Western Pond Inlet- Awesome and Pristene

Newfoundland’s famous picture of the hiker with arms open staring down a fjord was taken on the hike from Western Brook Pond. Having seem so many pictures of this fjord I was worried that the boat trip might be a let down. Any worry vanished even before we got close to the trail head parking lot. The sheer cliffs of the fjord are magnificent and can be seen for miles as you drive north from Rocky Harbour. What was most impressive is how Parks Canada have kept the Western Pond Inlet area 100% pristine. I loved the 45 minute hike to the boat launch. The walk across the bog and stunted spruce and tamarack is stunning and is a great appetizer to the boat tour. How tempting it must have been for Parks Canada to build a road to this incredible lake. Hats off for keeping this jewel in it’s natural splendour. If you would like to take in Western Pond Inlet, check out Langford Adventure's Newfoundland family adventure.

The Tablelands

Norris Point, our home for the last three nights is surrounded by impressive mountains including , the famed Tablelands of Gros Morne. Today we hiked up to the Partidge Lookout which featured a forest floor of bunchberry and pitcher plants not to mention great views of Bonnie Bay. Later in the afternoon, we sramble half way up the Tablelands to get a sense of the unique rock that came from 30 km beneath the earth’s surface. Hiking in Gros Morne is one big real life slice of geology 101.It is impossible to be here without been awed by the powers of glaciers and earth plates craming into one another.

Kayking Bonnie Bay

16 years ago, Eva was out here at Gros Morne National Park paddling with Sue and Bob from Gros Morne Adventures. Eva recalls her trip fondly including the great organization of the kayak guide team. Bob and Sue’s tips on how to kayak in the tides and seas helped Eva frame her own kayak trip style and love for all things kayaking. Yesterday we had the pleasure to return here as a family and head out on Bonnie Bay for a morning tour of the bay with great views of the Long Range Mountains. Langford & Company's Big Impressions includes a guided day with Sue and Bob.

Arctic Red Jellyfish

PEI offers families a great opportunity to get up and close with marine life including the Arctic Red jellyfish found on select beaches. This summer, Langford & Company have added seveal new options for exploring PEI including a fun and active biking inn to inn adventure.

Family Climbs Everest

Dan Mallory is taking his family to new heights - an adventure to the top of Mt. Everest.

Over the next 2 1/2 months the Mallory family plans to journey through this ultimate adventure to Everest. This will be the first time, though all avid mountaineers, that all five members of the family climb together.

The Dad, once bitten by the climbing bug, made it his goal to climb the highest mountain on all seven continents with one or more family members. So far, various family combinations have summitted Argentina's Mt. Aconcagua, Alaska's Mt. McKinley, Australia's Mt. Kosciuszko, Russia's Mt. Elbrus, and Tanzania's Mt. Kilimanjaro. Mt. Everest in Tibet is number six and their final challenge would be the Vinson Massif in Antarctica.

Langford and Company salutes this family for their adventure spirit. We meet many fascinating families who are either just beginning or well on their way to achieving their family adventure goals. Family adventure strengthens family ties whether it be Everest or Newfoundland, Costa Rica or British Columbia. Check out some of our family adventures and get your family's adventure list recharged.


Anyone wishing to sponsor the family in their expedition can do so by visiting www.malloryexpedition.com. You can also contact Dan Mallory directly at dan@malloryexpedition.com.

Team Langford!

The Langford line of Ben, Ana and John were ripping up the ice with smooth passing and shinny on the lake over the Easter weekend. March Break is great for skating at the Algonquin Cottage Outpost. With sunny days to melt the ice , the lake's surface freezes overnight providing nature's version of the "flood". Whether it be polishing off the hockey skills or enjoying a relaxing game by the fire- winter's final few weeks are a great time to be in Algonquin!

Check out the available Cottage Outpost packages that are offered by our Algonquin adventure company, Voyageur Quest.

Dogsledding with the family

Dog sledding is truly a great Canadian winter experience. As thrilling as the mush can be, hooking up, harnessing, working with and getting to know the dogs is what dogsleddign is all about. Have a look at these short videos taken at the dogyard before a March break mush! For a great family experience, check out the dog sledding trips offered by our Algonquin adventure company , Voyageur Quest.

Champagne Powder Big White

Big White delivers on its promise of "it's all about the snow!". Our family enjoyed fresh snow on four of our six ski days. Check out this short video of the Falcon Glades after a 11cm snowfall!

Big White Ski trip great for kids !

The kids had a great time this past week at Big White. The ski terrain is very family friendly and the ski instruction was excellent. The snow rides and skating made for soem fun post ski fun !

Good times roll on at Big White

Big White fun continues! Here are a few more shots form the past few days on the Big White Mountain near Kelowna.

On Hill Chalet accommodation at Big White

Big White offers a vast array of ski in / ski out on hill accommodation. Our family loved the chalet. It was really comfortable and the hot tub was a hit with the kids. How about the snow for mid March !

Big White certainly lived up to its name this past winter with the heavy snowfall!

Winterlude - a great winter family adventure

Our Algonquin Operation has been hosting families looking for authentic winter adventures including dogsledidng, snowshoeing and backcountry skiing. Winterlude mades for a great add - on to our Algonquin adventure. Head to Ottawa to skate the canal, taste a beavertail and stroll through a park filled with magnificent ice scupltures.

Contact us and have Langford & Company customize a great family winter vacation for you!

Inspiring Father and Son story

Families looking for inspiration need look no further than the incredible Dick and Rick Hoyt.

The deeply inspiring story was originally published in Sports Illustrated. After reading this incredibly moving story of transformation between a father and his son, don't miss the four-minute video of this amazing love story found at the link at the end.

Strongest Dad in the World
Rick Reilly for Sports Illustrated

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.

But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars -- all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much -- except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life," Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. "Put him in an institution."

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way," Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain."

"Tell him a joke," Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain.

Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!" And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that."

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker" who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped," Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks."

That day changed Rick's life. "Dad," he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!"

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

"No way," Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, "Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?"

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way," he says. Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling" he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 -- only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.

"No question about it," Rick types. "My dad is the Father of the Century."

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape," one doctor told him, "you probably would've died 15 years ago."

So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

"The thing I'd most like," Rick types, "is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once."


Sports Illustrated Issue date: June 20, 2005, p. 88


Have a look at this deepely inspiring video

To see the inspiring website of Team Hoyt: http://www.teamhoyt.com

Ski for free at Big White

Getting to Big White is getting easier these days with daily direct flights to Kelowna from Toronto. Both Big White and Silver Star offer a free day of skiing the same day you arrive if you fly with with WestJet. WestJet provides non-stop service to Kelowna from a variety of departure cities including Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria, allowing you to fly and ski the same day you arrive. Visit Langford and Company's family website for Big White photo's and package information.