Well guys, I have only myself to talk to. Friends have gifted me a week at their timeshare condo in Fairmon Hot Springs, BC.
http://mountainsidevillas.com/
Do not be fooled by the pictures. This is winter and in the interior valleys that means rain and/or snow.
The place is gorgeous but the drive here was a wee bit of a horror show. Let me bore you with the details.
I left Calgary at 9AM Friday morning. it was -13°C. Thirty minutes out of town, at the bottom of Scott Lake Hill it was still that temp. At the top of the hill it was +5C (the entire car covered instantly in a thin mist - I could not see out!)..At the bottom of the hill...back to -13░
About 5 minutes later the Chinook winds hit ( the news says they were 100km/hr) and the temperature again rose to +5°C! I have witnessed Chinooks changing the temperature dramatically but never before have I been on the edge of one, out of it again and back in!
That temp held till West of Banff when I hit a snowstorm. But with the temp hovering around freezing, the road was covered in bone jarring freezing slush. The road up the pass to Radium was dreadful for about 45 miles them the slush softed, then disappeared and I was on wet roads with rain as I pulled out of the mountain parks.
My planned 3 hr drive took 4 hrs but I did arrive safely.
By way of explanation...we here in the West describe distances in hours. Calgary to Banff - 1 hr; Calgary to Edmonton 3 1/4 hrs; Calgary to Vancouver 12 hrs (I do it in 10 1\2) and we say "overnight to Winnipeg! Calgary to this condo - 3 1/4 hrs
and this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinook_wind