LAKE LOUISE, AB: Epic early season
Banff locals seem to be divided when it comes to favoring Sunshine or Lake Louise. Lake Louise may have a southern exposure, a more corporate feel and higher numbers of Calgary yuppies, but it also has more terrain, more lifts and some of the most spectacular views from a resort summit anywhere.
We met Michael Perks, an 8-year resort employee, for a morning tour in front of the base lodge, a mammoth split-beam log structure that’s probably the most beautiful day lodge I’ve seen. (The 24,000-square-foot Lodge of the Ten Peaks is almost entirely constructed from logs thinned from the resort.) We burned a couple front-side laps waiting for the backside to open. With record early-season snowfall and improved snowmaking (some of the most advanced anywhere), the front face was covered better than normal. Lake Louise is laid out somewhat similarly to Vail, with the groomers in front and bowls on the back. But in reality, it offers a lot more serious terrain, draws about one-third the crowds and seems secluded and quiet thanks to its setting in a pristine national park. With “4200 acres to spread out on, it never seems that crowded,” says Perks.
When we did drop off the back, off Top of the World lift, we hit the E-R chutes perfectly. It was more filled in than I expected. And when it began to peter out, a short traverse brought another fresh pitch. “Even in late spring you can still find dry snow in the back bowls,” attests Perks. “I like Big 7 off of Paradise top, down into Kitty's. It’s soft, has got great drops, and the terrain is like a roller coaster.”
Paradise Lift brought us back to the front side and it was time to take a ride on the Summit Platter—a poma lift that brings you to the highest point of the resort. The thing used to be a T-bar until the resort decided the windswept steep grade required total concentration. Whitehorn Bowl served up some more steep stashes on the way to the Larch quad. We played around in the trees skier’s left. From the top of Larch, hike the ridgeline to access the forty-degree inbounds Elevator Shaft. Larch also accesses Wolverine and Purple Bowls, two backcountry stashes skier’s right that can harbor deep stuff for weeks.
And don’t forget about the terrain park, where Snowboarder Magazine chose to host Superpark two years in a row.
“No matter what weather conditions are for that day, you can always find a area to play in,” says Perks. “I have been here for 8 years and am still finding new places to play on this mountain.
