Back in October when I posted the photos taken of the Foci in Canmore, I mentioned that Mario and I were wanting to head back out once there was snow on the ground to have another photoshoot. This weekend we had the chance to and we went a little further, to Lake Louise and Banff.

It was a little unusual to be taking photos of the Foci while they were ‘dirty’, but the roads were actually fairly decent on the way out so the two weren’t too bad. Within Lake Louise the roads were covered in clean white snow anyway which (I think) looked pretty good when kicked up on the cars.

The highway was empty on the way out which was a nice surprise. We drove up to the Fairmont Chateau and it was nearly empty too! I have never seen the area so lacking of visitors, and I have been here many times over the years.

Snow started to fall by the time we got back to the cars but it wasn’t too heavy and didn’t get in the way of the photos.

Normally this lot is packed solid with cars but this time we had our choice of plenty of parking spots.

A little ways down the road from the Chateau we parked the cars and I started to snap a few photos.

As I noted in the post about Mario’s new Tarmacs, the Varrstoens are his winter wheels now. This means that the ST is pretty much the same as it was during the summer…

…with the exception of snow tires of course. Note the kicked up snow highlighting the crease in the door. Nice.

The midwing is off the ST now as one end was starting to lift, so it was removed until new tape can be applied.

The Lincoln is at the ready for winter duties but obviously the STedan had to be taken out for this trip. For the fear of rocks I will be keeping its winter highway time limited though.

Mario recently had new headlights installed due to the recall for the original units. They had no lit amber lights meaning they actually weren’t legal! It’s crazy that a detail like that would be missed.

Mine meanwhile are showing the same hazing (which isn’t really visible here) that the original set of Titanium lights did. I’m torn now; try again with OEM or look for a tasteful set of aftermarket headlights?

If all winter driving was like this – through clean white snow – I’d be fine with it. I can’t stand the brown mess that the snow turns into on the main roads. Gross.

So far Mario’s ride height hasn’t posed a problem with snow on the ground, whereas mine shouldn’t at all even though the car is lowered slightly. Next year: more low.

That’s going to be it for this post. I saved the photos from Banff for later, so that I can have something to share on a slow day. In the meantime a few parts are waiting to go on the STedan so I could always show what I have in store for 2014…

Maybe I’ll start on that.

-Bill