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The Rockies’ Biggest, Canada’s Best. Sure, Lake Louise slogan isn’t exactly modest, but on the other hand – they do have a point. The mountain is huge, skiing every run would take days. The mountain is split up in three parts: the Front (South Face), the Ptarmigan/Paradise/Back Bowls and the Larch Area. For most Europeans the name Lake Louise rings a bell, it’s the annual World Cup stop, which you’ll hear about on TV. Besides the long world cup run, which you can actually ski down for most parts (icy at times!), there are great back country options.

Lake Louise for a day!

Special features: 

• Terrain and Rail Park: The whole park was perfectly shaped and take-offs are clearly marked. All obstacles were ride-able and are spread out over several 100meters. The park is broken up into two parts, situated on a separate slope bordered by trees and – they are still planning to extend it, wow!  Read More »

As I’m sitting in a small bungalow near the beach in Thailand and my fingers stick to the keyboard thanks to the almost-unbearable heat during mid-day.  It’s hard to even think of where I was only a few weeks ago – wintry Canada. Cold.  Snow. Endless seeming roads that guided us through British Columbia and Alberta at the beginning of the year. We visited 5 ski resorts in 6 days, drank Ginger & Rye and ate Poutine. We had Nachos as an après ski snack, rose early each day due to jet lag and enjoyed the heat of our electric fire places, which could -almost magically- be switched on within a second. This is the final edit of our video for the road trip, hope you enjoy it as much as I still enjoy watching it.

Snowboard Road Trip Canada 2013 from Lea on Vimeo.

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Nakiska Ski Resort was built  especially for 1988 Olympics that took place here and in Calgary. A lot of landmarks around here will still remind you of the Olympics. For example, the huge downhill run that you can see when you drive towards the ski resort from the highway. Unfortunately, this run is no longer open to the public, but for a good reason: to preserve a patch of nature where wildlife will not be disturbed.  It’s amazing to see what they built up just for this one event.

The whole area offers a wide variety of runs for all skill levels, especially kids and beginners.  Even today the names of the chairlifts (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Olympic) keep the Olympic spirit alive.

First day riding Canadian snow. Ready for the Monster Glades!

What you’ll find at Nakiska:

• Minute Maid Kid’s Trails: Small tracks and short cuts through the woods with fun figures along the way. In general we found the whole ski resort very beginner friendly, often you’ll see a sign pointing towards an “easy way down” to avoid steep slopes, etc. Read More »

When your traveling through Canada you’ll hear one thing a lot: “Fernie always gets a lot of snow.” We came to find out it’s true, and that Fernie precedes its reputation by far. We arrived in the dark and woke up to big snow flakes falling from the sky, covering everything in a thick white layer. Now that’s the Fernie we expected to see.

Friends on powder days. Fernie January 2013.

What you’ll find at Fernie: 

• Powder: Ok, that’s something we can’t necessarily guarantee. But, as I mentioned above, the infamous Fernie powder days are certainly not rare! Read More »

Sunshine Village Resort consists of three mountains: Goats Eye Mountain, Lookout Mountain and Mount Standish. The area is so huge it even expands into another state reaching from Alberta into British Columbia. Sunshine Village is known to be very popular among skiers and snowboarders, although snowboarders don’t appreciate the long flats at the bottom of the bowls just as much on powder days.

A sunny day at Sunshine.

All slopes where perfectly groomed and the lifts well maintained. Besides tons of groomed runs there are also a few exciting options for advanced skiers and snowboarders such as Delirium Dive and the Wild West (for more info on those scroll down).

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The best thing about Panorama is that it’s a ski in and out town, much like a European village in the alps, but smaller. People started skiing in Panorama very early on, in 1962 to be exact. If you’re planning on skiing here, make sure you stay in the village itself as this is part of the experience.  Panorama has a general store, a few restaurants and a hot pool that’s for free for everyone staying in the village. A perfect place for families, but also for people who want adventure – fun on the slopes and days of heli-skiing in between, as there’s a helicopter operator right in town.

Exploring Panorama with our guide on the first day.

Special features: 

• Jumpy Run:Ok, that’s not it’s proper name but you might as well call it this. It’s actually the Showoff Run with lots of little jumps along the slope.  Read More »

Canada is a country in XL. Everything is big and distances are always far, but the nature in between is always stunning. If you look closely along the Canadian Pacific Rail you’ll find Grand Hotels that follow this XL pattern. Huge buildings that remind one of french palaces, Scottish castles and the like. All those mountain hotels are placed in locations that offer wide panoramic views. Locations king Louis II couldn’t have picked any better himself, in Jasper, in Lake Louise and in Banff Springs as well.

On our recent trip to Alberta and British Columbia we stayed at one of the newer places in Banff, the Rimrock Resort. Just as big, rooms are just as impressive. The Rimrock Resort was build in the 1990′s and offers 346 guest rooms. The design itself is retro in a way. I’d probably describe it as fin de sièle luxury, but with a modern touch. Read More »

We can’t say they didn’t warn us. We were presented with a waiver right away that necessitated the signature of a witness before hopping onto snowmobiles for the first time in our life. All possible risks seemed to be covered by it. Even natural hazards such as running into an elk, a cougar or even a grizzly bear (how exciting would that be, right?)

Snowmobile Tour from Lea on Vimeo.

Scott, the owner of Toby Creek Adventure Centers in Panorama (British Columbia), basically summed it up for us in two sentences: “Don’t drive them into anything, they’re made of plastic. Basically, if you break them you pay for it.” We nodded, signed the waiver without a second thought, pulled our ski goggles over the huge motorsport helmets and jumped onto the leopard patterned seats of the snowmobiles. We were ready for this adventure.  

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Eat Howl Travel. We are actually expecting to add a few new real human offspring in the upcoming months in the big tripwolf family, but we couldn’t resist this little fellow, who we met at our last tripwolf office adventure that led us to the Wolfscience park in Lower Austria.

Tala is a gorgeous wolf puppy, just 4 months old! She was born in the wild wild west of the United Stated and immigrated early in life from the Minnesota Wildlife Connection center to the Tierpark Ernstbrunn, only 40km from the tripwolf head quarters in Vienna. Her brother Amarok joined her on her journey across the big pond.

Bitten by the travel bug at an early age! Photo: Wolfscience.at

She loves to show up in public, as long as there is food around.  She sleeps in the shadow of the trees and already howls a bunch!

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Beginning on September 22nd, it will happen again.  Mayor Christian Ude will give the beer tap a mighty blow at noon exactly and announce, “It is tapped!” – upon these words, Oktoberfest 2012 is on!

Each year about 6 million people come from all over the world to demolish millions of pints of beer and over 500,000 roast chickens.  This year, the festival celebrates 201 years of tradition.  The “Zugroaste” (as residents of Munich lovingly call newcomers) who stand for the first time at the gate of the Theresienwiese may ask: “How the hell do I find my way through this sea of intoxicated people, tents, beer gardens and sausage stands?”

Answer: The tripwolf Oktoberfest 2012 Survival Guide

At Oktoberfest you’ll learn how to party. Source: flickr

What to wear? The right outfit

The gentleman slips into his Kracherte (leather pants) and Haferlschuhe (Bavarian rugged shoes), while the lady opts for a dirndl – ranging from the traditional long cotton dirndl to sexy couture.  Read More »