DSC DID Panorama Mountain Village, Canada!!!!!

By Joyce Cooper

It was the first time that DSC took a trip to Panorama Mountain Village Resort in Canada. The resort is approximately 3 ½ hrs. from Calgary and the weather was wonderful during our visit. We had 26 fun-loving Club members on the trip. Thank you Sybil for helping me to run a smooth FUN trip . . . with NO INJURIES!!! We enjoyed our accommodations at the1000 Peaks Summit Lodge. Our rooms were very nice and it was definitely ski-in, ski-out. Everyone seemed to enjoy the trip, especially the nightly happy hours and group dinners. We all bonded the whole trip and we hope the new members now feel connected. The group helped Pat Bartell celebrate his 65th birthday the first day and then on St. Patrick's Day, some of us acted foolish and donned green hats, beads and accessories to celebrate. I hope you see the photos of our new member, Scott Dennett and also of Bob Alexander and Pat Bartell in their St. Paddy's attire . . . and they're grown men? Sybil, Mary Lou and I looked pretty silly ourselves!!!

Some of the other events we shared were the mountain tours, sleigh ride at dusk with a chili supper served afterwards in a quaint "little" cabin. Some of us roasted marshmallows over the fire before heading back to our lodge. One of the highlights was an afternoon of snowmobiling all the way up to the top of a majestic mountain. We had a spectacular view of Panorama Ski Resort across from us and of the Canadian Rockies. . . it was awesome. We had some wild drivers. Sherry Hughes and Cheryl Duke led the pack behind the guide and never let up on the gas peddle. Jill Katzen was with us on the snowmobile trip and had a very capable driver, Bob Alexander who kept her safe. Jill added yet one more life adventure to her list, in addition to the fact that she skied most days with the Mountain Tour Guides and ventured up to the top of the mountain where she side stepped along a ledge . . . and she's turning 80 this year!!! And then there's Mary Lou Alford, who is amazing. She was doing acrobatics on her snowmobile and we caught it on camera. Luckily she was still parked. You go girl!!!!

First time on a DSC trip were Cheryl Duke, Jennifer Heffernan, Mary Frances Dewitt, Judy Gregg and Pamela Hongsakul (who flew in from Bangkok to meet her mother, Somsri Griffin). Mary Frances, Judy and Cheryl coerced Jeff Cohen to tag along on a day trip to Lake Louise and Banff. They were amazed at the incredible scenery!! And I can only imagine all the small talk that Jeff had to listen to?!

Another highlight of our trip was when 14 of our group participated in the 2-hr. Powder Clinic hosted by Canadian Mountain Holidaze. Jeff Cohen, Dean Thurmond, Samy Bottom, Linda Howard, Bob Cox, Harley Mimura (also a great photographer) and maybe myself are ready for heli-skiing. . . well maybe not?! Anyway, we learned lots of new techniques that will also help us on steep slopes and in powder. After our clinic, most of us ate lunch in a unique place called the Elkhorn cabin (made to order salmon burgers and meat pies) and then CMH hosted a reception for all of our group later that afternoon.

We had dinner in our condo the last evening before we left for home, which was a fun way to wrap up our time together. Great fun with great friends and then a safe trip back to DFW.