This is a Chinook! Pronounced as Shinnuck or if you come from Prescot, Tyinn-Yuke.
We were treated to a perfectly clear vision of this natural phenomenon on the morning of Christmas Eve as we headed out towards the Rocky Mountains. Sometimes known locally in Alberta as a 'Snow Eater' this is a warming wind which can raise the air temperature by as much as 30 degrees for anything from a couple of hours to a couple of days. We noticed an increase from what had been around -23 to about -10. It looks amazing as if there is a glass bowl or bubble above the mountains which prevents the clouds from falling any lower. They can shift as much as 10 to 12 inches of snow in a day... In A Dayyyy!!!!
The closer we got to the mountains the more incredible the snow was and the winds started to play tricks on our eyes. The sky was pure blue, the mountains pure white and the roads were alive with a dancing carpet of snow which changed shape and direction by the second. Another second later and it was perfectly clear again. We started to see double after a while.
We arrived at Lake Louise just in time to see Santa arrive with presents for all the children which was very nice, very appropriate and added to the magic of the moment. Although it has to be said that he was FAR too thin to be the real Santa! I suppose that can be forgiven as it was Christmas Eve, himself would have been a bit busy...
The setting was nothing less than spectacular and it was smiles all around as we stood in front of the lake where we had taken pictures of blue water and canoes just months ago. Today there were skaters and an ice sculpture and we even went for a walk... On The Lake!
It was one of those moments where you think that you could die at any moment. You know, you realise that you are standing on some frozen water and even though there are people skating around you and horses dragging sleighs around you, that slightest little slip and the unease takes over your entire mind and you start to walk as though there are two hairs on your bum tied together and your already hanging on desperately to the (invisible) sides as you expect the ice to give way beneath you and plunge you to your icy death!
Or was that just me?
After our (somewhat-pathetic-penguin-like-shuffle) stroll on the lake we walked in a true winter wonderland.
The woods around the lake were dusted continually with the softest, whitest, prettiest snow I've ever seen and the trees looked beautiful as they glistened happily from every angle.
Of course some people just can't enough snow and despite the -Christknowshowcolditwas temperatures and the fine mist of falling snow, they have to create their own storm!
Everyone knows one!
Eamonn was VERY mean about Janet's new hat and said that she wouldn't look out of place just over the Cuckoo's nest.
We attended the General Manager's reception in the early evening which was a lovely event. Fabulous beers, wines, egg-nog with and without alcohol and stunning canapes were abundant and one of the managers took the time out to speak to us as he "really likes Australians!" (Eamonn talks funny you see...)
It was a lovely event in a truly lovely setting and at least three of us got a little tipsy ahead of what was to be a wonderfully warming Christmas Eve meal, at the Salt Lik steakhouse, Banff.
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