Best places to hike in Canada

Canada, just like the United States, is home to some of the most well regarded, pristine national parks in the world. While Canada's national park system isn't as well developed or as extensive as America's, it's still on par with America's in terms of the sheer quality and beauty of the parks. I personally have only hiked twice in Canada, so my experience with the parks there isn't as comprehensive. Both of my Canadian hiking experiences took place in Alberta at Banff National Park and Jasper National Park. My dad is from Calgary so my family and I have visited Banff National Park and the main attraction there Lake Louise many times before. Prior to the summer of 2014 we had only viewed and taken pictures of the dazzling, iridescent lake while at Banff, but never done any extensive hiking. We decided to do a hiking and camping trip at the two parks and the first hike we took while at Banff was directly adjacent to Lake Louise. The trail was a narrow, loose dirt trail that gradually ascended up the mountainside, climbing roughly 300-400 feet over the course of 1.5 miles. The trail ended at the top of a ridge overlooking the stunning lake and lake Louise hotel. In terms of the trail difficulty the lake Louise hike was moderately challenging and popular amongst a wide variety of people. Moving onto Jasper national park, which is a 15 mile drive directly north of Banff, and arguably the most pristine, least developed park I've ever been to. I remember seeing a grizzly bear mother with her three cubs eating on the side of the road on our first day in Jasper national park. Just like at Banff national park we hiked around a lake, known as Annette lake, which was equally as serene and placid as lake Louise. Unlike the hike near lake Louise, the trail around Annette lake had only a minimal amount of elevation gain, but still featured a plethora of aromatically pleasing vegetation. While I have only ever hiked at Banff and Jasper national park in Canada, I know there is some truly terrific hiking in British Columbia and around Vancouver. One of the more well known spots in the Vancouver area is Whistler mountain resort which is more highly regarded as a skiing destination but boasts one of the most extensive, appealing trail networks in all of Canada. Other great places to hike in British Columbia include Squamish and Yoho national park which both feature well developed trail systems and diverse topography. Eastern Canada also has some phenomenal hiking but since I don't have any experience hiking there, I don't know of any particular places.

Best Places to hike in the United States

The United States is littered with great places to hike and is internationally recognized for having one of the best national park systems in the world. Besides the national parks there are many other state parks and forested conservation land that offer hiking. The national park and state park systems have insured that some of the most pristine, beautiful natural land will remain intact and preserved for future generations. Almost all of the national parks in the United States offer some kind of hiking whether it be limited in scope or more comprehensive, which makes hiking a really convenient activity wherever you live. All of the hikes that I've done have been day hikes and most of my favorite ones have taken place in New England. For any true hiking aficionado hiking up the tallest mountains in New Hampshire and Maine, Mt. Washington and Mt. Katahdin respectively, is a true rite of passage. Those two hikes have been the most memorable and enjoyable hikes I've ever done. What makes those two hikes so special is the fact that they require a bit more planning than your normal day hike at a nature preserve. You have to camp overnight to be able to wake up at four or five the next morning to complete the hike in one day. Both hikes are also more technically challenging which forces you to be more engaged and alert on the trail. The trails itself are both very beautiful with varying topographies and changing scenery as you make your farther up. The best part of both hikes though is when you reach the summit and are rewarded with spanning vistas that go on for miles on a clear day. Unfortunately the summit of Mt. Washington is almost always enshrouded in clouds and is notorious for having some of the worst weather in New England. You'll be proud though after you conquer the beast by hiking up it instead of driving up it and putting on one of those "This car climbed Mt. Washington!" stickers. Moving on to the western United States where I have less hiking experience but where some of the best hiking in the world is found. My first time hiking in the West was when I was ten or eleven out in Yosemite national park with my family. I didn't get to hike any of the challenging, famous hikes since I was too young but hope to do so someday. The second time hiking out west was more memorable and rewarding as my family and I along with my uncle and cousins all went down to the Grand Canyon and hiked three quarters of the way down before turning around due to a lack of daylight. The Grand Canyon is a world class attraction that annually has over five million visitors. People from around the world flock to the treasured site for it's unique, otherworldly landscape and breathtaking views. Most of the visitors though don't end up hiking down the canyon and instead take pictures near the rim. The hike itself is pretty long and unless you start it early in the morning it will take longer than a day. The challenge level of the hike is surprisingly easy for a natural feature as immense and expansive as the grand canyon. All along the meandering trail are log steps that have been built into the trail to make hiking the trail easier and more accessible for people. While one of the upsides of the hike is it's easier skill level and greater accessibility it can become monotonous overtime as there's no variation in scenery or vegetation. Another issue with the hike is the fact that the only reward you get is from making it down to the bottom which is obviously a lot different from the reward you get for making it to the top of a mountain. The last place in the west that I've had the fortune to hike in is Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Montana. Yellowstone national park is one of the most popular tourist attractions and for good reason. It has one of the most spectacular assortments of natural wonders in the world with geysers and super heated, rainbow colored pools. For most people walking around and taking pictures of the natural wonders is the most they'll do while at the park. For a small minority of visitors though exploring the pristine natural surroundings through camping and hiking is undertaken. The hiking experience at Yellowstone was, for me, a bit underwhelming, especially compared to some of the other hiking experiences I've had. The trails that we went on were somewhat bland and boring but I'd still highly recommend visiting Yellowstone national park if you haven't yet.

