It is silent out there, except for the rhythmic patter of husky paws on snow and the gentle creaking of the sled. Occasionally the dogs heads pivot in unison to left or right. You may be able to spot a line of tiny wells in the powder, indicating that a wolf has walked this way before you. You are traveling through one of the last remaining great wildernesses in the world. Photo by: Mike Barish

It is a territory larger than the state of California, yet one that only 31,000 humans call home. There are, however, 70,000 moose for company, along with considerable numbers of grizzly and black bears, caribou, wolverines and Dall sheep. Photo by: Bill and Esther

You leave the forest trail and mush along the surface of a river. Evening is falling and a full moon rises high in the sky, casting a silvery light across this remote bitterly beautiful land. Later, perhaps, the northern lights will dance across the starry night sky for you. Visitors at Yukon Territory can try their hand at dogsledding for anything from half a day to a week or more. They can base themselves in comfortable accommodation at a kennel or can opt to camp with dogs along the extensive trails of the north. If you wish you can watch how the experts do it and follow the course of Yukon Quest, known as the toughest dogsledding race in the world. It runs each February with conditions often the harshest, for 1,000 miles (1,600 km) between Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehorse. Photo by: Mike Barish

Photo by: Mike Barish

Canada counts out the days until the beginning of the Winter Olympics with the last details of preparation. The 2010 Winter Olympics run from Feb. 12 to 28 in the Canadian city of Vancouver and the winter sports resort of Whistler. The biggest sports forum for this year starts on Friday and Vancouver gets ready. The most serious problem is the high temperatures and lack of snow.

Founded in 1886, the city is inhabited by 2.2 million people and is very ecologically oriented. The competitions will be held from sea level to 935 m in Richmond in Whistler. From 12 until 28 February 2010 around 5500 athletes from more than 80 countries will participate in the 21’s Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. Games are expected to be watched by about 3 billion people. And around 55 000 spectators will be able to watch the opening ceremony.

This resort is frequently regarded as one of the best ski and snowboard destination in the world. Whistler Blackcomb is located in Coast Mountain Range. The Twin Mountains offer 8,171 acres of skiable terrain, ranging from beginner to expert slopes. Just a two hours drive of Vancouver, Canada, Whistler Blackcomb boasts a wide range of accommodation and a world-class terrain parks. It really is all you could ask for in a ski and snowboard resort.  The ski and snowboard season lasts from mid-November to early June.

Official site – click here.

 The park is best known for being one of the most important dinosaur fossil beds in the world.  Now known as the Dinosaur Provincial Park, was established on June 26th, 1955 under the name, Steveville Dinosaur Provincial Park as part of Alberta’s 50th Jubilee year. Stands of cottonwoods, a variety of animal life, and, most important, the extensive bone-beds, were instrumental in UNESCO’s designation of the park as a World Heritage Site in 1979. The park boasts a very complex ecosystem including three communities: prairie grasslands, badlands, and riverside cottonwoods.

The property is unmatched in terms of the number and variety of high quality specimens, over 60 of which represent more than 45 genera and 14 families of dinosaurs, which date back 75-77 million years.

 The Centrosaurus Bone Bed Hike provides the tourist a chance to see this backcountry and enjoy a rare opportunity to view dinosaur bones in a natural setting while hearing a fascinating story of scientific discovery. Their bones were buried and preserved under layers of sand and mud deposited in the deltas of sluggish rivers which became the present soft sandstone and bentonite clay shale rocks.

Cottonwood trees are found in abundance and they support a special group of wildlife: scorpions, black widow spiders and rattlesnakes.

No-boarding is a young sport that is like the traditional way of snowboarding but with a knobbed polymer traction pad and a heavy-duty bungee rope, which transform a snowboard into a no-board. Without highbacks to straps to hold feet in place, the pad prevents slipping, and a firm grip on the rope keeps the board in place and is like surfing -riders adapt to pitch and snow conditions by moving their feet and center of gravity.

