Chill seeker

Had enough of the heatwave? Finding it too damn hot? Head to icy Alberta, where they like to play it cool

Elizabeth Bennet, a vision of goose-bumped flesh erupting from a flimsy white gown, is having a crafty fag on the steps of a Canadian castle. She is in mortal danger from killer icicles but the need for nicotine outweighs all peril.

Inside her sisters are downing smoky cocktails and mixing with the eligible men of Alberta around a roaring fire. The night is young and later there will be dancing.

Edmonton is a city that says it’s not afraid to do things differently so perhaps it should be no surprise to arrive in the middle of a Pride and Prejudice ball. The venue, and our hotel for the next two nights, was the

Fairmont Macdonald, a faux baronial fantasy of highceilinged halls which has graced the city’s skyline since 1915. Royals have stayed here before and were very much at home.

The hotel was so comfortable that I considered not going out – but the city’s burgeoning food scene proved too tempting. Over the next 48 hours, we feasted on the Canadian chips, cheese and gravy dish poutine, hotdogs and oysters. But the standout meal was at Mexican Rostizado, where delicious shrimp and avocado broth boiled in a bowl of volcanic rock while a hefty meat platter made the table groan.

If you’re after more delicate fare, then the art deco delights of Bar Clementine might fit the bill. In the morning we hunted bison. Elk Island National Park, a 30-minute drive from the city, is a protected reserve for 800 of these beautiful beasts, and quite a few elk too. But they were remarkably elusive and we had to be content with a drive-by shooting (with cameras) on the way back to town. After our first glimpse of Alberta’s natural wonders, we moved on to attractions modern. A few years ago, Brent Christensen built a frost cave for his children in their front yard in Utah. Next year he built a bigger one. Then his DIY creations starting drawing tourists and Brent realised he had a business. His frost fortresses cost up to $900,000 to build and have on-site icicle farms where up to 10,000 specimens are harvested a day. They are now springing up all over the US and Canada. There is an Edmonton outpost

in William Hawrelak Park, guaranteed to draw out anyone’s inner Elsa where I spent a fun morning trying out its speedy slides and posing on an icy throne.

For most visitors, Edmonton’s primary role is as a gateway to the Canadian Rockies, a 900-mile range and spectacular adventure playground with enough to satisfy hardcore adrenalin junkies.

Driving west out of Edmonton our first stop was Jasper National Park and its most famous hotel, the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.

My room was a cosy cabin suite set on the lake where I watched the sun rise from behind the mountains each morning. It felt very remote and completely idyllic.

Jasper itself is a charming little town with just a few thousand residents and a lot of elk.

It has a good selection of restaurants including Evil Dave’s Grill where we ate Wicked Fishcakes, Hell’s Chicken and Malevolent Meatloaf – a concoction of ground bison and wild boar bacon – all delicious rather than diabolical.

After a lot of over-indulgence, exercise was back on the agenda.

The next few days were a blistering whirlwind of activity.

Ski conditions at Marmot Basin were perfect, with powdery snow, empty slopes and no queues.

We took a helicopter to the heart of the mountains and snow-shoed upwards, stopping for hot chocolate with Baileys beneath towering trees. The bird’s eye views as we fly between the Rockies were heart-stopping.

Then there was the magic of Maligne Canyon, a raging torrent in summer that was thick with ice when I visited.

‘‘Keep your feet near the ground,’’ our guide said, after we’d strapped spikes to our shoes. ‘‘Slide, don’t walk. Pretend you’re a penguin.’’

I stepped, tentative, on to the frozen river to discover a penguin waddle came with alarming ease.

As we glided deep into the

canyon, the walls twisted into cavernous chambers broken by frozen waterfalls. If you’re feeling very adventurous, you can climb them.

We took the Icefields Parkway out of Jasper, a 140-mile spectacular which regularly tops the charts of most beautiful drive in the world. It is the Rockies at their most raw, ferociously cold and uncompromising, where the mountains fold in waves around 100 ancient glaciers. It is also photography heaven, though the temperature means you shouldn’t stay outside for more than a few minutes. Three hours later we arrive at Lake Louise, in Banff National Park. This is the classic Alberta picture postcard, deep blue water backdropped by a chateau-style hotel. We stayed a short walk away at Deer Lodge, a very relaxed classic log cabin with fancy turrets, roaring fire, hearty meals, including elk, and a dry wood sauna on the roof.

Lake Louise felt like a superior sort of Narnia, where it is always winter – and Christmas. There’s ice skating, dog sledding, ice hockey and horse-drawn sleighs.

My favourite part of this winter wonderland was skiing at Lake Louise Ski Resort where there are slopes suitable for every level of

skier and ideal for families. Last stop was Calgary, centre of Canada’s oil industry and home to the famous horse stampede.

It is a fascinating destination at any time of year, with repurposed warehouses housing cafes and bars and stately old hotels flourishing amid the skyscrapers. There is some eye-catching architecture, including the iconic Calgary Tower

and the ultra-slick National Music Museum at Studio Bell.

After a tour of the city’s longgone speakeasies, we retire to the Hyatt Regency for one last night of Canadian hospitality.

Alberta’s combination of old world charm, stunning landscapes and exciting cities won me over. Like Elizabeth Bennet in Edmonton, I too had fallen in love.