Holiday Diasater

[noTAGlove]

Not one for reading my phone too or posting on holiday, but as I’m kicking around a motel room it passes the time.

Currently on a Western Canada road trip and the highlight was meant to be 3 days between Jasper and Banff along the spectacular Icefields Parkway.

Except 600 wild fires are burning in British Columbia and visibility is as low as 1km, and expected to be like that for the next few days.

Ho, hum - what can you do.

All this way and we don’t get to see any of the Banff/Lake Louise/Columbia Icefield/Jasper scenery. Plus we’ve then go to drive back through the smoke to catch our plane in Seattle.

Looks like I’ll be relying on Google Images.

[bwest76]

In a similar vein I went all the way to Aosta on my bike to see mt. Cervino,I waited an hour or so but it was covered in fog.
Will I ever get a chance to go back.

Someone once described it as "the most noble rock in Europe”, while others consider it the mountain par excellence. When we find ourselves before the image of Matterhorn and we admire its rocky form, it is immediately apparent that the shape of this mountain is highly reminiscent of the mental image of a mountain that we have all had since childhood.

In fact, if we were asked to sketch a mountain, many of us would draw a perfect pyramid with a large base that is solidly planted on the ground with a slender peak rising toward the sky. Matterhorn is exactly that. With a very pronounced pyramidal form, it stands isolated from the rest of the mountain chain, majestically dominating the towns of Breuil-Cervinia, in Italy (where it is named Cervino), and Zermatt, in Switzerland.

Matterhorn (4,478 m) was first climbed from the Swiss side on 14 July 1865 by Edward Whymper (and other roped climbers, four of whom tragically lost their lives during the descent)and was again climbed, a few days later from the Italian side, by an all Italian climbing team, led by Jean-Antoine Carrel. Now the ideal destination for skiers the world over, it forms one of the most colossal complexes in Europe and it couldn't have been any other way.

[Franco]

Cervino, majestic but dangerous. Over 500 people have died trying to ascent, in the last 150 years.

[jeromeo]

Unlucky sir . I land in Calgary early September for similar road trip . Probably be impassable due to snow ..
On a similar vein I climbed Cotopaxi on a holiday to South America . On cloud solidly for two days . Got to the top and smelt a bit eggy ..

[mart broad]

“Stuff “ happens was in Rapid City on the morning of 9/11 going to Mt Rushmore later that day all National Parks got closed and a low cloud covered it took me three goes to eventually see it you can do all the planning but no accounting for Mother Nature ( or Ryan air)

[senwar]

I’m over that way in 5 weeks. Whistler to Canmore then Calgary with trips to Banff glacier national park and lake Louise planned.

Feel for you although what an awful natural disaster to happen to the area.

[Mr Curta]

On a similar vein I climbed Cotopaxi on a holiday to South America . On cloud solidly for two days . Got to the top and smelt a bit eggy ..

It tends to happen if you consume a lot of Ecuadorean ceviche

[FK77]

A few annoyances for us over the last few years:

1. Drove through Stelvio Pass but sleet (in August!) had reduced visibility massively by the time we got to the top.

2. Took the cable car up Garmisch-Partenkirchen but all we could see was rain clouds below us.

3. Drove to the top of Susten Pass but thick fog denied us the views seen in pictures that made us add it to the itinerary.

4. Went to Sölden to drive the Ötztal Gletscherstraße (where Spectre car chase was filmed). It is normally open in the winter but that day the snowfall was too heavy even for that part of the world and they had closed the toll road. It was supposed to be the highlight of that particular holiday and we were very disappointed. All we could do was drive up from the town to the tollgate (which was already pretty high but the real fun starts after that), take some pictures there and return. The internet was showing it as open before and even after our failed excursion!

5. Did the Imst Alpine Coaster in the summer, great fun. Wanted to do it in winter too as it is a very different experience. Checked the website in the morning, it said “all good”. Got there only to be told the rollercoaster had been closed for a few days and not expected to open for another couple of weeks. Heavier than normal snow had buried the tracks in many places even though they are quite elevated. We could see that was true when taking the chairlift up for tobogganing, which was good fun, and consolation.

[FK77]

In a similar vein I went all the way to Aosta on my bike to see mt. Cervino,I waited an hour or so but it was covered in fog.
Will I ever get a chance to go back.

You didn’t miss much. It was nothing spectacular even on a clear day 🤪

[number2]

For a moment I thought this was a ''Rado'' thread,,

[WhopperSenior]

Had a bit of a shocker on our euro road trip this year. Stayed in Chamonix for a couple of nights with the hopes of taking my wife to see the views from the top. Total white out the entire time we were there. Thankfully we had plenty of other stops on the trip which made up for it.

[petethegeek]

You didn’t miss much. It was nothing spectacular even on a clear day.

That could depend on you viewing point.

[hilly10]

A friend of mine did a Baltic Cruise two week after us, when they got to St Petersburg they did not get in to port as the sea was to rough. The highlight of the tour gone.

[FK77]

That could depend on you viewing point.

My pictures are better Seriously though, stunning scenery throughout that region. So very different in every season.