In recent years a six-year-old company near Revelstoke, British Columbia, is promoting the sport. The kit is available in snowboard shops in Alberta, British Columbia, Alaska, Utah, Colorado, Vermont, Europe and Japan. No-boarding is the ultimate backcountry tool and wouldn’t be possible without current snowboard technology. For riders who have the chance to try the sport, no-boarding delivers aspiration and innovative spirit and bring people closer to the backcountry. Pulled up the rope and swooped down the hill, a graceful freedom….

Photos by: Jenna Low

British Columbia will host the “greenest games ever” in Vancouver February 2010. The city has constructed a series of stunning  structures in preparation for upcoming events, and has also kicked off its naturally-wood website, which provides a free digital tool kit for Building Green with Wood and insight into how BC’s sustainable forestry helps leed the way for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. 

The Richmond Olympic ring is an emerald of a speed-skating, with three levels and a massive wood wave roof inspired by local ecology, using lumber affected by the Mountain pine beetle. The sport event includes energy-saving refrigeration and rainwater collection, and $16-million oval roof claims one of the world’s largest  wooden structures, around the size of four and a half football fields.

Vancouver Convention Centre also features a living roof of 400,000 native plants, free of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, that also captures rainfall to use within the building and for irrigation, and a seawater heating and cooling, on-site water treatment, marine habitat built into the foundations, and shoreline restoration.

The 2010 structure is designated as a LEED Gold structure, connecting two distinct spaces for multimedia and community affairs and decked out with submerged logs and concrete countertops utilizing post-beetle mania pine chips. The buildings will remain alive and well even after the games have ended.

Form by the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late nineteenth century, this fantastic hotel on the shore of Lake Louise is just on two hours drive west of Calgary in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The place is also famous among the locals as the Diamond in the Wilderness. This pioneering hotel started as a humble log cabin in 1890, providing accommodation for fifty clients. Photo by: sminky_pinky100 (Busy In & Out)

Some 120 years later the emerald-green waters of Lake Louise and the majestic Victoria Glacier have no changed much, but the log cabin now has 552 spacious guest rooms and seven restaurants, all styled with past contemporary taste. Carved timbers and exquisite detailing echo the Arts and Crafts style, and historic photographs, antique chandeliers, and documents hark back to the days when British royalty treated it as a second home. Photo by: luislu@sbcglobal.net

The Louise Lakeshore Trail, one of the most popular hikes in the Rockies, begins in front of the chateau and winds its way up the western shoreline of the lake. There are also kayaks available to sail Lake Louse’s languid waters and affording view back across the lake to this iconic Canadian landmark. All breathtaking views of the lake and surrounding nature come with a room at Fairmont Chateau. Photo by: Stecyk

Location: Canada. How to get there: From Calgary International Airport (about 2 hour 30 minutes), take the only exit road leaving the Airport, then  this road will become Barlow Trail, take Barlow Trail South to 16th Avenue, go west (right) onto 16th Avenue, 16th Avenue becomes TransCanada Highway 1, which takes you straight through to Banff  National Park(45-60 minute drive), once you arrive at the Banff National Park gates you will be required to pay a fee. After that the trip will take about 2.5 hours from Calgary, weather dependant. Calgary is 183 km from Lake Louise. Photo by: gursesl

Horseback riding, bear and  whale- watching trips, kayaking, trekking – these are just some of the activities available at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort, possibly North America’s only luxury safari-style resort. The whole resort is like a camp, surrounded by verdant rain forest in the area near British Columbia‘s Tofino designated by UNESCO as Biosphere Reserve.

The twenty tents offer lots of space and homey features, such as remote-controlled propane woodstroves, Adirondack furnishing, and an abundance of candles and kerosene lamps that muster up a wonderfully rustic atmosphere at night.

The ranch cookhouse has a huge stone fireplace and an open kitchen where up to six dinners can watch culinary maestros prepare the resort’s delicacies. An area called the Healing Grounds boasts there cedarwood hot tubs, seawater baths, and four massage and treatment tents, plus a new spa building with two indoor treatment rooms for water therapies.

