White Wonder at Mistaya

January 4th, 2019 brought a huge snowfall to Banff National Park. The 80+ cm (31.5 inches) of fresh snow made travel impossible on the mountain roads and in fact, the famous Icefields Parkway (Hwy 93) was closed for several days. At the first notice of the reopening of the Icefields Parkway, I headed for Banff National Park, knowing full well that the huge snowfall would present some wonderful photo opportunities.

My first stop was to photograph Castle Mountain about half-way between the townsites of Banff and Lake Louise. Check out the photo “Castle Mountain Sunrise” to see the result.

After photographing Castle Mountain, I headed up the just re-opened Icefields Parkway. The amount of new snow was incredible. In some places, the snow plows had only been able to cut a single lane through the huge drifts. After a long drive and frequent stops to photograph some other snow-covered areas along the way, I arrived at Mistaya Canyon, a beautiful and accessible canyon that is known for its distinctive curvy canyon walls. When I arrival, I was super excited to see that I would be the first visitor to the canyon since the huge snowfall/road closure, as the trailhead was untouched and under a meter (3 feet) of fresh snow.

With my camera gear and my special equipment on my back, I donned my snowshoes and made my way downhill the bridge that crosses the Mistaya River and the canyon below. Once there, I setup my equipment on the bridge and as it started to snow again, I worked quickly to capture over 600 images in just under 40 minutes. All those images would be necessary to assemble this high-resolution image with incredible depth of focus. Once the photo taking was over, I sat and enjoyed the view in complete solitude for quite some time. It was quiet and peaceful. There is just something I love about white fresh untouched snow in the mountains.

Scott is an award-winning photographer, world-renowned teacher of specialty imaging techniques, and computer scientist. His images have appeared in magazines and books around the world and his fine art prints adorn the walls of homes and businesses alike. In 2015, Scott received the prestigious international award of “Panoramic Photographer of the Year” by Kolor for his pioneering work in the field of high-resolution image-making.

Living next to the Canadian Rocky Mountains and Banff National Park, Scott spent many years focusing his photography purely on their natural beauty.

Photo Information: A very high-resolution photograph of Maligne Canyon, a slot canyon located in the Jasper National Park near Jasper, Alberta, Canada. Eroded out of the Palliser Formation, the canyon measures over 50 metres deep.

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