Lowri Davies

Some days you have to take stock and appreciate how lucky you are. This Christmas I was very lucky as I travelled to Canada for a week of snowboarding in fresh powder on virtually empty slopes with my boyfriend and his family.

Peter, Will, Tom and I ready for a day on the slopes. Photo: Jackie Laws

We landed in Calgary to news of -40 wind chill outside. For the first time in over a decade Canada had snow from coast-to-coast and we got a fresh dump most days. Luckily Sun Peaks wasn’t as cold as Calgary, just a balmy -20!

I had such a great time. The “first tracks” breakfast sessions, before the lifts officially opened on a foot of fresh snow was a personal favourite. The runs there are so much more interesting and better groomed (or left ungroomed as the case may be) than European resorts I’ve been to.  Not that I’m a particularly experienced snowboarder to judge these things. Despite that, Tom and Will enjoyed taking me down scary black runs, and off the beaten track – on glades through the trees…

Will Laws jumping in our favourite glade. Photo: Lowri Davies

Tom grinding a box in the jump park. Photo: Lowri Davies

Me catching some brief air-time on a little jumpy. Photo: Will Laws

Although it didn’t always go to plan:

Oops! Photo: Tom Laws

Sometimes it was best just to leave the boys to it and meet them at the bottom:

Will jumps off a cliff. Photo: Tom Laws

Christmas Day, Jackie cooked up a fantastic apres-ski Christmas Dinner.

Photos: Tom Laws

On Boxing Day we met up with ex-pat and Welsh boating legend Chris Sladden and his family for a day of skiing, hot tubbing and eating more fine Christmassy foods.

All-in-all a brilliant trip and I just can’t say thank you enough to the Laws family for taking me, feeding me and making me feel part of the family!