Monthly Archives: January 2014

Canadian Rockies: warm weather and reflections

Posted on January 30, 2014 by BarryH

The weather has been warmer than usual with day after day of blue skies and sunshine.  Rather than taking photos I’ve been concentrating on trying to improve my incompetent skiing, smooth wide turns on mild slopes but still aggressively sharp … Continue reading →

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Canadian Rockies: global weather patterns, local effects: wrapped in thermals not cotton wool

Posted on January 28, 2014 by BarryH

In January the Canadian Rockies normally experience very cold conditions.  When I first came to Banff in the winter of 2010/11 the warmest temperature in the month from mid-December to mid-January was minus 15oC and most mornings the short walk … Continue reading →

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Canadian Rockies: a walk along the Bow River at Banff

Posted on January 25, 2014 by BarryH

Thursday was another day off skiing.  I don’t have the stamina or the lift pass to ski every day.  I took my skis in for a service – sharpen the edges and wax – and set out to follow a … Continue reading →

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Canadian Rockies: the Wow! factor

Posted on January 22, 2014 by BarryH

“Wow!”  The Canadian guy in the seat next to me on the packed 15.30 bus coming back to Banff from Sunshine let out an involuntary exclamation of appreciation as we rounded a bend in the Trans Canada Highway and yet … Continue reading →

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Canadian Rockies: to the top of Tunnel Mountain

Posted on January 20, 2014 by BarryH

Tunnel Mountain used to be called ‘Sleeping Buffalo’ by the indigenous Nakoda people because from certain directions it looks like ………. a sleeping buffalo.  Knew a thing or two about naming places did the original inhabitants of North America.  Now … Continue reading →

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Canadian Rockies: to the Top of the World

Posted on January 19, 2014 by BarryH

Whichever island I visit in Greece I always aim to climb the highest mountain.  I have written about going to the ‘top of the world’ on Nisyros, Symi, Tilos, Hydra, Karpathos ……… .  Generally they are not very high in … Continue reading →

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Sunshine Coast in the Canadian Rockies

Posted on January 17, 2014 by BarryH

The sleep I was looking forward to when I finally arrived in Banff wasn’t refreshing.  I had temporarily forgotten that sleeping at altitude (albeit only 1400 metres) messes with my sleeping pattern.  The lapse of memory was only short lived.  … Continue reading →

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Time plays with the mind: the Canadian Rockies

Posted on January 16, 2014 by BarryH

It’s 23.30 Rocky Mountain Time, 06.30 GMT and 08.30 in Greece.  After 30 hours without sleep I’m now in Banff and ready to go to bed, the first time before midnight for years.  But then it’s another midnight not the … Continue reading →

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…………. at least I had mown the lawn

Posted on January 12, 2014 by BarryH

The weather in my neck of the woods, indeed throughout the UK, has been crazy.  With the exception of a very occasional overnight dive to near zero with accompanying ground frost, temperatures have continued above freezing for weeks, sometimes hitting … Continue reading →

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A grey start to the year

Posted on January 6, 2014 by BarryH

I don’t believe in omens.  The fact that the new year continues grey, wet and windy may be a sign, but if it is, it’s a sign of global climate change and of shifting ocean currents and the jet stream … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Pontypool, Wales, Winter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments