Lake Louise Skiing
Lake Louise has 4200 skiable acres and 139 runs and is the largest of the 3 ski areas in Banff National Park, with the most varied terrain. With green, blue and black runs from every chairlift, the skiing at Lake Louise is perfect for mixed ability groups, and the alpine scenery around the ski hill is simply outstanding. There are also several mountain lodges within the ski area and a world class skis school.
Lake Louise Mountain Resort opened for the 2008/09 ski season on November 8th and will be remain open until May 3rd 2009.
There is some early season racing to look forward to with the Men’s Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup on Nov 29th-30th, and Women’s Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup on Dec 5th-7th, with both events featuring downhill and super G races.
Lift Tickets
A normal day ticket at Lake Louise costs $75.95+GST for an adult or $73.95+GST per day for multiday tickets of 7 days or more. You can save money by buying a Louise Card which gives you 3 free days plus a discount on all other days, and it’s well worth buying if you’re not planning to buy a season pass but you plan to ski 7 or more days during the season. You need to be quick though as the Louise Card is only on sale until December 31st.
If you plan to ski at Sunshine Village or Norquay as well as Lake Louise, you may want to consider buying a Tri Area lift pass which is valid for all 3 Banff ski resorts and includes the ski bus.
Season passes can offer great value for frequent visitors and they start at $689+GST for an adult midweek pass.
Ski and Snowboard Rental
In the village of Lake Louise Wilsons Mountain Sports is an excellent place for ski and snowboard hire, with a high standard of equipment. Wilsons is particularly convenient if you would like to rent equipment in the evening so you are ready to go first thing the following morning. As well as stocking a selection of skis, boots, poles, snowboards, and snowboard boots, Wilsons also offers cross country and backcountry skiing equipment for rent.
Lake Louise Mountain Resort also has its own rental shop in the Lodge of the Ten Peaks with a good range of ski and snowboard equipment for all levels.
Ski and Snowboard Lessons
The Lake Louise Ski and Snowboard School has a great reputation throughout the Rockies and offers group lessons and private lessons for adults and children. Group lessons are available for all ability levels and range in length from a half day to 3 full days, and can include lift and rental. Children’s group lessons take children of 5-12 years for skiing, and 7-12 years for snowboarding, with special Kinderski ski & play lessons for 3 and 4 year olds. Private lessons can be booked for 2, 3 or 6 hours and are for up to 4 people. All lessons can be booked on the ski school website.
