Snow Cones
Published by New Zealand Life and LeisureExcerpt
The bookseller in Banff remembers the night as if it were yesterday.
There was a full moon when John Whelan joined his friend for a little backcountry night skiing in the snow-capped Canadian Rocky Mountains. The pair noticed a pack of trailing coyotes and, although confident skiers, turned back for the fireside at Skoki Lodge.
“It would be rare for the coyote pack to take down a couple of adult men,” recalls Whelan, “but you don’t tempt fate out there.” “Oh,” I venture, “we’re skiing into Skoki Lodge with two children tomorrow.”
“Little buggers will be in a pile of coyote turd before you know it,” Whelan warns.
We have travelled halfway across the world to experience the unspoiled wonder of Banff National Park and it is with these words ringing in our ears that we begin the six-hour trek to the heritage-listed Skoki Lodge.
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