I went downhill skiing in Jasper this past weekend, taking
full advantage of the Jasper-in-January discounts. While driving up Marmot Basin
Road en route to the ski hill, I kept
thinking to myself, man, I’ve got to ride my bike up this mountain someday! The
road up to Marmot is a stunning and steep ascent of a full-on mountain road,
one of those climbs that just keeps going up and up. Think mountain goats and
yetis. Yet I, somehow, had never cycled
up it. I’ve ridden my road bike in the Jasper area, and, in fact, cycled right
past the turn off a few times. How is it that I’ve never thought to cycle up to
the chalet?
So imagine my surprise when later that day
I stopped for coffee on the way back through town and saw this headline in The Jasper Local: “Tour of Alberta
creates mountain stage in Jasper.” Seems I’m not the only one who’s been thinking
about riding a bike up to Marmot. In the article, Tour Executive Director Duane
Vienneau explains that the September 5 stage of the Tour will begin in the
Jasper town site and end at the top of Marmot Basin Road. He wouldn’t reveal any more about the
specifics of the route at this point, but that hardly matters to Tour
organizers and fans who can finally say that the Tour of Alberta has a true
mountain stage.