Deck the Highways
This Christmas, keep that winter wonderland feel, but flee from the kitchen to some great Alberta destinations
story By Lisa Ricciotti
The pumpkin is just beginning to pucker on the front stoop, but
the pressure’s already building to create the most festive Christmas ever. The most wonderful time of the year can also be the most stressful. Whoever said there’s no place like home for the holidays wasn’t the one slaving over the yuletide meal.
This year, don’t just Grinch and bear it. Flee the madding Christmas crowd with an escape plan you hatch this fall. Find a new setting where you can eat, drink and be merry – but let someone else do the cooking – with an Alberta Christmas away from home. Here are seven seasonal getaways. Start checking this list twice, then plan your route to inner peace on earth.
Modern day overlanders
In 1862, prospectors taking the overland route through the Yellowhead Pass en route to the Cariboo were hoping to find gold. Today, travellers to the Jasper region also seek something precious: rest and relaxation. Clint Griffiths, owner and manager of the family-run Overlander Mountain Lodge, just east of the Jasper National Park gates, promises to deliver just that: “We’re a retreat from the hustle and bustle, and less crowded than hotels in the park.” Griffiths says many winter guests like to hibernate, curling up on comfy couches in front of the lodge’s huge stone fireplace with a book from the well-stocked library, taking in the spectacular views of Roche Miette and Roche Perdrix mountains. Another key attraction: the dining experience at Overlander’s Stone Peak Restaurant. Duck breasts and elk medallions from local wild game producers grace the menu. Newly appointed European-trained chef Jacqui Grobler is hard at work creating hearty winter food choices for the holidays, to be complemented by selections from the lounge’s extensive, award-winning wine menu. Don’t worry about overindulging; guests can work off the excess by snowshoeing the nearby trails.
Another highly recommended calorie-buster: the Maligne Canyon Icewalk with Jasper’s Overlander Trekking & Tours. “We’re the only ice walk guides operating on Christmas day,” says co-owner Trevor Lescard. Hikers don ice cleats and warm boots for a two-hour trek through the park’s deepest canyon, with ice caves, fossils and frozen waterfalls stretching 30 metres up the canyons walls. “It’s incredibly beautiful,” says Lescard.
Digs – Overlander Mountain Lodge $145-$155/night; 1-877-866-2330 www.overlandermountainlodge.com
Stuff to do – Maligne Canyon guided walks: Overlander Trekking & Tours; children $25, adults $50; 1-888-786-3641 www.overlandertrekking.com
Field notes – Try a guided ice walk, nightly at 6 p.m., with headlamps
Ecotourism in Nordegg
At Aurum Lodge, Madeleine and Alan Ernst are dreaming of a green Christmas – and a green future. “Our goal is to make everything we do environmentally responsible,” says Alan. Not surprisingly, a striking feature of their ecotourism lodge is its massive solar panels. The Ernsts welcome guest over the holidays, but don’t expect any indoor Christmas trees. “Why cut down an evergreen when we have trees all around us? We’re very minimal about decorations. Our lodge is a retreat from commercialized Christmas,” Alan explains. The Ernsts carefully selected “one of the few remaining unspoiled regions on the eastern slope of the Rockies,” and they intend to keep it that way. Low-impact activities, such as snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, are the focus. Consistent with ecotourism’s take-only-photos-leave-only-footprints philosophy, the Ernsts offer popular winter photography weekends.
Acclaimed Canadian photographer Darwin Wiggett leads participants to Bighorn Country’s most picture-perfect locations. “We know all the secret hot spots for great shots,” Alan says. Wiggett and guests exchange camera tips, but emphasis is on active field trips, not passive seminars. Photo buffs also enjoy healthy home-cooking, prepared with a European flavour by Madeleine. “It wasn’t intended, but food has become part of our appeal,” says Alan. November photography weekends are already sold out, so shutterbugs should drop Santa a hint about February sessions.
