SKIING ABOVE THE CLOUDS FROM THE POST HOTEL

PPicture yourself above the clouds, on the top of a mountain. From here, you pick a different ski run all day long until your legs are burning, pleading to be immersed in the bubbling warmth of the hot tub awaiting you on the other end of your hotel shuttle from the mountain base. Your muscles ache with a healthy revolt from cascading down any one of four mountain faces featuring more than 145 ski runs. As you swim laps in the saltwater pool, your partner enjoys a massage in the adjacent spa. You will meet back in the hotel room that resembles a personal cabin complete with a fieldstone fireplace freshly stocked with logs. Meanwhile, chef Hans Sauter, who hails from Switzerland, is creating your fresh marketplace dinner to be paired with any one of the 2,300 selections of 25,500 bottles of in-house wine. Where are you? Austria, France or Switzerland? If you guessed Alberta, you are correct. In the heart of Banff National Park in the village of Lake Louise, the Post Hotel is nestled between a railway and a river, five minutes from the base of Lake Louise Ski Resort. Swiss brothers Andrea and George Schwartz purchased the hotel more than 40 years ago from Norman Watson, founder of the backcountry lodges Temple Chalet and Skoki. The brothers are intricately involved in their hotel’s daily management, often personally greeting guests. Their passion for outdoor activities combined with excellent food and service has earned the Post Hotel the prestigious Relais & Châteaux designation. The pride and caring that accompanies personal ownership is also very much present in the Lake Louise Ski Resort. Resorts of the Canadian Rockies founder Charlie Locke emerged from retirement to repurchase it in 2008, channelling his passion for this unique region into a new 10- to 15-year plan to create a world-leading environmental centre for natural and cultural appreciation. Part of this plan actually involves reducing the resort’s current leasehold area by up to 50 per cent to protect sensitive areas and species. Scott Forsyth ( @canadian.landscapes) is a Canadian Geographic Photographer-in-residence. He has embarked on a lifelong photographic journey to depict the beauty of Canadian landscapes, sharing his passion through tours and presentations.