Category Archives: Reflections

Back to Grey Britain and a New Direction for air travel research

Posted on January 16, 2011 by BarryH

Wednesday 12 January and, sadly, very sadly, time to leave the Rockies and return home.  I have enjoyed it here very much.  The mountains, the rivers, the snow, the cold, the skiing, the walking, the town, the people.  And being … Continue reading →

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Banff and the Bow Valley: Wildlife on the doorstep, walking on the wild side ….. and getting it wrong!

Posted on January 13, 2011 by BarryH

I’m back home now (Thursday evening) but I’ll update the blog with the Canada trip.  The blog below failed to upload in Calgary airport where the WiFi connection cut me off. First of all, apologies in advance if this is … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Reflections, Uncategorized, Winter | 1 Comment

What do you do in a ski town when you’re not skiing?

Posted on January 8, 2011 by BarryH

The last time I went skiing before this Canada trip was in Verbier in Switzerland in 1991.  I know this because I happened to find the lift pass just before I came away.  It cost an arm and a leg.  … Continue reading →

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More Impressions of Banff

Posted on December 29, 2010 by BarryH

Monday was the second of our days off skiing over Christmas.  The thinking was that the ski hill would be very busy.  Despite the apparent marked fall in numbers of visitors from the UK, it was indeed very busy.  We … Continue reading →

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Alternative Christmas

Posted on December 27, 2010 by BarryH

It was inevitable that this Christmas was going to be different from any other. Before Ruth was born Enfys and I used to split our time over Christmas between her parents in Surry and mine in Salford, travelling from one … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Reflections, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The run-up to Christmas in the Canadian Rockies

Posted on December 25, 2010 by BarryH

Thursday was our day off from skiing and the day that the world seemed to descend on Banff for Christmas.  The appartment block seemed to suddenly fill up, the streets and shops of ‘downtown’ were suddenly thronged with people of … Continue reading →

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Rocky Mountain Blues

Posted on December 22, 2010 by BarryH

Back to skiing at Lake Louise on Tuesday and 3 major changes. First major change, the bus to the ski resort has changed timetables and is not only more frequent but stops outside the hotel our apartment is attached to … Continue reading →

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Rocky Mountain phenomena

Posted on December 19, 2010 by BarryH

Friday and Saturday and two long days’ skiing.  Two phenomenal days’ skiing. One major difference between the Alps where my skiing experience, albeit 20 years ago, has been limited to and Canada is that in the Alps the ‘resorts’ are … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Reflections, Winter | 2 Comments

Tripping on Speed

Posted on December 3, 2010 by BarryH

Busy day on Wednesday.  Got up at 06.15 to take Ruth and Tim to Heathrow for their flight to Canada for the winter.  Apprehensive about getting the car out of the garage and up the drive, I had cleared the … Continue reading →

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Acceleration, speed, time

Posted on November 25, 2010 by BarryH

I learned soon after I began paragliding that the body feels acceleration but not speed.  Fly into a good thermal and there is a sudden upsurge as your body goes up and your stomach seems to lags behind.  An intake … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, extreme gardening, Reflections, Winter | 1 Comment