Skiing in Banff - Lake Louise

When I arrived in Banff on the Easter weekend in  2000, it was perfect spring weather. People enjoyed the sunshine, did kayaking or mountain biking. Because I wanted to ride my Snowboard, I was wondering if there would be enough snow left. But walking along the Bow River this afternoon was absolutely relaxing - the perfect way to get holiday feelings!

Fortunately there was still enough snow left. In the afternoon Lake Louise the sun shines bright on the slopes of the ski resort of Lake Louise. Thus, the snow melts away faster than in Sunshine. The first 3 days I explored the ski resort of Lake Louise. Even though it was Easter Weekend it was not crowed at the base station. Still there was a party going on.

Sunshine Village is the resort with the most snow an the longest season of the 3 ski resorts (Banff - Mt. Norquay, Lake Louise und Sunshine Village). A gondola takes you on a 30 minute ride to the end of the valley. This valley is kind of a snow dump - the clouds get trapped in this upper part of the valley an have to release all their snow. That is why they do not produce artificial snow in Sunshine - the snow still lasts until May! The locals prefer Sunshine to the other two resorts with good reason!

Compared to the ski resorts in Europe the resorts in the Rockies are far less crowded and less hectic. Only seldom you have to wait at the lifts, on the runs you can take your turns without worrying about other skiers or snowboarders. I believe in high season there is a lot deep powder snow for skiing beside the slopes. Often you have a good view on where you are going. Because the ski resorts are surrounded by the national parks there is no way of getting to far of the tracks - it is strictly forbidden to ski outside the ski resorts.

Jasper National Park

After visiting Edmonton we resumed our tour through Canada in  Jasper National Park. The park is not as well-known as Banff National Park. Thus there are less (foreign) tourists in the park in summer or winter, they prefer to go to Banff National Park. Locals, of course, know about the beauty of Jasper National Park. We stayed on a campground near Jasper town site and did some day trips.

Athabaska River is the main river in the Jasper National Park. It runs through the main valley of the park. The Athabaska Falls are the only obstacle that prevents people from kayaking and raftering all along the river. Before and after the falls sportsmen enjoy the the wild water. The information for visitors at the falls used the metaphor of the stone "fighting" against the water.

Our toughest tour was planned to be a 3-day trip into the Upper Fryatt Valley. After a long and walk up the valley we wanted to go on a nice one-day hike on the peaks at the end of the valley. The valley is surrounded by the Hooker Icefield. Our camp site was just below the water falls in the center of the picture.

The Columbia Icefield is at the border between Jasper National Park and Banff National Park. The 3000m high ice field is surrounded by some of the highest Peaks of Canada. Instead of paying for a bus ride onto the Athabaska Glacier we climbed up to Wilcox Pass on the opposite side of the valley. From the pass we had e great view onto the glaciers flowing down from the ice field.

Banff National Park

Banff Nationalpark probably is known best among the Canadian National Parks. Banff has a good highway connection to Calgary, and Lake Louise and Banff are well-known tourist attractions. Not only the famous ski resorts in Banff and Lake Louise make but also the outdoor activities in summer make people come to Banff National Park and often spent a lot of money.

We concentrated mostly on the beauty of nature in the park. Especially the lakes in the park are special for the greenish color of their water. The color results from reflections of silt in the water which flows down from the glaciers into the lakes. Bow Lake and Peyto Lake are typical examples of these lakes.

Banff town site is larger than Lake Louise. On Banff Avenue is the place to watch people, spent lots of money in the hotels, bars, shops and boutiques. On the other hand, the view you have on Banff Avenue is great: in one direction you look at  Sulphur Mountain and in the other direction you see Mt. Norquay residing above Banff.

If you stay in front of Castle Mountain you understand where the name comes from: Castle Mountain really does look like a Castle. In 1858 James Hector first saw this 2766m high mountain. Near Lake Louise there is another mountain which is named Hector Mountain - one of the first travelers in this area. Between 1946 and 1979 the Mountain was called Mt. Eisenhower, named after a famous general in the Second World War who later became president of the United States. Today the 2752m high eastern peak is called Eisenhower Peak.

Chateau Lake Louise (in the left side of the picture) belongs to the biggest attractions in Canada. Uncountable numbers of busses filled with tourists make a stop for some hours here. On a sunny day there a some nice hikes to do around the lake. Most of the tourists will not make it further than a mile. We did a really beautiful hike at Lake Louise. Starting at the Chateau Lake Louise we hiked up into the mountains above the right lake shore. After a short but tough climb we reached the Little Beehive and enjoyed a pretty view over the valley of the Bow River and Lake Louise.

There is a tea house at Lake Agnes which is perfect for a break. In our opinion the tea house could not have been built in a better place (see the picture). While relaxing delicious tea and cake is served. It is really worth getting there early so that you arrive before the crowd. After a short climb you reach the Big Beehive, from which you can have a great view down onto the lake and the Chateau Lake Louise. Next, the trail leads to the end of the valley to the Plain Of The Six Glaciers. Traversing at the rim of the valley you do not loose many height which you have climbed up so hard before. From The Plain Of The Six Glaciers you have another beautiful view down on the Lake Louise and the Chateau Lake Louise. In the background you can see the ski resort of lake Louise. The Plain Of  The Six Glaciers got its name for the glaciers that joined in the plain to flow down into the valley. Now the glaciers have molten, of course, and probably they have to rename the plane into Plain Of The Five/ Four .. Glaciers!. Notable is especially the Victoria Glacier which is visible from the Chateau also. At the tongue of the Victoria Glacier there is another tea house to relax the muscles that might have gotten tired by that time. The walk back down to the lake is easy because the trail is not too steep and you can enjoy the great view down on Lake Louise!

We did another superb hike in Banff National Park: The trail goes through  Paradise Valley (see picture) up to the Sentinel Pass and on the other side of the mountain down to Moraine Lake. In Summer 2000 the Paradise Valley belonged to the bear warning zone, in which only groups with at least 6 people were allowed to hike together. A good side effect of the warning was, that less people populated the truly blissful valley. We hiked through trees, meadows, and a steep scree slope up to Sentinel Pass. The pass was the highest point we reached during our trip. When we arrived at Moraine Lake, the sun was already hidden behind the clouds of the upcoming rain. So we could not really enjoy the special greenish color of Moraine Lake.

Yoho National Park

Yoho National Park is yet less known than Jasper National Park. Thus, mostly Canadians spent their holidays here. The park is also smaller than Banff National Park and Jasper National Park. From the interior of the park it is not far to Golden, which is at the border of the park. Golden is known for its rafting tours on Kicking Horse River. Of course we could not miss rafting as well!

There are a lot of nice hikes in the mountains around Lake O'Hara. Lake O'Hara is located in a basined shaped valley up in the mountains. Starting at the lake you can hike into the valleys that start at the lake. There is a bus going up to Lake O'Hara twice each day. It saves you from walking a long boring trail through the valley up to the lake. But it is important to reserve seats for the bus because the number of people that are taken up to the lake is limited to the number of seats in the bus. It is possible to stay for some time at the lake because there is a hotel and a campground at the lake.

At the beginning of September we had the first snow of the upcoming winter at Lake O'Hara. Because we were not prepared for snow we had a hard time dealing with the cold wet snow. Fortunately we could have a rest in the Elizabeth-Parker-Hut of the Alpine Club of Canada where we had some good talks to other hikers and where we could our wet clothes a dry.