  

Hiking Essentials and types of hiking

Hiking can be a very enjoyable and relaxing activity, but you need to be properly outfitted and prepared to insure the best possible outcome. One of the most obvious pieces of gear that any hiker will need is a pair of athletic shoes either sneakers or hiking boots depending on the rigor and type of hike. I personally have only hiked in sneakers even on more strenuous trails while most of the other hikers were wearing bulky hiking boots. If you're in moderately decent shape and don't need any ankle support I'd recommend just wearing sneakers for most of your hikes. For hikes that'll last for more than a day, usually longer than 20 miles, wearing hiking boots is advised due to their greater durability and protective qualities. For me personally the longest hike I've ever been on took eight hours so I've never had to wear hiking boots. Other pieces of essential gear are the clothes you choose to wear. For any hike that you choose to pursue you want to make sure your wearing the proper clothes. Any kind of clothing that is moisture wicking is usually the best choice since hiking is a physical activity. For summer hiking I tend to wear just a polyester t-shirt and a pair of polyester shorts. If your hiking in cooler weather or climbing a lot of elevation I recommend wearing a long sleeve polyester shirt and convertible nylon pants with zip off bottoms. Some other pieces of gear that people like to use but aren't completely necessary are hiking poles and camelbaks. I personally have never used either, but whenever you go on a hike you'll see at least a couple people using them. For older adults who need a little assistance with their balance and keeping upright hiking poles are a nice insurance. For water carrying some people like to use a camelbak which is a large plastic bag that you fill up with water and carry on your back. I personally prefer just using a plain old nalgene to carry my water. For the different types of hiking the one that a majority of people partake in is day hikes. For the casual hiker day hikes of a couple hours in length are ideal. Most people just want to take a day off from work and enjoy nature for a couple of hours which day hikes are perfectly catered to. The great thing about day hikes, and any type of hike in general, is that they can range from really easy to really difficult depending on the terrain and topography. Over the course of my life I've been lucky enough to hike local, easy trails at Audubon sanctuaries as well as challenging trails up Mt. Katahdin, all while enjoying the stunning natural beauty that comes along with each hike. For more adventurous and daring hikers backpack hiking is another option. Backpack hiking is much more involved and intensive as you end up hiking for many consecutive days and need to carry all your supplies, usually over 50 pounds of gear and equipment, on your back. Backpack hiking can be more rewarding though than day hikes as you get to experience the full extent of the nature surrounding you. I hope to someday go backpacking, maybe in college.

