SELLING ROCKY MOUNTAINEER
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: A chicken dish in GoldLeaf Service; Rocky Mountaineer; a locally sourced fish dish; glass-domed carriage; PICTURE: Matt Radbourne
Violet Thumlert, vice-president of global sales, Rocky Mountaineer
TRAINING SUPPORT
“Rocky Mountaineer’s training platform, Tracks, comprises five informative modules and can be completed in an hour. Tracks graduates become certified Rocky Mountaineer Specialists with a diploma and logo to add to their online presence. They also have access to exclusive training opportunities, and special rates and offers.”
RAIL AND SAIL
“As Vancouver is the western destination for Rocky Mountaineer’s three Canada routes, as well as the home port for many Alaskan cruises, bringing these two experiences together into one amazing vacation couldn’t be easier. Frequent departures throughout the season make it simple to combine the rail experience with any Alaskan cruise from Vancouver.”
EPIC SCENERY
“Rocky Mountaineer’s routes travel through incredible landscapes and national parks, and we don’t want your clients to miss a moment of the ever-changing landscapes. That’s why our trains travel only during the day, with overnight hotel stays.”
AWE-INSPIRING ROUTE Our morning is spent marvelling at blue, mountain- flanked lakes before passing through the Swiss-inspired spiral tunnels – mind-boggling passages carved out of the rock inside the mountains, built to allow the train to safely navigate the steep terrain. The Rocky Mountaineer is the only passenger train
that can travel all the way along this route from the mountains to the coast, and it gives guests a much closer look at the mountains than you might get from the nearby towns: we pass tree roots that cling impossibly to the
40 18 APRIL 2024
on to work in various kitchens around the world, including on Seabourn ships as part of the line’s Thomas Keller programme. He’s brought his passion for local fare to the menus on all Rocky Mountaineer routes across Canada and the US.
Many of the ingredients are sourced a stone’s throw
from the train tracks: steak comes from Alberta, bee pollen and berries are sourced from hives and fields just outside Vancouver, wines are all from British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley and fish are raised sustainably on the west coast of British Columbia. We pass by waters brimming with hundreds of kokanee salmon – flashes of pinky-coral under the dappled sunlight.
33Many of the ingredients used for the Rocky Mountaineer menus are sourced a stone’s throw from the train tracks
topsoil on the mountainside and witness the powerful, gushing Kicking Horse River, where the Canadian national kayaking team trains. We even spot a moose grazing by the tracks. Just before lunch, there’s an announcement that the chicken being served comes from Fraser Valley – whose eponymous river and quintessentially British Columbian landscapes we’ll be passing by tomorrow. Guests are served breakfast, lunch and unlimited snacks on board. Before embarking, we were reminded of the old saying that travel calories don’t count – so I tuck in wholeheartedly. And I needn’t have been concerned about the lack of dinner before boarding: lunch is a three-course affair and we’re served a substantial late-afternoon snack of local cheeses with crackers made in the nearby lakeside community of
travelweekly.co.uk
PICTURE: Vincent L. Chan
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
