Lake Louise

[ThinkSnow]

Considering a trip to ski Lake Louise for the 19-20 season. Has anyone ever been?

Will be traveling with non-skiers, so I am interested to know what there is to do other than ski.

Also, interested in knowing what snow conditions might be like in January? Thanks!

[Razor]

Considering a trip to ski Lake Louise for the 19-20 season. Has anyone ever been?

Will be traveling with non-skiers, so I am interested to know what there is to do other than ski.

Also, interested in knowing what snow conditions might be like in January? Thanks!

Went out there about 10 years ago. Spent 4 nights at the Chateau Lake Louise and 4 nights at the Banff Springs Hotel. Snow should be good in January, but make sure that you bring your long johns. Lake Louise is a great ski area. It's not as extreme as a Jackson Hole, but it has some of everything, like trees and bowls. You have to ski Sunshine Village, too, if you go there. The town of Banff is awesome. Incredible scenery and lots to do. No ski in/out at Lake Louise, so you'll be driving every day or taking a shuttle. Drive there from Calgary is exceptionally scenic.

[chrisbk]

try to sneak in a day at kicking horse if you can. it's about 1.5hr west. it's amazing. not a lot for non-skiers there compared to Banff.

[tekweezle]

I went there in January 2017 during a low snow year. As a result we were cruising on frozen hardpack. It was frigid and bitterly cold and I broke a binding crashing in an icy mogul. You might want to consider going in March April instead and give mother nature a chance to cover those slopes. I have this feeling that it's about the same weather temp wise as Tremblant and Whiteface.

As for what to do there, there's a hotel on the lake with some frozen ice sculptures. There's a small indian casino not far away, we took a shuttle bus to it from in town-buffet dinner was okay. There are charter buses to Kicking horse available. Revelstoke is about 3 hours away.

[tekweezle]

Another thing to add.... The inexpensive hotel/motels are setup a bit like Jackson hole. You stay in town and take free shuttle/charter buses to the mountains about 25 minutes away. So I skied at Sunshine Village and Lake Louise. So if you take an airport shuttle to the hotel, no need to rent a car.

[BenedictGomez]

I loved how craggly their mountains are. It's been a while, but I thoroughly enjoyed the back bowls. I was there in January of a poor snow year, so anything not groomed was firm and icy, which stinks, but it is what it is.

In terms of non-ski activities I recall drinking a lot (we were younger), visiting snails that live in geothermal pools in Banff Park* (more interesting than it sounds), skating on Lake Louise, spending a few days in Calgary (Flames game, etc..) and doing the drive from Lake Louise through Jasper National Park and seeing glaciers, big horn sheep, etc....


*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banff_Springs_snail

[KustyTheKlown]

I was there this feb

Sunshine sucks, don’t bother. Louise is awesome and has amazing access to big steeps without hiking

Stayed in Canmore, which is far from Louise but is super cheap and has all amenities which are more lacking in the park (groceries, dispensaries, etc). Like $40/night for a very decent hotel, cheap.

If your non skiers like hiking, hot springs, nice scenery, they should be ok

[HowieT2]

I've been going to interior BC for the last 6 years. Initially we went towards the end of january but changed to mid february so as to increase the probability of good snow. Obviously past performance is no guarantee of future results, but january has a greater tendency to be cold/dry than february does.

[Siliconebobsquarepants]

I was there this feb

Sunshine sucks, don’t bother. Louise is awesome and has amazing access to big steeps without hiking

Stayed in Canmore, which is far from Louise but is super cheap and has all amenities which are more lacking in the park (groceries, dispensaries, etc). Like $40/night for a very decent hotel, cheap.

If your non skiers like hiking, hot springs, nice scenery, they should be ok

I was in Banff in the 80’s but noticed that the elevation difference between Sunshine and LL made a huge difference in conditions. It hadn’t snowed in a while but LL was Ok , Sunshine had fresh snow a couple days while LL got nothing. I agree the terrain is better but if you’re in marginal weather Sunshine will be a best bet.
Kicking horse wasn’t around back then so I’m not sure how it compares.

[KustyTheKlown]

Kicking horse and revelstoke are in a different league of challenge vs banff. Louise can be very gnarly but doesn’t need to be. Rev and particularly kicking horse are pretty steep and exposed. At kicking horse a steep entrance is required for every run unless you take the cat track of shame down

The terrain at sunshine was laughably boring. Perhaps the worst terrain I’ve ever skied out west. The goat eye chair is the only decently steep skiing with vertical >1000. All the other lifts serve up like 800 feet of medium pitched low angle open snowfields. And Delirium dive requires avy gear and is barely ever open.

My max altitude on ski tracks is only 200 feet higher for sunshine vs Louise (8800 v 9000)