Thrills, Chills, and One Big Spill

I have an almost-paralytic fear of heights. Often, I try to face this fear in the hopes that one day I will conquer it. Never works. Take, for example, the gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain. "Witness breathtaking views from every direction." (I suppose hyperventilating is a synonym for "breathtaking"') "Eight minutes to jaw-dropping views!" Eight minutes of sheer terror was more like it! But the views were indeed amazing, and I'm glad I went. I never want my fears to prevent me from doing something. Remember that I said this. It will come into play later. Eric, on the other hand, is fearless. He loves everything (except for beans). Once at the top of Sulphur Mountain, there is an observation tower and a 1 km walk to a viewpoint. Hiking in the snow is always an adventure, and doing so with sheer cliffs around is something else! My friend Carli will immediately call me out for not mentioning the railings along the walk, to which I would point out that the snow pack was so high, we were walking ontop of the benches. Plus, the blasting for avalanches added a little something extra to the whole experience. In the end, Eric had a great time and I am glad I went. The views were worth it! And the gondola ride back down wasn't nearly as bad, and I did enjoy the views. From the gondola, we walked all over and ended up at the Fairmont hotel, which looks like a castle. It's gorgeous, but very pricey. We enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate, and then wandered through the woods some more. We cane across deer, a thawing waterfall, a sledding hill, and we walked across a frozen river. Until Eric heard a cracking sound he didn't like, about the same time I saw the Warning: Thin Ice sign. We back tracked and headed to a delicious fondue dinner. So this brings us to Day 3: Skiing in Lake Louise. It had snowed during the night, so we woke to a chilly morning and fresh snow on the ground. Eric was like a kid on Christmas morning; so anxious to hit the slopes. Neither of us have skied in almost ten years. For Eric, it ended up being just like riding a bike. For me, not so much. First, I would like to say that runs labeled "beginner" with a green circle in California are not the same as beginner runs in Canada. There were three points along the beginner run here where I thought I was going to die. Very steep terrain. Completely terrifying! This was easily the equivalent of an intermediate run back in Cali. So first run for me, not so fun. Eric was a good sport and very encouraging. I finally told him to go off without me. We tried to ski together again after lunch, but my fears got the best of me (told you that would come into play again) and I gave up after that. Eric continued to ski on his own, and here's where the big spill comes into play. Seeing a skier crash, Eric stopped to make sure the man was OK. When Eric started skiing again, he was cut off by a snowboarder and fell over an edge into some deep powder. The funny part of the story is that the next to
Eric skied past that spot, ski patrol had put up a rope and a warning flag. But this didn't phas Eric. He's back on the mountain. As for me, I'm going to go get some hot chocolate and enjoy some hiking by the river. I'm choosing to enjoy the day instead of fear it. I'll save that for another time.