Christmas day, Canada style. starts with presents. Santa did find us here. Left the girls small gift and voucher for surfing lessons in Hawaii on way back. Breakfast was waffles and vegemite on toast. Can't miss that one. After we got organised we headed north to Lake Louise via Johnson Canyon. Peter, our instructor from day 1 snowboarding, said it was a must do. We hired cleats and headed up the ice path along with lots of other tourists to see frozen waterfalls...

After a nice sleep in today we took the car for a drive. The roads have been cleared so it was a bit easier. Still did lots of wheel spins to get some momentum on the icy patches. We drove to Sulphur Mountain and caught the Banff gondola to go up and see the views. The temperature in Banff was -10oC and the sign said the temperature at the top is 10oC less than town. Once we got off the lift the slight breeze certainly made it feel the -20oC they said. It was cle...

Today the magic happened. It all clicked and the lessons have paid off with the girls linking heel and toe turns. Gazz was the man who helped today. The girls started the lesson on the beginner slope but ended up going up the chair to do a green slope. It was quieter at Mt Norquay which made it easier for everyone. Stacey and Sue arrived and after the girls lesson they helped me give Stacey and Sue some lessons. They picked it up well and even did some short runs...

Today we slept in - until 7:20am as the bus for Mt Norquay leaves Banff later than the other mountain buses. Breakfast is cereal, toast and make your own waffles. The kids had fun with this. After doing the bus fight, we eventually got on our way up the mountain. Just as we left town a group of caribou were wandering around which was exciting to see. Mt Norquay is only a 10 minute bus ride which is good. The kids had group lessons today which allowed them to buil...

Well when I last left you it was snowing. It hasn't stopped all day, yes snow, snow and more snow. This got the Albertan's excited as they were queued up the road for miles to get to the mountains. We caught the bus to Lake Louise for the girl's lesson on the instructors suggestion. Once we passed the queue for Sunshine it was a smooth bus ride. Peter (the instructor) said this was the best dump they had had so far. Over night 30cm and by the end of the day 50cm,...