Canada Day 12 (1) - Jasper Skytram - Now or never!

Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to our wonderful host family in Hinton today, as our journey took us to Banff. But first, we had breakfast together with the host family! They were always up for an interesting conversation, and we exchanged ideas and received some tips for our further travels. The host father was a helicopter pilot for mountain rescue here, so he had plenty of stories to share. Even though it was hard to tear ourselves away, we had to hit the road. So we said our goodbyes, thanked them for everything, and continued our journey.

Before heading to Banff via the Icefields Parkway, we wanted to give our luck another try at the Jasper Skytram. We briefly considered whether it would fit into our schedule, as the drive to Banff was long and there was plenty to see along the way. But who knows when we'll be here again, and the view from up there is supposed to be amazing. So we decided to give it a shot and take the gondola if it was running. And behold: it was! However, we should have arrived earlier to be among the first. Because we had to wait for three-quarters of an hour, which didn't fit well with our schedule. The price was steep as well. $45 for the tickets! It would be more worth it if we could spend the whole day on the hiking trails there, but unfortunately, we didn't have the time.

After a long wait, we finally got to board and rode the Jasper Skytram up to Mount Whistler. Along the way, a staff member told us some interesting facts, including how Mount Whistler got its name. It had to do with the marmots that like to whistle and were called 'Whistler'. The marmot mountain, lovely! :D

Upon arriving at the top, we were greeted by freezing winds. And to our surprise, there was still a lot of snow up here! We sank up to our hips in some places! The view was breathtaking, of course. But we were also amazed by the mountain landscape. We hadn't expected so much snow, it looked cool and was fun, but it didn't make it easier to move forward. And then there was the incredibly strong, icy wind. Originally, we planned to at least walk the 1.2 km to the summit, which doesn't sound like much at first, but due to the weather conditions, we made little progress, and the trail was quite slippery because of the snow. I think if we had enough time, we could have made it, but unfortunately, we couldn't stay up here indefinitely. So we had to disappointingly abandon the hike to the summit and be content with the view from the mountain station. Very unfortunate, we would have loved to conquer the summit, but we'll save that for next time ;)

Unfortunately, we didn't see any marmots up there, and after about an hour, we headed back down. I would say the ride up was worth it, but it's really only worthwhile if you set aside a whole day for a hike up there. That's when you'll surely have spectacular views!

Now, one of the most beautiful roads in the world awaited us: the Icefields Parkway!