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At noon on Tuesday April 10th, 2018,  Bob Harris Met with James Anderson (pictured on the right in the photo below) the winner of 12th Annual Experience the Mountain Parks Photo Contest, at the offices of Banff Sunshine Village Ski & Snowboard Resort in Calgary, where Jason Tamagi (pictured on the left), their Director of Sales & Marketing presented James with his prize package.

James won the coveted Judges Gold Medal for his entry, appropriately titled “A Touch of Gold” (pictured below)

Mr. Anderson’s prize includes:

• 3-night stay in a Premier Room at the Sunshine Mountain Lodge
• Complimentary Gondola Tickets
• 2 –hr Hosted Trail walk for 4
• $100 gift card

Although Sunshine Village is well known for its skiing, there are lots of great things to do there year round. Since the ski season lasts until May 21st, you’ve still got time to hit the slopes. Other resorts are closing for the season, but there’s over a month left of Sunshine’s spring skiing.

For anyone seeking a thrill, you’ll want to visit Sunshine’s Wild West ski run. The terrain is so variable that it doesn’t open every year. Thanks to this season’s great snow, the extreme freeride zone is open for all you adrenaline junkies!

No matter what the slope conditions are, you can attend the Untracked Concert Series on the weekends. Your Sunshine Spring Pass is your all-access pass to the Rockies’ coolest events like these concerts. Performances from the Darenots, The Static Shift, Middle Coast, Micheal Bernard Fitzgerald, and Bust and the Bass are all coming up.

We received a number of fabulous entries in our 2017-2018 Experience the Mountain Parks Photo Contest, and we’re pleased to announce the winners! The winning categories include the Voting Category and the Judges Category, and we also want to recognize the Honourable Mentions.

Voting Category Winner

Our readers chose “Morning in the Clouds” by Tricia Reid as the Voting Category winner. This photo has a striking other-worldly quality, and it received a total of 602 votes.

We’re sending Tricia two Ultimate Explorer Passes courtesy of Brewster (now known as Pursuit) for her prize. Each pass has a retail value of $192 and will provide Tricia with access to four of the iconic attractions in the mountain national parks:

• Banff Gondola
• Banff Lake Cruise
• Glacier Adventure, and
• Glacier Skywalk

“Morning in the clouds” – by Tricia Reid

Judges Category Winners

Our First Place Judges Category winner features a breathtaking combinations of textures and colours. Congratulations to James Anderson for winning! His beautiful photo, “A touch of Gold” captures Mount Lougheed as a backdrop to the Bow River lined with golden trees of fall.

The grand prize is a Sunshine Village Getaway (with a retail value of approximately $1,500!) It consists of:

• 3 nights in a Deluxe Room for a family of 4
• Dining Room(s) Gift Certificate
• Gondola Passes for 4
• Interpretive Guided Hike Sunshine Meadows

“A touch of Gold” – by James Anderson

The second place prize goes to Kananaskis Creek, submitted by Moe Haimour The vivid red colours make a striking contrast to the white snow. We also love how the rushing water contrasts with the sharp texture of the pine needles.

Moe has won a Dream Getaway to Radium Hot Springs. The Radium Getaway prize package consists of:

• 2 night stay at Cobblestone Creek Cottage & Lodging Co
• Pool Passes for Radium Hot Springs
• Round of Golf for 2 people mid-week at the Radium Course

“Kananaskis Creek” – by Moe Haimour

Our judges chose “Not enjoying the ride” for the third place prize. Tony LePrieur took this striking wildlife photo, which captures an owl holding a gopher mid-flight.

We’ll send a couple of rafting gift certificates left (each valued at $100) to Tony for his prize.

“Not enjoying the ride” – by Tony LePrieur

Honourable Mentions

Lastly, we want to acknowledge our two honourable mention entries. These photos also capture the essence of the beauty and adventure found in the Canadian Mountain parks, and they deserve recognition, too.

The first Honourable Mention is “Lake Louise from a different angle.” Gabriel Fiorenzano took this photo depicting the challenge and excitement of ice climbing, along with the beauty of snow-covered Lake Louise.

