Reading Time: 3 minutes I found a whole new way to rationalize a heli-ski holiday: use one of your kids! “It’s tough to tell your wife you’re off to Wiegele World for another week […]

Reading Time: 3 minutes “The whole ski area could be yours for less than a cabin at Whistler!” It happens often when I tell someone where I work. The brain-wheels start clicking, the eyes […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes “we all know that when things don’t go well, it’s our equipment’s fault.” The other day my friend Jennifer was asking me how often I sharpen my poles. Okay, so […]

Reading Time: 3 minutes ‘‘Is there something in here you want to show me? ’’ The bored face at airport security in Kelowna suddenly brightened as my backpack went through the X-ray machine. As the […]

Reading Time: 3 minutes I’m so mad at my buddy Christopher. He’s president at Sun Peaks and you’d think he’d appreciate my offer to name a few runs on the new terrain that’s opening […]

Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s been several years since I’ve prepared my annual pre-season quiz so for those who have forgotten the routine, I need you to find a comfortable chair, a bright light […]

Reading Time: 3 minutes “Tourism is the Rodney Dangerfield of the economic well-being of Canada,” Dave Brownlie, Whistler’s president and CEO, joked with me on the phone back in August, “and skiing is even […]