As I mentioned in my previous post, I have spent the last few winters in Canmore, Alberta, a town in the Canadian Rockies. As Canadian winters are long, this adds up to quite a bit of time. My main motivation is to ski. I originally decided on Canmore because I knew from my visit in 2016 the area was beautiful, but also because I had such a difficult time finding affordable, long-term accommodation in U.S. ski towns. Remaining in the U.S. would have been much simpler logistically (e.g., medication prescriptions, cathing supplies, etc.) This part of the Rockies does not get the same puking amounts of snow as British Columbia, but the precipitation is fairly consistent and temperatures remain low so that the snow is light and dry and stays around. It really is not uncommon to experience temperatures -40 degC. Canadians really do know how to handle extreme cold.

Alberta is supposedly the Wild West of Canada but at least in the Bow Valley area (Canmore, Banff…) people seem pretty liberal and sensible. Or, at least not bat-shit crazy like so many people in this country. I really appreciate societies that view healthcare and education as universal human rights.

I also appreciate the fact that snow sports seem to be much more democratic in Canada because lift ticket prices, while not cheap, aren’t as prohibitive as U.S. resorts. It’s always an internal struggle between enjoying a sport so much but also being aware huge swaths of the population are excluded due to financial barriers.

That’s why I appreciate Rocky Mountain Adaptive so much, an organization that aims to lower barriers (physical, cognitive, financial, etc.) so that more people get to enjoy the outdoors. I’ll save that for another post.