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September 7, 2008
Life in Jasper
So, I'm actually getting settled into Jasper life now and it's not bad. The downsides are of course, living in a tourist town where the cost of things is reflected by the demand of travellers. I will, however, refrain from complaining too much about tourists as they are the basis for the majority of employment in the area.
Jasper is a beautiful town. The architecture varies from 1970's ski chalet inspired motel/lodges to classic swiss mountain buildings with steep roofs and round stone walls. The town is very clean and virtually every window has a mountain view. Living in a national park is a boon for recycling. The garbage bins around town are bear proof and most houses have added several tiers of rope to their property fences in an effort to save their flower beds from the elk that frequent the safety of town (wolves like the taste of elk but dislike people).
There are two and a half seasons in Jasper - tourist season, ski season and the several week-long lull in between. Tourist season is hectic. The town swells in population, with workers from across Canada and the world (mostly Australia) filling the hospitality jobs that provide for all those extra guests.
In winter, locals can enjoy the quiet beauty of a mountain town... at least until the weekends when Jasper becomes Edmonton's playground. The Marmot Basin ski hill is only 20 minutes out of town which lends itself to incredible accessibilty for Canadian Rockies skiing.
Summer may have been somewhat unpredictable this year with many rainy, miserable days, but we seem to be receiving some of those sunny days now as if they'd been banked up (with a Canadian bank.... an American bank would have gone bust lost our sunny days already). With that in mind, I've been spending most of my time out on the trails with some crazy riders learning how much I've still got to learn. The sun and the trails are calling so I'm outta here.
Posted by Dr.Unk at September 7, 2008 1:37 PM
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