Best of Banff, an inside guide to Canada's favourite park

I spent a good chunk of March researching and writing an insider's guide to Banff National Park for explore Magazine's June issue, now in print and partially reproduced online. It was probably the most fun I've ever had writing an article that didn't involve skiing untouched powder. I'm proud of the results and think I produced a really useful article.

I spent my teenage years and early twenties hanging out in the park, skiing in the winter and spring and hiking, climbing and paddling during the summer and fall. Many nights were spent celebrating in the pubs and bars off Banff Avenue. What a fun place to hang out. I go back every year.

Researching the article put me in touch with dozens of locals who like the town and park as much as I do. It also reminded me of all my adventures and misadventures and made me excited for my next trip to one of Canada's favourite outdoor playgrounds.

Ryan Stuart National Magazine Award Nominations

I'm going to blow my own horn: For the second year in a row I've been nominated for several National Magazine Awards. All are for writing packages in explore Magazine; the magazine recieved 19 nominations in total.

I'm nominated for: Service: Lifestyle for the article Best of Our Parks, a hit list for Canada's parks; as part of a large team of writers, editors and designers for Best Single Issue and Editorial Package; and two nominations in Single Service Article Package, one for Do it Like an Olympian, a package of advice from Olympic athletes, and one for The Summer List, a plan for summer fun.

You can read all the nominated stories and packages here.

The awards will be handed out at a gala event on June 4, in Toronto.

Icefall Lodge, ski pant review: more articles in Skiing Magazine

The best ski run of my life has been immortalized in the pages of Skiing Magazine's December issue. The article I wrote about Icefall Lodge focuses on the highlight of the trip, a 5,000 foot descent that included an aptly named section, The Playground. Natural half pipes, cliffs, lips, ramps and pillows were on tap, as was a sweet ski right into the heart of a glacier. It was unreal.

In the same issue is a ski pant review. I called in 20 odd new ski pants and put them through their paces, handed them off to ski bums and generally abused them. In the end I reviewed eight for Skiing. Four appear in the online article.

Nouvelle Provence still new

I just finished writing content for the Comox Valley visitor guide. A big focus was on agri-tourism, a growing trend that sees people travel places specifically to sample the produce grown locally. Working on it reminded me of an article I wrote for BC Business Magazine a couple years ago. The Comox Valley has put a lot of effort into attracting new farmers to the Comox Valley. This area, near my home in Courtenay, is home to a large percentage of available farm land on temperate Vancouver Island. The marketing effort is dubbed the New Provence. While I don't necessarily agree with the moniker I do know the local food tastes good!

Here's a link to my article in the June 2007 issue of BC Business Magazine: http://www.bcbusinessonline.ca/bcb/top-stories/2007/06/01/la-nouvelle-provence

Two features in Explore's winter issue

I wrote a big chunk of explore Magazine's winter issue and you can see excerpts from both articles on the website. One is called Do it like an Olympian. The concept came from an article I wrote for explore last summer that was a collection of tips and tricks from pro athletes in a bunch of sports. The Olympian version was devoted to Olympic sports and focused mainly on technique tips, ways of improving performance at the ski hill, half pipe and cross country area. The other article was a round up of 50 things for winter. I included everything from destinations, activities to try and gear that will make this winter better. Check it all out on explore's website under articles.

Life inside a ping-pong ball with Eric Larsen

I interviewed American explorer Eric Larsen earlier this year for Outside Magazine. The Q&A focused on his expedition to the three poles - North, South and summit of Everest - in one year. He is now at the beginning of his first leg, the South Pole, waiting for the weather to improve (120 kilometre winds have his party pinned) before he begins skiing. For someone so determined and focused he's a pretty down to earth guy. The only thing I don't get is how he handles the cold and boredom. He admitted to me that he gets really bored on these expeditions. Surprisingly enough skiing in a whiteout isn't that much fun and it's even less fun when you get vertigo. "It feels like you're stuck on the inside of a ping-pong ball," is how he described it. Sounds wicked. Sign me up. Seriously, I'm cheering for him. Follow his progress on his website, ericlarsenexplore.com

Growing a Mo

There's nothing like a little facial hair to make a man feel manly. (Hmmm, it's the idea, not the reality, of the facial hair.) Having a home office I often sport a few days growth, but this month I'm growing it to a whole new length. This Movember, the month formerly known as November, I'm growing a moustache (see picture for one weeks worth of stache). And not some good looking, almost stylish stache either. No, I've got the porn star style on the go: full under the nose with a slight droop to bottom lip level on the sides. Very gross looking.

The reason I'm sacrificing my good looks is for Movember, a charity event where men grow moustaches for the month of November and raise money for prostate cancer research. At the end of the month we'll have a party with DJs and award the coveted Man of Movember award. So far I'm looking good for the self-explanatory Lame Mo award. I'll post a pic in a couple days. In the meantime if you want to donate to the cause head to my Mo Space. You can also find out how to join.