I have lucked out on my trips to Jasper in the past. The weather every year kept getting better. Well for this trip it felt like winter weather wanted to join me for Jasper Pride 2017.

There is a Sundog shuttle service between Calgary and Jasper. When you book your trip, you can request the shuttle to pick you up at one of the major hotels in downtown Calgary or at the Calgary International Airport. You also select which hotel or address you would like to be dropped off at in Jasper.

For the Calgary to Banff part of the trip, a Brewster Bus does that leg. It had picked me up at the Fairmont Palliser. At Banff, you transfer to the Sundog shuttle to Jasper at the Brewster bus depot.

It is not a tour bus, so it does not stop constantly during the drive but at least you can enjoy the view while someone else is driving in winter conditions. It is about a 4-hour trip from Banff to Jasper. There is no bathroom on the shuttle, so at least they will stop at the restrooms if people need to use them. For those who want to disconnect from the outside world, there is absolutely no cell service from any provider for most of that 4-hour trip on HWY 93 from Banff to Jasper. There is service at Marmot Basin and around the town of Jasper.

Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge is always an amazing place to stay. This year, my guest room was located very close to the lodge, so it was only a couple minute walk. Winter weather really kicked in on the first night so being so close to the lodge made it easy for my first event of Jasper which was at the Emerald Lounge.  Read about my stay at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge at http://gaycalgary.com/a5713.

During great weather or when it is daylight, the Emerald Lounge has a breathtaking view of Jasper. It is accompanied by a huge room, with large fireplaces, big chairs and tables, with lots of windows to the great outdoors.  After being in a car or shuttle for several hours, having the feeling of so much space around you is very refreshing. For more about the Emerald Lounge, read about it at http://gaycalgary.com/a5714.

Right after dinner, I needed to head into town to cover some of the Thursday night events of Jasper Pride. Just like in big cities, when the weather is bad, you will have to wait a bit for cabs. There usually are taxis waiting at Jasper Park Lodge, so the wait is not too bad.

I went to the launch of Jasper Pride Beer at Jasper Brewery. For the past several years, Jasper Brewery has been creating pride beers with a theme. This year, they created two different types to also celebrate Canada’s 150. For 2017, the two brews that were released for Jasper Pride where a red rye lager and a white wheat ale.

Next, I had to run to Downstream Bar for the Pride DJ Party with Riki Rocket. It is a high end casual bar during the day and converts as needed at night to have a dance floor and a DJ. The bar was very busy with people dancing and enjoying themselves. Read more about Downstream Bar at http://gaycalgary.com/a5716.

Friday was a very busy day for me. This year I had decided that I would check out the museums and art galleries of Jasper. When trip was planned with Tourism Jasper, we both did not know that blizzard conditions would have occurred the weekend of Jasper Pride. At least Jasper is small enough that I could walk everywhere I needed to go. I only needed to take taxis going to and from Jasper Park Lodge or Marmot Basin.

I joined other gay media for breakfast at Coco’s Café. Every time I am in Jasper, I am so busy that I usually only spent a couple minutes at Coco’s. This year, I was able to enjoy a meal and was back later to do a one on one interview with owner Lynn Wannop. Check out the interview and review on Coco’s café at http://gaycalgary.com/a5715.

Most places in Jasper are within a 5 to 10-minute walk from each other. So, if you are driving, just park your car and enjoy. Even with it snowing and very windy, it was still not too bad of a walk. If you are there as a tourist, you can pop in and out of the various amount of different retail shops, café’s and restaurants to warm up while buying some food or purchasing something cool.

I had expected to do most of the site seeing by myself, but I was happily surprised to have Barb Snelgrove from MegaMouthMedia, join me for some of my walk. From Coco’s we checked out The Den - Jasper’s Wildlife Museum which is located under Whistler’s Inn. This is a great way to see the animals of Jasper up close. The museum houses taxidermy animals from around Jasper which are housed behind glass with different scenes in each window.

You need to stay away from the wildlife in Jasper. People forget that bears and other animals will attack you even if you are a couple bus lengths away from them. Warning signs are everywhere in Jasper, as well as on brochures in the hotels and information centre. Visit the Den and get your selfies. It is better than becoming a hungry bears next meal or impaled by antlers. Read the article about the Den – Jasper’s Wildlife Museum at http://gaycalgary.com/a5717.

Next place we visited was the Jasper Information Centre which is located dead center of town. A souvenir shop called Friends of Jasper is also part of it.  The retail store had items on display with rainbows and pride along with Jasper keepsakes, collectables, toys and clothes. In the entrance was a big rainbow over the door that said, "I’m a Friend – Les Amis, Mes Amis". It shows how friendly the community of Jasper is.

We headed over to the Jasper Art Gallery. The gallery showcases artwork from talented Jasper locals. Some of the art is available for sale too. Check out the article on Jasper Art Gallery on at http://gaycalgary.com/a5719. After this stop, Barb wanted to let me continue exploring on my own.

My last stop before Jasper Pride Friday evening activities was the Jasper Yellowhead Museum & Archives. As you will see from the article about it at http://gaycalgary.com/a5718, that it is on the backside of town. Even though it might sound it is a good distance away from everything, it is only a 7-minute walk from the Jasper Information Centre and the Jasper Art Gallery is in the middle of the walk to the museum. The museum does help explain how Jasper started and it was great to have finally visited it. It helps connect the dots for when you are checking out some of the sites and buildings throughout Jasper that have been there for decades or longer.

Saturday had me on the slopes of Marmot Basin covering Pride on the Hill. Marmot Basin is about a 20-minute drive from downtown Jasper. There are shuttles that do run from downtown to the slopes too. Marmot Basin does have ski and snowboard rentals available for those who don’t have gear. They do provide ski and snowboard lessons and have runs for beginners to advance.

Marmot Basin has 3,000 vertical feet of amazing ski and snowboarding slopes. The view is stellar but sadly with it still snowing heavily so it was impossible to get any great photos. Luckily previous years provided excellent conditions with perfect blue skies for photos during pride.   It is not set up for tourists so there are no gondolas for site seeing. If you want to site see, there is Jasper Skytram which will provide spectacular views of Jasper Valley and more.

Businesses every year take part in Jasper Pride with window decorations, but some will take it a step further. For Saturday night dinner, I decided to try the Rainbow Pizza by Jasper Pizza, followed by the Rainbow Cheesecake from Downstream Bar. Check out the article about Jasper Pizza at http://gaycalgary.com/a5720 and Downstream Bar at http://gaycalgary.com/a5716.

After dinner was the Jasper Pride dance at Jasper Park Lodge which was sold out. They had set up a second room with a screen for minors and people that could not make it in to the ballroom to watch the drag entertainment and burlesque numbers.

The weather had finally cleared up for Sunday and I was able to take photos around Jasper without having heavy snow getting in the way of the shots. As I walked around taking photos, you see lots of store windows decorated for Pride. The community comes together to celebrate and embrace diversity. Jasper is a beautiful town with a big heart. Regardless of the time of year you attend, you will find that Jasper will have something for you, but if you come during Jasper Pride, you will see how amazing the community is.

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Contributor Steve Polyak |

Locale Jasper |

Topic Accommodation and Lodging | Arts | Food | Jasper Pride | Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge (JPL) | Most Read Articles in 2018 | Museum | Ski and Snowboard |Sundog Tours | Travel |

Photo Gallery Jasper |Travel |