Add in the exotic, untamed surroundings and wealth of wildlife and it’s safe to say today’s urban explorers have never had it so good. This resort offer extremely sophisticated resort in the wild.

Location: Vancouver Island, Canada

Located high in the spectacular coastal mountains of Vancouver Island, next to the farms and vineyards of the Cowichan Valley and close to Victoria rests The Aerie Resort. Surrounded by 85 acres of meticulously kept grounds and gardens, the breath-taking view from The Aerie is worth the trip alone.

There are 3 different buildings for your stay, each with its own special charm and incredible views.Villa Cielo is on the highest point and offers unsurpassed privacy and elegance. The Residence Building offers seven rooms and suites, while the Main Building is the original Aerie construction, and now offers 22 elegant rooms and suites.

The rooms have all the amenities, fireplace, couch, huge tub – in the sitting room – large bed and great view off the balcony.

Amenities: Massage, Meeting Facilities, Broadband Access, Restaurant in Hotel, Fireplace, Hot Tub, Air Conditioning, Television, more..

The Aerie Spa and Wellness Centre will leave you rejuvenated and inspired!

Activities: Swimming Pool, Golf, Tennis, Fitness, Mud bath, mountain biking, hiking, horseback riding, fishing, sailing, water-skiing, diving, kayaking, rafting, culinary tours, float plane tours, yoga.

Aerie Resort and Spa is a haven for those who enjoy fine wines and gourmet cuisine.

Chefs create food that is fresh and delicious, using classic French techniques but much inspired by Pacific Northwest flavours and style.

In the Pacific Ocean, in British Columbia, the Queen Charlotte Islands are peaks of a submerged mountain chain. The seven largest islands of the 1,884 islands and islets in the archipelago are Langara, Graham, Moresby, Louise, Lyell, Burnaby and Kunghit. Just 2 km into the sea, the continental shelf falls away dramatically to the immense depths of the ocean, and this is Canada’s most active earthquake area. Photo by: marc_guitard

Naikoon Provincial Park, in the north-east of Graham Island, covers a range of diverse environments including sandy beaches and dunes, sphagnum bogs, ancient forests and rivers. The landscape was formed during the last Ice Age out of the deposits left by retreating glaciers. The main attraction here are the endless stretches of broad sandy beaches. On the north beach is Tow Hill, a 100 m outcrop of basalt columns which make a dramatic landmark. Also worth seeing is Rose Spit, an ecological reserve, where you can spot migrating birds travelling over the Pacific. Photo by: g d gustafsson

The Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site is in the south of the archipelago. The wilderness area of 138 islands stretching 90 km from north to south is only accessible by boat or charted aircraft. Mountains rise steeply to the west, and the coastline is dotted with stunning inlets, coves, bays and islands. This is great place to observe whales, bald eagles, nesting seabirds, black bears, river otters and sea lions. Photo by: Sam Beebe / Ecotrust

Rainforest and upland bog, salmon steams, estuaries and kelp beds sustain a rich diversity of life there.
When to go: April to November. Population: 4,935. Getting there: Fly to Vancouver or Prince Rupert to Sandspit, or take a ferry from Prince Rupert. You should know: This is a tranquil area with little development, so do not expect busy resort hotels with all the tourist comforts. Photo by: Yonn Yeth-Lachance

Photo by: Stef Olcen

Set just off the Ontario coast in Lake Huron, Manitoulin Island is the largest freshwater island in the world (2,800 sq km). A wonderful place of petit villages, rolling pasture, forests and lakes, its edges are fringed with long beaches and white cliffs.

The first nations Oijbwa people, the island’s original inhabitants believed that when the Great Spirit, Gitchi Manitou, created the Earth he kept the best bits and made Manitoulin his home. In 1648 a group of French Jesuits became the first Europeans to settle on Manitoulin Island, which they named Isle de Ste. Marie.

Unfortunately they brought with them new disease that rapidly devastated the Ojibwa population. Marauding Iroquois bands, then drove out those who remained, leaving the island uninhabited for over a hundred years. During the 19th century, the island’s beauty attract the attention of white settlers who, after first giving Manitoulin to other native bands, then revoked all treaties and claimed for themselves.

