PHOTOS: Snowboarding at Lake Louise Ski Resort in Alberta

Snowboarding at Lake Louise Ski Resort, Alberta

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to go snowboarding at Lake Louise Ski Resort in the Canadian Rockies. This was our first time visiting the world famous ski resort, so we were pretty stoked to be in Banff National Park during the winter. It’s not every day we get to snowboard in a UNESCO World Heritage Site!

Like most of western Canada, the region experienced unseasonably warm temperatures in January. Prior to our visit, the mountains had not received any new snow for almost two weeks. Highly unusual.

Needless to say, we were a little bummed we weren’t going to be riding fresh powder lines during our visit, but (aside from that) the weather couldn’t have been better. Temperatures were above freezing, the sun was shining and we had unlimited visibility. It was a decent trade off.

Here are a few photos from our day on the slopes of Lake Louise Ski Resort. 

If you look closely, directly under that gondola in the mountain range across the valley (pictured above), there is a big white patch just above the tree line. That’s a snow-covered frozen Lake Louise. It’s pretty cool to see the lake from this vantage point.

We arrived at the mountain just as it opened and met up with our ski host for the day. Lake Louise provides all of its guests with a complimentary ski host service. Our Ski Friend for the day, John (pictured above), is a retiree from Ontario that spends his winters living in nearby Canmore and skiing Lake Louise 3-5 times a week.

The Lake Louise Ski Friends program is such a great service, especially for first time visitors that want to discover as much mountain terrain as their legs can handle. It’s also a fun option for single skiers/snowboarders that don’t have someone to explore the mountain with.

The mountain terrain has an interesting layout. You can take a series of chair lifts to the top of the mountain and then ski down the backside where there are several big bowls.

Due to the limited amount of fresh snow the mountains received, we stuck to the groomed runs. Powder days must be awesome here!

 Here’s a few of the backside of the mountain…

… and here’s a shot of the front side.

 Riding the ‘Top of the World Express’ chair lift

The Rocky Mountain landscapes at Lake Louise Ski Resort are some of the most spectacular we’ve ever witnessed on a ski mountain.

With 4200 skiable acres, Lake Louise is one of the largest ski resorts in North America. The ski resort spreads across the front and backside of the mountain peak, which creates a variety of snow conditions and terrain.

 Views of the lodges at the base of the mountain.

Yup – that tree is filled with women’s bras.

Below is a trail map that shows the terrain and chair lift layout of the ski resort.

Read more posts from our trip to the Canadian Rockies:

• Dog sledding to the Great Divide in the Canadian Rockies
• Looking back at our winter travels – our 15 most popular photos
• Jasper might just be the most Canadian town in Canada
• Winter in Banff: Our best anniversary to date

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Have you visited Banff or Lake Louise in the winter? What did you think?