Harley’s heroes: Jasper Motorcycle Tours
Slippery slope: Whistler’s Mountain
vigorously right in the middle. No wonder – the steel support rods are embedded 16 metres into the bedrock of the cliff. Perhaps this minimal wobble is less to do with the Millennium Bridge and more to do with something else Sturgess confesses – despite designing this £12 million attraction, he’s actually afraid of heights.
l ICEFIELDS ADVENTURES I found the best tactic was not to look down as I took the first step from the chestnut-coloured Cor-Ten weathering steel on to the glass itself – despite knowing there were three inch-thick layers beneath me, it somehow felt rather like stepping on to nothing. That step made, my nerves disappeared and I could enjoy the view. And what a view. The skywalk is right in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, so all around are snow-capped peaks and
monumental glaciers. I spotted a Rocky Mountain goat perched on the cliff below like a cotton wool ball with horns and a neat beard. He was definitely staring back – probably wondering how on earth I was floating so high above him, apparently standing on air. Free shuttle buses take visitors
from the Glacier Discovery Centre just a few minutes away up to the Skywalk, where in addition to the view, there are audio tours and an exhibition explaining the area’s geology and the skywalk’s technology. The Glacier Skywalk is the work of Brewster Travel Canada, which operates some of the most popular attractions in the Canadian Rockies, including the huge-wheeled Ice Explorer vehicles that transport visitors from the same Glacier Discovery Centre right out on to the surface of the 300-metre-thick ice cube that is the Athabasca Glacier. We
filled our bottles with meltwater – which started life as snowflakes falling on to the Columbia Icefields 200 years ago – and scrambled up on to a snowy hillock to pose with the Canadian flag, the red maple leaf bright against the all- white background. Brewster’s base for the two
attractions, the Glacier Discovery Centre, is set in between Banff and Jasper on the Icefields Parkway, 144 miles of tarmac that winds through some pretty epic scenery, particularly the stretch between Lake Louise and Jasper. We spent the journey gazing up at icy peaks, across lakes turned a bright blue- green by glacier rock flour and into the shade of woodland in a frantic but fruitless attempt to spot bears.
l JASPER JAUNTS We may have missed grizzlies, but we found a few grizzled characters in downtown Jasper. The guides at Jasper
Motorcycle Tours may be
kitted out like Hells Angels in head-to-toe leather, but you’d be hard-pushed to find a more courteous bunch. Riding pillion and in sidecars on their Harley- Davidsons, we flew through the stunning Alberta countryside. It’s a novel way to travel, with the added benefit of being able to gawp at the views while someone else concentrates on the road. We did a lot of gawping that
day, having spent the morning riding the Jasper SkyTram, the highest and longest cable-car in Canada. The seven-minute journey is ooh-ed and ah-ed away in no time, so it’s lucky that there’s a
60 •
travelweekly.co.uk — 11 September 2014
TOP TIP Winter visitors
to the Rockies can warm up with a dip in the geothermal Banff Hot Springs
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