Lake Louise at its Best

About the Book

For many years, the CPR offered free return passage each summer for the employees of its magnificent hotels. The "Dominion" and the "Canadian", Canada's famous trains travelled west to the Banff Springs Hotel and to Chateau Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. In 1957, captivated by stories of lofty mountain peaks and clear blue lakes, eighteen-year old Roger Patillo from Belle River, Ontario, signed up and set out to experience the West for himself. One summer turned into seven and changed his life.

The stories of his adventures while at the world famous Chateau are both humorous and poignant. He draws from many friendships, among which are the Feuz brothers, the legendary Swiss guides, John Lynn the much loved pianist who presented nightly concerts in the lobby, Beef Woodworth, the Park Warden and Lawrence Grassi, the "keeper of O'Hara". The book recounts the author's time skiing, flyfishing, mountaineering and canoeing down the Bow River. While these stories are entertaining enough, it is in the sharing of the sometimes hilarious pranks and misadventures of the staff that keeps us smiling throughout. The steak roasts, the dances, the parties at Gables (the Bellhop's residence) and his special friends all come alive again as Patillo recalls in tale after tale, a more gentle time when maybe Lake Louise really was the best.

About the Author

Roger Patillo lives in Aldergrove, B.C. in the heart of the Fraser Valley on an acreage where he and his wife Donnie have an active family and raise a few Arabian horses. (They have had fourteen children between them and presently have nine left at home - the youngest of which is seven years old.) Growing up on a farm near Windsor Ontario, he has a Bachelor's Degree in Economics, a Masters of Social Work and a Masters of Business Administration. He has climbed the corporate ladder on a number of occasions in both the public and private sectors, taught university level courses at the University of British Columbia and at Trinity Western University and has been a management consultant. For the past few years Roger has been an award-winning realtor specializing in fine country acreages, ranches and horse properties in the Fraser Valley and throughout B.C.

While Roger has written countless technical reports and research papers over the years this is his first attempt at writing a book. An avid outdoorsman, fly fisherman, mountaineer and horseman, he has recovered from a triple bypass operation in January of 1999. While recuperating he used his time to write his first book on his experiences and adventures while working at Lake Louise in the 1950s and 60s. He has two other books on the go at the present time and has plans for more.