Alpine Skiing in Alaska

Alaska has long been known for having some of the best big mountain skiing in North America. With its sprawling Alaska Range and a max elevation of 20,310 ft atop Mt. Denali there is no shortage of stellar skiing opportunities. The mountains in the Alaska Range also receive an average of 650 inches of snow that blankets an area of 95,000 sq miles. The main, most prominent resort in Alaska is Alyeska Resort which is conveniently situated just an hours drive from the state capital of Anchorage. While Alyeska Resort is most certainly not the largest resort around with only 76 trails and 1,610 skiable acres, it boasts and is considered to have some of the most challenging terrain out of any resort in North America. 37% of their trails are rated expert/advanced and the resort possesses a respectable vertical drop of 3,200 ft. Like the resorts in the Cascades, none of the resorts in Alaska have any ski towns filled with attractions or any other external amenities. The people who end up going to Alaska to ski are the ones who really care about a great ski experience with deep snow and expansive terrain. While Alyeska is definitely a quality resort that offers great in bounds skiing, most people come to Alaska for the truly world class powder heli-skiing and backcountry skiing. Alaska's peaks and mountaintops are the perfect environment for stellar heli and powder skiing as they are much taller, steeper, and more closely positioned next to one another compared to Colorado's peaks. Because Alaska's peaks are positioned closer to one another a person can get in more runs simply because the helicopter has a shorter distance to cover. One of the most renown heliski tour guide companies is the aptly named Alaska Heliskiing company as well as Mica Heliskiing. Both companies have been around for a little over a decade with Alaska Heliskiing getting founded in 2001 and Mica Heliskiing in 2003. Both companies guide you around the mountains surrounding the town of Haines, Alaska. With each company you are organized into either groups of four or ten depending on your preferred package and lead by highly trained guides who are well versed in the mountain topography. Both companies offer two packages that range from two to five days in length. The packages that are available from the two companies vary slightly in terms of what they offer and the cost. Both the Alaska Heliskiing packages are slightly cheaper in price but the base package doesn't provide cooked meals, while both packages from Mica Heliskiing do provide cooked meals. The terrain that each company resides over along with the guides play a role in determining which company to choose. The price may be the final deciding factor, and while all four packages from the two companies are expensive, if you're a true lover of skiing and want a once in a lifetime experience that you'll remember forever shell out the 5,000 dollars and book a trip. 

Alpine Skiing in the Cascades

Skiing in the Cascades of Oregon and Washington has been and continues to be one of the most underrated places in the country to ski. None of the resorts in Oregon or Washington have any of the fancy amenities or other attractions such as a ski town filled with fine dining and shopping that so many other western ski resorts pride themselves on. The resorts in the pacific northwest have for the longest time attracted mainly die hard ski bums and locals, and are only just now beginning to attract a broader skier base. In this post I'm going to focus on the six biggest and most recognizable resorts in the pacific northwest, four in Oregon and two in Washington. There are two major mountains, both dormant volcanoes, where the four Oregon resorts are located, Mt. Hood and Mt. Bachelor. Three resorts are situated on Mt. Hood, Mt. Hood Ski Bowl, Timberline Lodge ski area, and Mt. Hood Meadows. The fourth prominent Oregon resort is situated at Mt. Bachelor ski area. The three resorts at Mt. Hood are all best known for something different. Mt. Hood Ski Bowl has long been considered more beginner and family oriented since it has the least amount of vertical drop and the most green and blue trails out of the three Mt. Hood resorts. Timberline Lodge ski area has the smallest skiable terrain but also the highest point of lift accessible terrain and is the only resort in the lower 48 states with consistent chairlift accessible summer skiing. Mt. Hood Meadows is considered by many to be the premier Mt. Hood resort as it has the most skiable terrain, the greatest variety of challenge and the greatest vertical drop. Mt. Bachelor ski area is the largest ski resort in Oregon in terms of sheer skiable terrain, but is also the farthest away from the major population center of Portland. Native Oregonians who live around the major cities of Portland and Corvalis tend to flock to the trio of Mt. Hood resorts due to their relatively close proximity to the two cities. Residents of Bend, the third largest city in Oregon in terms of population size, favor Mt. Bachelor due to the easy twenty minute drive it takes to get there. All four Oregon resorts share one thing in common though, which is the rustic, more undeveloped nature of the base area and the main emphasis being on the quality of skiing. All four Oregon resorts have a nice variety of trail difficulty and they all receive approximately the same amount of snow, so what separates them is the in bounds trail terrain and the backcountry terrain as well as the overall skiing vibe of the resorts. I haven't been to any of the pacific northwest resorts yet so I can't attest to what the vibe is like, but I do know that each of the resorts has its own distinct backcountry experience. Mt. Hood Meadows is generally considered to be the go to resort for eastern oregonians looking for a decent backcountry offering, while Mt. Bachelor has the best backcountry offering for inland oregonians. Moving onto Washington the two most prominent resorts with the most to offer are Stevens Pass and Crystal Mountain which are both conveniently located around an hours drive from the major population hub of Seattle. Stevens Pass is located closer to Seattle and Tacoma which means it is usually the first skiing option for Seattlites. Crystal Mountain on the other hand due to its farther distance from the major cities tends to attract fewer people even though it boasts a much higher max elevation and twice the amount of skiable terrain. The two Washington resorts mentioned in this post have more in common than the four Oregon resorts as both Stevens Pass and Crystal Mountain have roughly the same backcountry access and terrain. One thing that all six pacific northwest resorts share in common is the general vibe which I would assume is much more laidback and less stuffy than some of the comparable Colorado or Utah resorts.

