CANADA WINTER WONDERLAND
Canada Winter Wonderland - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Canada Winter Wonderland | |||||
| By: Lucy Jones, Issue 47 – Winter 11 | |||||
| (Alaska, Ottawa, Rocky Mountains, Alberta, British Columbia) | |||||
| CANADA IN WINTER ISN’T ONLY ABOUT SKIING. LUCY JONES FINDS DOG SLEDDING AND SNOWMOBILING TOURS AT THE LUXURY END, AND AN EIGHT-KILOMETRE ICE-SKATING RUN. | |||||
| ICE-SKATING | |||||
| Skating is Canada’s favourite winter pastime. Most Canadians learn to skate when they learn to walk. Each year around December hundreds of ice rinks begin to appear on frozen ponds, lakes, playgrounds and sporting fields in the middle of major cities. In Toronto skaters can choose from more than 50 rinks, including the popular rink in Nathan Philips Square in the centre of town outside the city hall buildings. In Montreal the Quays Skating Rink has excellent views of the St Lawrence river and Old Montreal and each night features a different music and light theme. The Rideau Canal in Ottowa becomes the world’s largest outdoor skating rink at almost eight kilometres long. The frozen canal begins at the steps of the Canadian parliament buildings and runs through the centre of the town. Along the way there are rest areas with log fires and hot drinks and even an outdoor art gallery on the ice featuring original works from young Canadian artists and photographers. Further afield there is the opportunity to skate in some of Canada’s stunning natural environments. Lake Louise in Alberta, in the south-west of the country, freezes over every year between December and March. Skaters skate against the backdrop of the Victoria Glacier and Rocky Mountains. The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, which is right on the shore of the lake, organises skating for hotel guests. The lake is cleared of snow every morning and separate rinks are set up for free skating and for games of ice hockey or broomball (a game similar to field hockey but on ice, where players wear rubber soled shoes rather than skates). The hotel chefs create a huge ice castle from blocks of ice and the rink is filled with ice sculptures each year in January during the Ice Magic Festival. The Fairmont Banff Springs and Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge also offer ice-skating on natural lakes in their grounds. Skating takes place from early December through to April if the weather stays cold enough for ice. Most rinks are free though some will charge an entry fee, usually less than C$10 (about A$10). Bring your own skates or hire them from the rinks for around C$10-20 (about A$10- 20). Be warned – most of the Canadians skating will be very good so you’ll have to stay out of the way of teenagers performing triple axles. | |||||
| seetorontonow.com; quaysoftheoldport.com; canadascapital.gc.ca; fairmont.com | |||||
| DOG SLEDDING | |||||
| Thunder across Canada the way the pioneers did, albeit with the modern comforts of fur lined sleeping bags and heated tents or luxury lodges. Tours run across most of the country, through the thousands of kilometres of uninhabited Canadian wilderness. It’s generally two to a sled with one passenger sitting and one standing. Guests are in charge of their own sled and will be driving the dogs themselves after a little training. You’ll need warm waterproof gear and boots, but these can be hired from tour companies. The tours range from a one or two hour taster trip to overnight tours and weeklong expeditions through the Arctic Circle or the Canadian Rockies. Snowy Owl Tours in Alberta offers two-hour Mountain Magic tours through the Rockies from C$149 (about A$145) and full day, eight hour tours from C$695 (about A$674) per person. Accommodation on multi-day trips can be basic due to the remoteness of the area, though luxury camping options are becoming more common. Uncommon Journeys operates tours in the Yukon region that borders Alaska, one of the most remote regions in the country. Its deluxe Wilderness Yurt Camp has private, heated yurts for sleeping, a main yurt with a full kitchen and dining room and a sauna to warm up in at the end of a long day. For the furthest stops where no permanent accommodation is available, Uncommon Journeys provides specially designed tents, chairs, mattresses and sleeping bags to ensure you stay warm and dry. Seven-day journeys start from C$3,670 (about A$3,558) per person and the 13- day Arctic expedition starts from C$11,450 (about A$11,100) including accommodation, meals and specialised cold weather clothing. If you don’t fancy roughing it, Winterdance Dogsled Tours runs an overnight heli-dogsledding trip departing from Toronto. Guests are flown over the Haliburton Highlands to the departure point for a day of sledding, then flown to the Pinestone Resort to spend the night in a villa before being flown back to Toronto in the morning. Prices for the helicopter flight and day of sledding start from C$1,425 (about A$1,381) excluding accommodation. In recent years there has been concern over the ethics of dog sledding, particularly after the revelation that a company in Whistler had slaughtered a large number of dogs when the tourist trade fell off following the Winter Olympics. Reputable tour providers will be committed to the humane and ethical treatment of their dogs. Dogs should be fed high quality food, have lots of human interaction, comfortable sleeping kennels and a happy home when their sled-pulling time comes to an end. The companies recommended here all have strict operational policies ensuring the responsible care and humane treatment of their sled dogs. | |||||
| snowyowltours.com; uncommonyukon.com; winterdance.com | |||||
| SNOWMOBILING | |||||
| For something a little faster, you might like to hit the trails and untouched backcountry on a snowmobile. Originally designed as a utility vehicle that could access areas covered in snow, snowmobiles are now widely used in Canada for recreation. They run on ski-like tracks and are built to take one driver and occasionally a passenger though there is an overall weight restriction of around 200 kilograms. High performance snowmobiles can reach speeds in excess of 200km/h, though first timers are well advised to take it easy. Speeds on tours are generally restricted to a maximum of around 70km/h which is still fast enough to zip between snow covered trees, plough through fresh powder and race across frozen lakes. Like dog sledding, snowmobile tours can run for a couple of hours up to multi-day tours staying in lodges or chalets. West Canada Tours has a number of different options in British Columbia and Alberta that depart from Revelstoke, Whistler, Banff and Vancouver. Full day tours allow for about four and a half hours snowmobiling and half day tours about two and a half hours. Full day tours start from C$190 (about A$184) per person including lunch and half day from C$135 (about A$131) including hot chocolate and cookies at the top of the mountain. They also offer two to four night tours staying at their own lodge and covering between 60 and 200 kilometres per day. Prices range between C$1,200 (about A$1,163) and C$2,000 (about A$1,938) including accommodation, meals and weatherproof clothing. If you’ve had some previous experience at snowmobiling you can take one of the more advanced tours on offer. Blackcomb Snowmobile runs Extreme Team Tours that take in Whistler’s only high alpine bowl and give you more free reign with your Skidoo. Four-hour tours start from C$289 (about A$280) per person including lunch. For the best of both worlds combine dog sledding and snowmobiling in a full day tour. With Banff Adventures Unlimited you can spend the morning on a dog sled and pick up your snowmobile in the afternoon. The five-hour combined tour starts from C$359 (about A$348) per person including lunch. | |||||
| westcanadatours.com; blackcombsnowmobile.com; banffadventures.com | |||||
| GETTING THERE | |||||
| Air Canada flies direct from Sydney To Vancouver daily. Return business class flights start from A$9,672 and economy from A$2,880. From there it has connecting flights onto numerous other Canadian cities including Toronto, Montreal and Ottowa. These internal flights cost between A$1,936 and A$1,942 return for business class and between A$710 and A$889 for economy. | |||||
| aircanada.com | |||||
| WHEN TO GO | |||||
| Winters in Canada are cold. Really cold. Temperatures fall below zero across most of the country and in regions near the Arctic the average temperature can stay below zero for seven months. Snow starts to fall in Canada in late October and the season can sometimes stretch through until May depending on the region. Between November and March visitors can expect good snow cover and solid ice across most of the east and north of the country. | |||||
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