Digs – Aurum Lodge $144-$194/night, includes breakfast
Stuff to do – Winter Magic Photography Weekends: see
www.aurumlodge.com, navigate to Activities/Packages; 403-721-2117
Field notes – Try Madeleine’s vegetarian lasagna to shake the chill
Drumheller’s heart
Try this quaint option in Alberta’s Badlands. The Inn & Spa at Heartwood, Drumheller’s only boutique hotel, is a Charming Inns of Alberta member. Hosts Patrice and Zeke Wolf offer hospitality in the best bed-and-breakfast tradition, inviting guests to join them around a wood-burning fireplace in the evenings. “We share wine on the house and swap lies,” says Zeke, who also serves a mean French toast for breakfasts. (“I carve a pocket in thick French bread, stuff it with strawberries and Grand Marnier, then cook it in batter. Very low-cal,” he jokes.) In addition to the lure of dinosaurs at the world-class Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Zeke says the area’s big draw is Rosebud Theatre. Celebrating its 25th season as Alberta’s only rural professional theatre, the unique theatre company performs in another quaint historic building, Rosebud’s old Opera House. Running November 7 to December 23 is Christmas on the Air, and ticket prices include the extra treat of a pre-theatre buffet at the Mercantile Dining Room, the town’s former general store.
Digs – The Inn & Spa at Heartwood $99 to $299/night; ask about Rosebud Dinner & Theatre packages (two-night stay, theatre, buffet and spa treatment for two); 1-888-823-6495 www.innsatheartwood.com
Stuff to do – Rosebud Theatre $52 and $57 (includes Mercantile Dining Room buffet); 1-800-267-7553 www.rosebudtheatre.com
Field notes – Over the holidays, the Royal Tyrrell Museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday, except Christmas Day
Skijoring near Rocky Mountain House
If romantic cutter sleigh rides sound too clichéd, how about something more unusual – skijoring anyone? Still relatively new in Alberta, skijoring is a hybrid sport that puts you on skis, attached to a dog in harness, for a ramped-up cross-country ski experience. Jill Bennett of Klondike Adventures cautions, however, that it’s best for intermediate level skiers. “Don’t expect a free ride; it’s a partnership. The dogs are patient, but if you fall a lot, they’ll come sniff you as if to say ‘What are you doing?’ And they’re fast; it’s not about stopping to smell the roses.” Bennett suggests a multi-day experience, starting off with dogsledding to get a feel for harnessing and controlling the raring-to-go mutts, who make tracks over 400 acres of groomed trails through the woods and along the river. The pay-off for persistence: a barbecued lunch of homemade smokies or beef-on-a-bun, cooked over a fire. Bennett and partner Jeff Wilson also offer rustic overnight stays in cozy timber cabins, with breakfasts and outdoor hot tubs available at their main house. For a dinner out, Bennett recommends the seven-minute drive to Rocky Mountain House’s Martesa Di Lume Ristorante Italiana for pasta perfection.
Digs – Klondike Ventures’ rustic cabin stays $110 to $145; 403-845-7878, 1-877-846-7878 www.klondikeventures.com
Stuff to do – Klondike Ventures’ full day of dogsledding, skijoring and lunch, for four experienced skiers: $540.
Field notes – Remember, skijoring is a great workout, not a free ride
Mountain magic in Banff National Park
Picture the perfect miniature winter landscape inside a snow globe. Now imagine stepping into a life-sized version, walking in a winter wonderland – that’s Banff National Park.
“It’s our time of the year,” says Geoff Booth, general manager of the Post Hotel & Spa in Lake Louise. “We create a traditional Christmas atmosphere.” The historic brown log building with the bright red roof is strung inside and out with twinkly lights and boasts a skating rink half the size of a football field. “Kids spend hours skating while parents enjoy hot drinks on the terrace,” Booth says. Many come for more than a week, devoting the first days to unwinding in the hotel’s Temple Mountain Spa, a full-service spa with a pool and fitness room.
And it’s a food-lover’s haven: Gourmet magazine calls it one of the world’s best rustic retreats for its renowned menu by executive chef Hans Sauter. Christmas dinner can be à la carte or a multi-course turkey dinner. A special Christmas Eve meal is also offered; last season’s featured Atlantic lobster and a gingerbread mousse pyramid. A wine cellar that features 30,500 bottles and more than 2,000 selections holds the Wine Spectator’s highest award.
