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The Fairmont Banff Springs
by Karen Misuraca
Early mountaineers discovered hot springs in a spectacular valley in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta Province. As word spread, people made arduous treks to the medicinal waters, and in the 1880s, the Canadian Pacific Railroad built the Banff Springs Hotel, a baronial, Scottish-style castle at the confluence of the Bow and the Spray Rivers overlooking the Bow Valley, one in a chain of luxury hostelries along the railway line through the Rocky and Selkirk Mountains. Now a National Historic Site and a big tourist attraction, the massive hotel is today the Fairmont Banff Springs http://www.fairmont.com/banffsprings.
Arriving guests step into a soaring grand lobby to see sweeping stairways, carved beamed ceilings, baronial chandeliers and high, paned windows. European manor-house-style furnishings, huge stone fireplaces, and richly-colored fabrics and wall coverings are fit for royalty, who have been known to show up. Queen Elizabeth has trod these halls, as did the Prince of Wales when he christened the place in 1929.
Most of the 770 rooms and suites have views of the river valley and the mountains, where constantly changing skies are mesmerizing, from dramatic cloud buildups to thunder showers, brilliant sun and mist, all in the same day. Accommodations are spacious and charming, decorated in a Scottish Highland theme with traditional furnishings, English floral fabrics and plaids; some have fireplaces.
Thompson's Mountain Magic
Now 7,7083 yards long, the routing of the original 1924 golf course has been restored to master architect Stanley Thompson's vision--this is the first course in the world to cost more than $1 million to build and millions more have been invested to accommodate today's longer hitters. The slope was adjusted to a stiff 142, with a 74.4 course rating. In a gorgeous, pine, fir and aspen forest and valley setting alongside the river, the course is thickly bordered with high grasses, stately Queen Anne's lace, purple lupine and mountain aster, wild iris and more wildflowers. As many as fifty elk at a time cruise the course.
Waves of uptilted, steep, flashed sand traps and abundant mounding are typical Thompson. Fairways are flattish, and it is advisable to stay on them, as high grasses and scrub, dense woods, and the rushing Bow River are major hazards. Approaches are often backdropped by massive granite walls.
Golfers hold up the game by snapping photos on the fourth hole, Devil's Cauldron, one of the most dramatic par 3's in golf. The tee is perched high on a granite shelf about 65 feet above a crystalline glacial lake and beautiful wetlands backed by a phalanx of dark pines and 3,000-foot cliffs. The green is 190 yards away, guarded by five notorious bunkers. Get out your camera again for the zowie view at sixteen, from a tabletop green high above the fast-moving river, which is rimmed with grassy, rocky banks.
And More
Among more than a dozen food and beverage venues are the pubby, Bavarian-style Waldhaus, the Scottish-style, 5-diamond Banffshire Club, and the Bow Valley Grill; plus Elaborate tea service in the Rundle Room; sushi at Samurai, Italian fare at Castello, and prime rib, planked salmon and bison at the Alhambra.
The $12 million Solace Spa is elegant, with fabulous views, waterfall massage pools, a warm mineral pool, an 105-foot, indoor saltwater pool, and sun terraces. Traditional and exotic treatments from thalassotherapy to kurs and Turkish scrubs are on the spa menu.
Below the hotel is a lovely walking path into town, along the river and a rumbling cascade; touristy shops and galleries await. Interpretive hikes, walks and climbing trips are available, and a gondola ride to a mountaintop for views of the Rocky Mountains, elk and bighorn sheep, and sometimes grizzlies. Tour Banff and Jasper National Parks. Loll in naturally heated outdoor mineral water pools at Sulphur Mountain. Ride on huge "snow coaches" (even in the summertime) in the Columbia Icefields, halfway between Banff and Jasper. The gateway to Banff National Park, Banff is 1.5 hours west of Calgary on the Trans-Canada Highway.
Icefields Parkway to Jasper
The Canadian Rockies are in your lap, glistening glaciers cascade nearly to the highway, and lakes and rivers sparkle all along the 4-hour drive from Banff to Jasper. At the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge is a rugged Stanley Thompson masterpiece of a golf course, meandering through aspen groves around gigantic boulders, surrounded by mountains and pure wilderness. Bear, elk and coyote play on the fairways while golfers contend with elevated tees and huge, undulating greens, devilishly sloping off at the sides. Hole fourteen is laid on the shores of icy-blue Lac Beauvert, where canoers paddle and the forest and jagged peaks are reflected in the water.
With an atmosphere like an upscale summer camp, the lodge is anchored by a great room with vintage sofas and armchairs, writing tables, rocking chairs, fireplaces and views of what seems like half of the Canadian Rockies. 446 rooms and 56 log chalets here, including 8-bedroomed Milligan Manor http://www.jasperparklodge.com.
Between Banff and Calgary in a densely forested valley lie 36 holes at the Kananaskis Country Golf Course, two Robert Trent Jones, Sr. creations beneath the dramatic cliff faces of Mt. Kidd and Mt. Lorette. The Kananaskis River and streams and creeks criss-cross two of Canada's most spectacular tracks where fine, white sand fills 136 traps, and water menaces 20 holes http://www.kananaskisgolf.com.
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