Nowadays Manitoulin and the waters around it serve as Ontario’s summer playground with boats and all kinds of weaving in and out of its many bays and filing its large inland lakes. Hiking is popular and the island has a well signposted system of trails. Every August the Ojibwa Band holds one of Canada’s biggest powwows, a celebration of life through dance, storytelling and displays of arts and crafts.

Of the hundreds of churches on the island of Montreal, Notre-Dame’s interior is the most stunning with a exquisite detail. This 19th Century Basilica is in the historic district of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada. Basilica was opened in 1829, making it the largest religious edifice in North America at the time. It is a very beautiful, interesting and cultural attraction!
According to records, it took two years to erect the walls of the basilica and the facade up to the base of the towers. Much of the interior is carved from rare woods – which are gilded or painted and large rose windows. It is filled with hundreds of intricate wooden carvings and several religious statues. The eastern tower of the Notre- Dame Montreal holds a ten-bell carillon, while the western tower, named Temperance, holds a single bell, the Jean-Baptiste bell. This ten ton bell is only rung on special occasions and can be heard 25km away. There’s also a chapel in the back which is just as amazing.
The original church, designed by Father François Dollier de Casson sufficed for the first 150 years. Then a New York architect named James O’Donnell was brought to Montreal to build a new church.
This striking interior is the work of architect Victor Bourgeau, who transformed the originally stern interior into the current design between 1874 and 1880. The great organ is a Casavant and the recitals held in the church throughout the year are very popular. The basilica offers musical programming of choral and organ performances.

The Olympic Stadium in Quebec, Canada was originally constructed as the main venue for the 1976 Summer Olympics. It subsequently became the home of Montreal’s professional baseball and Canadian football teams. Also it hosted both cycling and judo events. If your family likes sports, you can go on the 30-minute guided tour, which takes visitors through the Sports Center and the Olympic Stadium. The area features numerous stands featuring a wide variety of food, though most of it is supplied by chain restaurants such as McDonalds.

Anthony Island is an Island in the province of British Columbia, located at latitude – longitude coordinates of N 52.1 and W -131.2167. One of the most southerly of the Queen Charlotte Islads , Anthony Island (known as SGang Gwaay by the Haida) holds rich culture.

Today, a columns are like giant arrows directing attention to the West Coast aboriginals’ life of yesteryear on Anthony Island, some 60 miles off the British Columbia coast.

On the southern tip of the island, the protected Ninstints village has been transformed into an open-air museum of sorts, with ten cedar dwellings offering the last links to a former world.

The park has the first historic traces of a European presence in the Americas, the ruins of a Norse settlement from the 11th century, with wooden and earth houses similar.

Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton has an untamed beauty that makes for some of the most impressive scenery in North America. The island is a wonderful mixture of rocky shores, rolling pasture, barren headlands, woodland, mountains and plateaux. Comprehension of the people of Cape Breton Island is not possible without knowledge of its earliest shelters. Cape Bretons today reflect the resolve of those pioneers. The Island has shaped them just as they struggled to shape the island. Photo by: Thatsanotherdory

The largest town, Sydney, still bears the scars of a failed industrial past but outside of the immediate area, the theme of the islands heritage mixed with outstanding natural beauty. Fortress Louisbourg faithfully recreates the French military might of the early 18th century, pioneer cottages line the north shore of the imposing Bras d’OR Lake and the island’s most northerly point, Meat Coves offers spectacular ocean views. Photo by: archer10 (Dennis)

Accommodation on Cape Breton is limited, so booking in advance is recommended, and as the public transport is poor, driving is your only real option to explore the wonderful island. Photo by: Henk & Anna

When to go: June to August is the best time but even then the weather is notoriously unpredictable. Population: 150,000. How to get there: By road-bridge from mainland Nova Scotia or by air to Sydney which has an international airport. Photo by: archer10 (Dennis)