Ice Follies

I'm not sure what's up with the infatuation these Canadians have with ice. They've chosen to play their national sport on a surface that most people would rather walk around than on. But why would a nice, upscale resort on a fairly steep hillside want to leave the main pedestrian street covered with a sheet of ice? I get the environmental point of not spreading salt, but doesn't it behoove the owners to provide a surface that does not require one falling multiple times on the way to get a cup of coffee? I'm not exaggerating. I think they take the ski-in, ski-out thing too much to heart. They're so obsessed with allowing you to ski down from the slope directly to your room (not that you could stop yourself as you whizzed past your room) that they need to keep things slippery.

Then there's the roads. We rode most of the way back to Montreal on the main Autoroute (like an interstate) and for most of the way the left lane was partially ice covered. Haven't they heard of snow plows? Oh, yes they have. But they're tied up plowing the shoulders, which are completely iceless.