     

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Alpine Race Skiing vs. Nordic Race Skiing Part 2

Continuing off my last blog post, it is very evident that alpine race skiing and nordic race skiing are vastly different from one another. Nordic race skiing in comparison to alpine, while still being based on technique, places a much greater emphasis on endurance. The average nordic ski race length is around 25 km which is only a little bit shorter than a marathon. And like a marathon course for runners, the average nordic ski race course goes up and down, making it extremely grueling and exhausting for even the fittest racers. To gain an edge racers train for hours at a very intense pace while refining their technique and race strategy. Race strategy plays a huge role in nordic ski races while having almost no impact in alpine ski races due to the missing endurance component. Nordic ski racers have to decide either to go out fast and hope they can hold onto the lead that they build or go out slow and hope they can catch people from behind. Perfecting your race strategy is certainly important for any nordic ski racer, but refining your technique and maximizing the usage of your gear are arguably just as important. Technique is really important for a nordic ski racer because, when racing, a racer needs to be as energy efficient as possible and by tweaking your technique a racer can preserve just the slightest bit of energy that gives he/she the extra little boost at the end of the race. A racer needs to know the exact time at which he or she should use one technique versus another which again plays into race strategy. How a racer utilizes his or her gear can also have an impact on the final result of a race, particularly if their gear is used in an ineffective manner. One of the few similarities between nordic ski racing and alpine ski racing is that in each the racers wear super tight, full bodied suits to improve aerodynamics and reduce drag. Nordic ski racers suits are not padded in certain areas like those of alpine racers because nordic ski racers never hit any gates. Also unlike alpine racers, nordic racers don't wear protective helmets or goggles as there is no risk of any high speed crashes. The skis, boots, and poles that nordic ski racers use are also much different than those used by alpine racers. The skis are much thinner and lighter with little to no camber, making them more suited for going in a straight line. The boots are also much lighter and more maneuverable due to the fabric based materials and reduced number of buckles. The poles on the other hand are usually longer to generate power, and, consequently heavier.      

Alpine Race Skiing vs. Nordic Race Skiing

There are two forms of ski racing, alpine ski racing and nordic ski racing. Alpine ski racing is obviously all downhill, while nordic ski racing takes place on flat or uphill terrain. Within each different form of ski racing there are various events that people compete in. The four major events in alpine ski racing are, in order of course length, slalom, giant slalom, super giant slalom, and downhill. All four of these alpine ski racing events share one thing in common: they all involve a course set up with gates of a various sort. Giant slalom, super giant slalom, and downhill all share the same type of gate known as a flex gate. Each gate in the giant slalom, super giant slalom, and downhill is composed of two flex poles set up eighteen inches apart from one another with a "flag" or other piece of fabric wrapped around the two poles in the middle. The slalom discipline involves a gate solely composed of one flex pole that is either blue or red. The distance between each gate also gets progressively farther as you move up from slalom through downhill. The average course lengths for slalom, giant slalom, super giant slalom, and downhill are 600 m, 900 m, 2000 m, and 3500 m respectively. Some of the most famous race courses include the Birds of Prey in Beaver Creek, Chamonix France, Lake Louis Canada, Kitzbuehel Austria, and Val d'Isere France. These are also some of them most technically challenging courses in the world with some of the steepest pitches and sharpest turns. When it comes to the gear that racers wear during the various races, the one thing that pretty much all racers share in all the races are the skin tight suits. Racers can wear the same suit for all four races with minor adjustments made to the padding configuration of the suit depending on the race event. If one is racing in the slalom event then more padding in the thigh area will be wanted, while in the other three events it's better to have padding in the shoulder and upper arm area. Some of the more distinctive gear for the various events include slalom shin guards to protect your shins and ski pole guards to crossblock the gates. Many slalom racers also elect to use a face guard which is attached to the helmet. In giant slalom and super giant slalom curved poles that contour around the skier provide increased aerodynamics and reduce drag. Giant slalom and super giant slalom skiers also wear arm guards to protect their forearms when they hit the gate. Downhill skiers generally don't wear any additional protection due to their lack of contact with the gates.