The last week of February saw half term at Ralston School so we thought we would make the most of it and off to the Rockies we went for a spot of skiing. We drove up midweek and was up on Thursday morning all ready to hit the slopes at Sunshine Village. However as we came off the highway we were stopped at the beginning of the drive up the mountain to be told that due to the extreme cold -32degrees the mountain was not opening until much later. So with a quick turn around we drove into Banff for morning coffee and a brisk walk around the town - it really was very cold. We then came to the conclusion that there would be a lot of people waiting for the lifts to open at Sunshine (especially people who had caught the bus up the mountain and had no way of leaving) so headed off to Norquay instead.
This was our first time skiing at Norquay and although much smaller than Lake Louise and Sunshine is was fine for an afternoon ski - again we could only manage 3 runs before coming in to warm up and then out again. Tegan and Fraser were not particularly enjoying the afternoon so by 4pm we called it a day and headed back to the Copperstone Hotel where we were staying and jumped into the hot tub. So the remainder of the evening was spent in the hot tub with a G&T before tea and bed.
Friday morning we drew back the curtains to be met with glorious bright blue sky with not even a whisper of a cloud - however we knew immediately that ment cold. Yet again it was so cold Sunshine was not opening until 11am - so with a lazy start we eventually made our way up the mountain. This time the afternoons skiing was awesome!!! The slopes were extremely empty, the views of the mountains surrounding us with clear blue skies were breadth taking - the only problem was that it was still so cold my camera would not work, hence no pictures. Tegan and Fraser skied really well and it was great fun us all sking together. Eventually it was time to leave the slopes so we skied off the mountain back to the car. Tegan and Fraser both had fantastic afternoons along with finding as many jumps through the trees as they could.
Back at the hotel it was hot tub time, then Fraser managed to cut his big toe open so rather than turning the hot tub red we made a quick dash back to our room for Chris to carryout first aid - I am a poor mum when it comes to blood.
Saturday morning it was decided that due to Fraser's toe he couldn't put on his ski boots, so Tegan and I went skiing for a girls morning whilst Chris and Fraser went into Banff. The boys had a great time as they went and watched some ladies curling and then for over an hour watched Timbits Ice Hockey. For those of you who are not aware Tim Hortons is a national institution in Canada - they serve good coffee and doughnuts, they also sponsor many children activities and one of them is junior hockey - hence the name Timbits. Fraser thought it was great watching children his age and a little older playing hockey, Chris thought it was hilarious watching them fall over. Whilst the boys were doing boy things Tegan and I had a great morning skiing the slopes of Sunshine.
After a quick change back at the hotel we drove to Calgary Saddledome to watch the Calgary Hitmen(3) vs Kelowna Rockets(4) ice hockey match. This was a treat for Tegan and Fraser, especially Fraser who's face was a picture when he entered the Saddledome to see how big it was and the noise levels were amazing. So with our hotdogs, fries and drinks we settled into our seats to watch the game. The standard of play is extremely fast, at points you lost sight of the puck but a great game to watch. It was 9.45pm by the time the game finished and we set of with the other hundreds of people to drive out of the city centre and back to Canmore.
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