Lake Louise from a different angle” – by Gabriel Fiorenzano

Our second Honourable Mention is “Smokey Sunset at Pyramid Lake,” by Christine Newman. This serene scene shows canoes resting on a dock at the end of day, and has beautiful blue, yellow, and orange colours.

“Smokey Sunset at Pyramid Lake” – Christine Newman

Thank you again to everyone who entered and voted! Stay tuned for our 2017-2018 Photo Contest. Meanwhile, we encourage you to enter the Calgary Photo Contest, which is open until May 1, 2018.

We have some terrific prize packages lined up for the winners of our Experience the Mountain Parks Photo Contest, but we decided to award a bonus early bird prize. We did a random draw of all the entries submitted by Sunday, February 4, and the winning entry is…Hiking Outside Banff.

Hiking outside Banff – Heather Parsons

Congratulations to Heather Parsons, who took the winning photo! We’re sending her 4 adult day passes for Sunshine’s current ski season. Thank you to everyone who has already entered the Experience the Mountain Parks Photo Contest! The contest closes February 28, so be sure to enter soon for a chance to win a getaway to Sunshine Village, a getaway to Radium, and more. You can submit an unlimited amount of entries.

Remember to vote for your favourite entry, too!

Enter our Experience the Mountain Parks Photo Contest by 11:59 pm MST on Sunday, February 4 to win four adult day passes for Sunshine’s current ski season! We’re offering this surprise early bird prize in addition to the other prize packages that we’ll be giving away after the contest ends on February 28.

Skiing at Banff Sunshine Village

Sunshine’s ski season is in full force right now. During the past week, Sunshine Village got over 63 cm of powder-licious snow. Twenty cm came down on Monday night alone! You won’t want to miss the opportunity to win ski passes for this fabulous ski season.

Entries are unlimited, so submit as many photos of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks as you like!

Enter our Experience the Mountain Parks Contest soon to win one of our amazing prizes, including a Sunshine Village Getaway. The contest ends on February 28, so submit your entries as soon as possible for more opportunities to win the Reader’s Choice award. There is no limit to the number of photos you can enter.

Our publisher Bob and his wife at Sunshine Meadows

As a special bonus incentive for entering early, all the contestants who have entered by 11:59 pm MST on Sunday, February 4th will be entered in a draw to win 4 adult day passes for Sunshine’s current ski season. Each ticket has a retail value of $99.

Each photo taken in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks will be considered for the Judges Award Grand Prize. This incredible package will make for a memorable vacation. It includes:

Sunshine Village Getaway

• 3 nights in a Deluxe Room for a family of 4
• Dining Room(s) Gift Certificate
• Gondola Passes for 4
• Interpretive Guided Hike Sunshine Meadows

About a $1,500 value to be given to the prize winner in the form of a letter or gift certificate. You won’t want to miss the opportunity to win a getaway to this scenic, peaceful destination.

Take time to enjoy a quite moment at the Monarch Lookout. Photo Courtesy of Dan Evans.

We’re pleased to announce that the winner of our first-ever Mountain Parks Selfie Contest picked up her prize this week! Tricia Read stopped by The Camera Store when she was in Calgary on Tuesday. As the Grand Prize Winner, Tricia received a Nikon D3400 camera (valued at $649), courtesy of The Camera Store. We’d like to express our hearty appreciation to The Camera Store’s store continued support for our photo contests over the past 12 years.

2017 EMP Selfie Winner Tricia Read with Ron Bubnich

Check out The Camera Store’s Boxing Day sale from 9AM – 5 PM Tuesday, December 26 for some great deals on your own gear. In addition to having a huge sale on major brands, they will also hand out gift certificates valued between $10 and $500 to the first 50 people in line. For extra festivity points, wear your Christmas PJ’s or ugly Christmas sweater. If you do, you’ll also be entered into a draw for a boxing Day prize pack!

Thank you to everyone who entered our Photo Contests and Selfie Contests in 2017. The Dinosaur Trails Photo Contest, the Calgary’s Parks ‘n’ Paths Photo Contest, and the Experience the Mountain Parks Photo Contest and are all still open. Enter them for the chance to win other great prizes! Here’s a bonus tip: the first two contests also feature prizes from The Camera Store!

