By Valerie Siebert

Although its adrenaline pumping joys have been championed and lauded by the majority of my fellow Albertans, hurtling down a mountain upon two sticks whilst dodging all manner of flora and fauna is just not something that has ever really appealed to me. And since having this creed confirmed after being seriously owned by a malevolent summit in Fernie as a teenager, I have tended to leave the wrist/ankle/collarbone snapping to my pluckier of companions while I sit in the lodge near the fire tucked into a woolly blanket and a hot chocolate.

For those of you who share my sentiments or even for those who don’t but just find themselves city-snared without the time nor the means to escape to a mountain getaway. You don’t need to actually go skiing to enjoy the lush lounging lifestyle of the post-ski run mountain lodge.

The Drake hotel offers a more city-schedule friendly alternative in their Après Ski Lodge, a rooftop patio infused with all the fire-side hot bevy benefits of putting your boots up after a long day of powder carving. The sky yard’s Shack Chaud offers the hot-totties to assist in your thermal therapy and there are pillowy spaces to recline and chat, take in the night sky, snuggle under a blanket, enjoy the evening’s film selection or just warm yourself by the heat emanating from the BC-import, hand-cast fire-pit.

Despite the said lack of mountainous terrain, the big TO has still seen to it that we are graced with some extreme winter experiences: including being bowled over by Machiavellian wind gusts rounding corners or enjoying that (albeit dangerous) moment of relief when your thighs have indeed become so cold that they’re warm again. SO, keeping you out of the deep-freeze is another offer courtesy of The Drake in their weekly Trivia Tuesday. Teams of 4 or less compete for a pot resulting from the sum total of the per person (very reasonable) $2 entry fees. Host Josh Lindley will test your team’s random knowledge of everything from “sporting records and celebrity scandals to geographic discoveries and culinary lingo”. So if you and your friends are looking for a light and intellectually stimulating night out while keeping all the feeling in your extremities, this is worth checking out.

The Drake
1150 Queen Street W.
Toronto
416.531.5042