unbez: AG in AB

Hey there Unbez fanatics. Ally G here kicking off my blog with a run-down of what I've been up to since leaving for Canada a month ago. Apologies for not blogging sooner, I will try to make it more regular from now on...

Canada is, in a single-syllable word, RAD! Much in the way that Scotland is rad but way bigger and without a single strip of snowflex to be seen. Which is a shame because I do love plasticboarding but you gotta try new sports from time to time.

My girlfriend Zara and I have been getting our tourist on big-time since we got here, absolutely hemorrhaging money on the way. It is not a cheap country by any means, but it wouldn't be a proper season without a bit of hardship.

We spent our first week in Vancouver taking in as much as we could of the incredible city. What a place. I'd recommend everyone makes at least one trip there. We even managed to get a days riding in at Mt. Seymour, one of the 3 local resorts on the hills above Vancouver. It was early season but was still a sweet day. If you find yourself in Vancouver this winter then get yourself up to Seymour! They have been given $10,000 by sponsors to make what will be a banging park so go check it out if you get the chance.

Anyway before we knew it we had to leave for Banff, which was not a bad thing. It is a truly awesome place to live. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Banff here's the scoop: Banff is not a ski-resort in itself, it is a medium-sized town that sits in the Bow-Valley in Banff National Park, Alberta (AB), Canada. It is at around 1000m above sea level and is surrounded by mountains stretching up to 2,500m from the valley floor straight up. This gives you one hell of an idea of how small you really are. The best bit about all these mountains is that there are world-class resorts very near by. Depending on which one you head for you will be riding Mt. Norquay, Sunshine Village or Lake Louise in a maximum of 1 hour. If I had to compare it to somewhere in Scotland it would be Aviemore. It is bigger but it is similar in that it is not actually at the foot of the ski-hill, but it still has the apres-ski and the resort buzz. Aviemore would definately be flattered by that comparison!

The town of Banff from the top of the Banff gondola
(you get the idea)

Unfortunately for us, living in Banff has so far been like standing at the pearly gates of snowboarding heaven while St.Terje jabs you with a pointy stick and laughs in your face. Not entirely true. We have had a day riding Lake Louise and a day riding Sunshine Village however having gone from the regular drymat sessions in Aberdeen to riding 3 times in a month has been difficult to say the least.

How many roads? Walking at dusk with Mt. Norquay in the background

Nevertheless there are good things going on that show promise for the near future. We both got jobs within a fortnight, which is impressive seeing as there are many folk now leaving Banff after 2 months without work. We have one of the biggest flats in town for a very reasonable price and hopefully in the next fortnight we should get season passes. I've also got word of a secret back-yard jib that a friend of a friend has set up and I've scoped plenty of street spots to get into edits.