PM360 talked with Steve Hamburg about his time spent witnessing the beautiful nature of the Canadian Rockies.
Steve Hamburg
Managing Partner, Chief Strategy Officer
Calcium+Company
steve.hamburg@calciumco.com
My Odyssey: In the Canadian Rockies, there are three extraordinary places I’ve visited only once, but continue to revisit in my dreams and reveries. They are Banff National Park, Lake Louise, and the Icefields Parkway. Banff is Canada’s oldest national park and it’s often referred to as the most beautiful place in the world. Part of the reason is the Icefields Parkway that connects Banff with the spectacular—and even better known—Lake Louise. Traveling westward on this narrow highway—passing several wildlife bridges overhead—you find yourself immersed in the most breathtaking mountain peaks, valleys, and glaciers imaginable. After a thrilling 6-hour trek, you arrive in the rustic alpine town of Jasper nestled among the towering ridges and thick evergreen forests of Jasper National Park. That trip, both visually and even spiritually, is one of the most magnificent I’ve experienced.
To experience all this, you first fly into Calgary, a lively city sprawled across the Canadian prairie and known for its boisterous annual rodeo called the Calgary Stampede. From this flat and fairly unremarkable place, you begin your ascent into the storied Canadian Rockies—and into the sublime. As if reaching a mythical mountain kingdom, you ascend to the vibrant town of Banff and, if you’re fortunate, the famous Banff Springs Hotel, whose massive stone edifice is set beside the raging Bow River and whose castle spires lift your gaze to the stunning snow-capped peaks huddled beside them.

From Banff, it’s a relatively short journey to the world-famous Lake Louise, one of the most photographed places on earth. Like many of the alpine lakes of the Canadian Rockies, Lake Louise is iridescently turquoise in color. And, given its almost perfect spherical shape, it assumes the character of a magical gemstone set within the steep mountain cliffs symmetrically bordering it. Upon leaving Lake Louise, your journey on the Icefields Parkway begins in earnest. The road alternatively swoops upward toward one craggy peak after another and then careens downward past nearly 100 glaciers and into deep valleys carved by snowmelt-filled streams. This odyssey enthralls and overwhelms you with the staggering beauty and grandeur of nature.
My Recommendations: Our everyday lives are filled to overflowing with manmade stimuli of every sort. When we’re not on our phones or computers, we’re binge-watching TV, stuck in line at the supermarket, or navigating traffic. For some, it’s healthy and even necessary to have a break from all this noise and distraction. And nature can provide the kind of break that’s calming, awe-inspiring, and deeply restorative. In peak season of the Canadian Rockies, Banff and especially Lake Louise are thronged with people. But within a few minutes of those places, you are greeted by a mind-bogglingly immense, unspoiled wilderness. This is a trip I passionately recommend to anyone looking to leave our frenzied civilization behind, even for just a few days. You’ll find yourself in a kind of cathedral of nature, where feelings of awe and reverence will deeply replenish you.