Tricia Read’s 2017 winning entry: “Big smiles”

This blog post is written by our editor Bob Harris.

My wife, Karen was able to get away from her business at lunch on Friday, so we made it to the Sunshine base parking lot by 3:30.  The Sunshine staff at check in were very friendly and helpful, especially our driver Emanuel. Your front desk staff (Karam) greeted us warmly and before we knew it, we were in Room 110 along with our bags. One of the nice features of this room is the direct access to the Standish & Strawberry Chairlifts. But we thoroughly enjoyed the sunrises, too (see picture below).

We decided to stretch our legs on Friday before dinner, so we hiked up the trail towards Rock Island Lake to the Lookout just past the Continental Divide. We learned on Saturday, when we repeated the hike just how close we were to Rock Island.  It was a beautiful day on Saturday. The skies were clear, as were all 3 alpine lakes. I think we managed to hike every foot of marked trail at Sunshine Meadows on Saturday, and took lots of pics as well as a short video clip of the 2 new friends (picas) we made that day.  It may have been the perfect weekend to explore the Meadows.  We weren’t lone, but there weren’t crowds, either. And the larch were turning a spectacular golden yellow.

Thoroughly enjoyed the food selection and service in their restaurant. Nick stood out as an excellent server, and although I tried to finish the full rack of pork chops that I ordered on Friday evening, and the meat fell from the bones, my eyes were bigger than my stomach.

On the drive back down the hill on Sunday at about noon, Karen & I agreed that we felt quite refreshed and would love to return next year and bring along a couple with whom we do a lot of hiking.

Does the upcoming Labour Day weekend have you longing for some reading time? Then enter our railroad history trivia quiz! If you correctly answer the multiple choice question of the month, then you’ll be entered into a draw to win a copy of The Spiral Tunnels and the Big Hill.

This book by Graeme Pole is anything but a boring textbook! It’s filled with exciting stories about the challenges of building and operating the second-steepest mainline track ever operated in North America. Maps, diagrams, and archival photos bring history to life. This recently revised version of the book also provides up-to-date information on railway operations, locomotives, and rolling stock.

Entries for the August Trivia Quiz will be received until 11:59 pm MST on Thursday, August 31.

Alberta and British Columbia are home to thousands of amazing places just waiting to be explored. The summer is the perfect time to take in the beauty of the Canadian Rockies, to soak in the hot springs, and more! In our 2017 Experience the Mountain Parks guide, you’ll find a detailed itinerary for exploring Canada’s legendary national parks.

Food at the Banff Ave Brewing Company
– Courtesy Travel Alberta / Jamie Walter @jwalter1337

In honour of Canada’s 150th anniversary, we’ve compiled a tour that will introduce you to some of the greatest highlights of the Canadian Rockies. Embark on this seven day journey to see some of the country’s most stunning scenery, to enjoy some delicious food, and to soak in history at historic landmarks. Of course, you can feel free to modify the tour to your preferences. You can use it as a starting point to create your own adventure!

If you’re searching for ideas for celebrating Canada Day, then consider embarking on part or all of the Canada’s 150 Heritage Tour. Click here to read the tour itinerary!

Whitewater Rafting in Golden, BC – Courtesy of Tourism Golden

We’ve extended our May trivia contest through June! To enter, simply answer one multiple choice question about the history of the Canadian Pacific Railway. If you answer correctly, you’ll be entered in a draw to win a prize. Graeme Pole has generously donated one of his books titled The Spiral Tunnels and the Big Hill on the Canadian Pacific Railway for a prize. It’s a great book to add to your summer reading list.

The Spiral Tunnels and the Big Hill chronicles tales of daring, disaster, and defiance on what was the second-steepest mainline railway track ever operated in North America. You’ll learn how a safer grade was created for today’s trains, and how railways are operated today. Maps, diagrams, and archival photographs depict the evolution of railroading through Kicking Horse Pass.

Best of luck!