Top off the holiday experience: dogsledding with Snowy Owl or Kingmik Dogsled Tours; day and evening horse-drawn sleigh rides on the lake with Brewster Lake Louise Stables; interpretive snowshoeing with guides from Great Divide (who also give nature lectures twice a week in the hotel’s library). The hotel also offers shuttle service every half hour to the Lake Louise Ski Resort.
Two kilometres from downtown Banff, you’ll find the Juniper Hotel & Bistro, a top boutique hotel. “We’re perched right at the base of Mount Norquay,” manager Christine Frewin says, “and our unobstructed views are the best.” It’s a quick walk from the hotel rooms to the outdoor hot tubs, and the hotel is pet-friendly. Night skiing at Mount Norquay is popular and family-friendly, says Frewin, as are sleigh rides on the Bow River with Warner Stables. The Muk a Muk Restaurant (Chinook for “food and feasting”) emphasizes indigenous cuisine, with regional ingredients such as bison and Rocky Mountain whitefish. Executive chef Tim Matsell is finalizing a Christmas Day menu. Daily Spirit of Christmas Receptions in the library, with complimentary eggnog, hot chocolate and Christmas cookies, “are a great way for guests to share ideas and compare experiences,” Frewin says.
Digs – The Post Hotel & Spa starting at $315 per night;
1-800-661-1586 www.posthotel.com. The Juniper Hotel & Bistro about $216-$284/night, ask about special packages; 1-866-551-2281, 403-762-8331 www.thejuniper.com
Stuff to do – Snowshoeing, skiing, dogsledding, sleigh rides, skating and spa experiences; check with local tour operators or at the hotel desk
Field notes – Try night skiing at Mount Norquay or an evening sleigh ride on the Bow River
Ice fishing at Lesser Slave Lake
No jingle bells, just a whole lot of jigging. Switch things up from the usual Christmas turkey or ham with a winter catch of the day. Adventure Alberta’s Tony Gellings makes ice fishing easy, with pre-bored holes in heated shelters on the frozen waters of Lesser Slave Lake. He even supplies a picnic lunch, tackle and bait. Keeners come from as far away as Medicine Hat and the U.S., bunking overnight at his cabins on the lake with mini kitchens, or taking advantage of package accommodations with Slave Lake’s Sawridge Inn. “Ice fishing is a social thing,” says Gellings, who’s seen business grow “by leaps and bounds” over six years. “We get groups of up to 12 at a time, lots of families, and groups of women coming for all-girl weekends.” A popular recent innovation: underwater cameras. “You can see the fish before you hook them. It’s like a one-channel TV.” Fishers can cook their quota of walleye, burbot, northern pike and whitefish on wood stoves in the ice shacks. Far less fattening than gravy and stuffing.
Digs – Adventure Alberta day cabins $100 for 8 hours; overnight cabins $50/person per day plus $100/night per group cabin charge Two-night packages with Sawridge Inn $201 to $295; 780-849-5346 www.adventurealberta.com
Stuff to do – Fishing! Ask your guide about cross-country ski or snowshoe rentals Field notes – Don’t forget to buy a valid Alberta fishing licence
Catered Christmas
Still not convinced that getting away means a hassle-free Christmas? There are many more tempting alternatives, notably Waterton National Park’s Kilmorey Lodge and its Lamp Post Dining Room or Lake Louise’s Simpson’s Num-Ti-Jah Lodge and its Elkhorn Dining Room. But if home is where it’s at for Christmas, then consider two words of advice: cater it!
Easy to say, harder to do. Caterers like to be at home for Christmas too, and most take the day off. An exception is large hotels; many will cook a bird for Christmas Day pickup.
“It certainly takes stress from an already hectic time of the year, having someone else prepare the meal,” says Dan Sutherland, Delta Edmonton South’s food and beverage director. The Delta offers two sizes of birds, with or without all the trimmings. Dessert choices are eggnog cheesecake or mincemeat pie. Order 10 days in advance, pick up, then feast to your heart’s content. Merry (no-cooking) Christmas!
Digs – Your place
Stuff to do – No cooking. Leave that to a hotel, such as the Delta Edmonton South Hotel and Conference Centre, where a 20-lb turkey costs $320 with trimmings, $220 without
Field notes– Pick up your bird at the hotel noon to 8 p.m.; call 780-431-3448
Click here for the Walnut Cranberry Pie recipe.
