Canada -- The Mountains September 8, 2002
Have you been to the
mountain, any mountain?
This is the International Year of Mountains, a
UN designation meant to
remind us how important mountains 
are for our ecosystems and for human society. Mountains
are a source of water, energy, minerals, forests, recreation, biological diversity.
Finding a balance between conservation and sustainable development is critical, as more people want to
enjoy mountain environments either as home or vacation destinations.
We recently spent six weeks touring some of North America's premiere mountain vacation spots: Aspen, Jasper, Banff, and Whistler. All these places have marvelous scenery, grand mountains, wonderful hikes, swiftly flowing rivers (often a glacial turquoise, due to "rock flour"),lovely, translucent lakes, and pricey, upscale resorts. All have made good efforts to preserve the natural environment and limit growth. And all except Jasper are busy, year-round destinations; winter skiing is the main draw, but summertime is also high season.
Yet
the towns and recreation activities that have developed in
these areas differentiate them totally. The differences are mostly a matter of
history and foresight -- how development
happened and how it's
been controlled, both of which influenced the design
and thus the "feel" of the towns. Also, there are major
differences in the cost of living and in the amount of valley wildlife habitat
that has been preserved (and thus the visibility of wildlife.)
After a couple of weeks driving on the plains of central Canada, we were ready for some mountains. We flew south from Calgary to Aspen, Colorado for a visit with our Munich friends, the Weinholds. They spend a month in Aspen each summer and had enchanted us with their glowing reviews. Aspen turned out to be the most chic and most expensive stop of our summer (or maybe ever).
Nestled in forested mountain terrain, Aspen is an old town that's truly aged graciously. The buildings are low, and the shops and restaurants are unobtrusively spread out, sitting along the several streets and cross-streets that define "downtown". It's surprising how undeveloped and low-key Aspen feels, and yet it reeks of money. The shops are upscale, selling expensive European brand names like Bvlgari, Prada, and Louis Vuitton (and were mostly empty). The hotels are among America's best. Restaurants vary from funky to first-class. Dick especially liked the ad for a spot that advertised its service as "exceptionally unpretentious". Home prices here are out of sight; the median price for a home is a measly four million dollars!!! It all conspired to make us feel rather poor.
Yet I found Aspen to be especially attractive, perhaps because of all the available activities. Aside from the large selection of hiking trails, the scenic drives, and the challenging golf course, there are also cultural and scientific interests to pursue: a month-long music festival (with daily afternoon and evening concerts,) summer theater, the opera, a movie festival, and scientific talks for the layman! There's always something happening in Aspen.
After Aspen, we drove from
Calgary to Edmonton and 
then stopped over in the towns of Jasper
and Banff, both located inside Canadian National Parks. Development here has been restricted,
though there's much more development than in US National Parks, and new development
is still continuing with recent government approvals for several controversial
hotel expansions.
Wildlife abounds in Jasper, the
least developed of the four areas. We were happy and amazed to sight
two(!) black bears. One, near the roadside, was munching on the bright red buffalo berries that had just come into season in
mid-August. The other crossed in front of us
as we played the par 3 9th hole on the Jasper Golf course. We also
encountered a
family of bighorn sheep (including two young'uns), a herd of mountain goats, a 
family of loons, some elk, and even a pair of coyotes on the move. With so much wildlife, the town of Jasper (shown
here, from
above) hardly made an impression on us.
After driving a hundred miles further south,
stopping at the walk-on, Athabasca Glacier (below) and beautiful, legendary Lake Louise,
we arrived at Banff.
Wildlife (elk, ducks, geese, other birds) was again plentiful, but
we didn't trip over critters as we did in Jasper. Banff is a
bigger town than Jasper, having a few side-streets and hot springs just outside
of town. Development has resulted in many nice,
modern motels with underground parking and attractive facades, growing
in several fingers reaching out from downtown. Downtown is a few
hotels, but mostly shopping galore and restaurants, all scrunched into a few
blocks. Nice enough, but trafficky and not really special. The
nearby Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and golf course are a 
highlight, but we
didn't play here because of chilly weather. The cold however rewarded us
with fresh snow on the mountain tops, enhancing already spectacular views.
Whistler is the newest of the mountain resorts we visited. It's a completely pre-planned town built 25-30 years ago. It has three somewhat separate little areas (stages of growth); Whistler village being the first section built. In town there are many hotel/condo/timeshare units to choose from, most with kitchens, all in 2- to 5-story buildings with hidden parking. These condos are clumped into groupings, surrounding broad, landscaped, pedestrian-only walkways and squares. These allow for leisurely strolls with views of the mountains and ski slopes. The town's shops are built into the buildings' ground floors, sheltered by protective overhangs and almost invisible. Many of the numerous restaurants provide outdoor, plaza seating. The town's layout means everything, including the driving range and the ski slopes, is very close; walk out the door and you're there.
Whistler
has more visitors than any mountain town in Canada. Summertime weekends
are extremely busy, with hoards of people milling around town or doing the many
sporting activities on offer, especially biking. Weekdays are more
tranquil
and after Labor Day, it got really quiet. There are
walking/cross-country skiing trails, hiking/biking trails, and a highly ranked 
golf courses in town, as well as 2
more fabulous courses just a 3
minutes away. From downtown, a one and a half mile walk takes you to Lost
Lake, where there's a sandy beach and swimming. A three mile walk in the
other direction along
the Valley Trail takes you around the periphery of Whistler Golf Course.
One popular activity (that I'm too old to try) is "extreme mountain biking" down
Whistler Mountain. There are special suspension bikes and full body armor
for rent, trails for 3 skill
levels, and a lift that will take you and your bike to the top, as many times as your
body can endure.
Of course there's new, more recent, growth here too. Expensive homes have been built near (but for the most part not "on") the three golf courses and on some of Whistler's several lakes; they run a million dollars Canadian (about $650,000) and up - almost reasonable when compared to Aspen.
As you can see, it's definitely been the Year of the Mountain for us. Indeed, being exposed daily to so much grandeur, it occasionally felt like the awesome mountain vistas, the quiet lakes, and blue-white glaciers were beginning to merge and look alike. It's the mountain towns (Aspen, Jasper, Banff and Whistler) we'll be able to easily recall and tell apart. Of these, I liked Aspen the best; it had all those happening events Or, maybe I liked Jasper the best; it had all those animals. Or, maybe I liked Whistler the best; it had all those great golf courses. Really, it's hard to decide, they're all destinations we can heartily recommend.
But never mind, there are expansive, distinctive mountains everywhere. Some are probably near you. So, seeing it's the International Year of the Mountain: Go for it!