Lake Louise riding guide - World Snowboard Guide

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Freeriding

Freeriders should note that it is illegal to ride in the marked-out avalanche danger areas. If youre caught, expect to be ejected from the hill with your pass confiscated, and even prosecuted.

However, if you have the balls and fancy some out of bounds, the Purple Bowl in the Larch Area is a mega place to check out, offering a mixture of extreme and easy terrain. If you dont mind a knee-deep hike, trek up to the double black at Elevator Shaft where youll find a host of black runs, cornice drops and rock jumps to try out. For those looking for easy to access powder, drop into the back bowls of the Summit Plater lift, the steep blacks here will test the best, but be warned: dont go outside the marked boundary into the West Bowl unless you know what you are doing.

Freestylers

Freestylers have a superb fun park known as the The Jungle which is reached off the Olympic chair. First you hit the pipe and then ride through some well-spaced rails before entering the jump area which has loads of options, some huge hits a little closely placed together, which then leads you back to the base area.

For the complete freestyle novice, there is a baby park above the magic carpet to the right of the base area. Its hidden enough that not too many people will laugh as you fall flat on your face.

Pistes

Corduroy lovers can opt to weave down a large number of well-groomed pistes or try out. For a long easy run on the front side of the South-facing slopes, turn a hard right off number 14 onto number 39 and have it down a well quiet piste which, at 8 kms, is the longest run in the area.

Alternatively, for less crowded riding, check out the Larch area.

Beginners

Beginners will find Louise a particularly good place to start out, with a host of easy-to-reach runs starting at the base area. The runs off Eagle chair are the best and allow you to have a long cruise home down trails such as 14 and 1, which are also in a speed-restricted area.

The Lake Louise Snowboard School is excellent and offers loads of beginner to advanced programmes. As with learning at all big resorts, if its your first week, you may find that you are paying top $ and only seeing a small part of it in return.

Resort Statistics

Resort Type: Alpine
Winter: Nov to May
Summer: None

Lifts

Total Lifts: 10
Gondolas: 1
Chair lifts: 6
Drag lifts: 2
Other lifts: 2 Magic carpets
Max people per hour: 17,040
Board Leashes required: Yes

Mountain

Total pistes/trails: 113
Total ride area: 4200acres/100km
Longest run: 5miles (8km)

Top lift: 2637m
Vertical drop: 991m
First lift: 646m

Piste suitability

Green runs: 25%
Red runs: 45%
Black runs: 30%

Lift Passes

Lift Passes:
Half-day pass $48
1 day lift pass: $60 CDN
5-day lift pass: $290 CDN
7-day lift pass: $406
Season Pass: $729
Lift times:9.00am to 4.00pm

Snowfall

Average annual snowfall: 4.54metres
Artificial snowmaking coverage: 40%

Facilities

Snowboard Schools: 2.5 hours group $59
5.5 hours group $89
Snowboard Hire: board and boots $39/day
Night Riding: : No

Other activities

Heliboarding: : full day 3 to 5 drops $700
20 Dec- 15 Apr
Snowmobiles: Yes

Further information

www.skilouise.com/
Email:info@skilouise.com

Excellent freeriding on four mountain faces although slopes can get very busy. Facilities in Louise are a bit on the dull side, but overall with Banff as an alternative this is a great destination for all.

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ON THE SLOPES: Very good
OFF THE SLOPES: Not bad
MONEY WISE: Very expensive lodging and eating out but extremely good value.

HALFPIPE: Yes - 2
TERRAIN PARK: Yes - 1
BACKCOUNTRY/OFF-PISTE:Yes
TREE RUNS:Yes

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