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Lake Louise Reviews

Canada

Before you visit Lake Louise why not take a look at the reviews from people who have been before. If you have also been to Lake Louise then why not add your review too.

blitz901 Visited: March 2003   My resort rating may not make sense but I think they asked the wrong questions. By snow conditions i understand 'what is the snow like', which is good, no better. Go to Fernie for out of this world snow. apres in banff is good but apres at lake louise is 'sit in a hot tub and talk about your day with others', NOT the type of apres where u wake up with a new tatoo on your arm that u didn't have before. Prices are a OK, not great, probably because your in a national park. I said excellent over all, because it suites MY style of skiing. I noticed that this resort has no reviews. i thought as a canadian that has been to Banff and the Alps an number of times I would add my 2 cents. i'd like to add a thought i have not seen mentioned in other reviews Comparing Lake Louise to the alps is very difficult! A few points. I won't fly 12 hours or whever it is to Lake Louise from the UK unless I was an experience to excellent skier! Let me explain. If you are an intermediate skier its just wouldn't be worth it for the following reasons; skiing is more expensive here; runs are poorly groomed compared to european standards (they don't groom every run every night); it can get cold, i mean, really cold, -30 is definitely not unheard of, i would say it gets that cold a few days each winter (its ok if u come repared). And -20 definitely occurs each winter for a few days back to back, its fairly normal. Celsius that is of course. Mind u its dry so its much easier to take compared to that wet european cold. The first and most important factor to understand about skiing at lake louise is the style of the resort compared to the alps. Since much of the skiing is around the tree line u are not in massive snow fields above the trees. GO EXPLORE, get out of the regularily skied runs. There are so may lines between the trees, around corners and behind ridges. SKIING AT LAKE LOUISE IS ABOUT GOING "OFF PISTE". Look at it this way europeans measure in km/miles of piste we measure in surface acres of hill. Thats just shows you how North Americans perceive where/how they ski. It is intuitive and assumed even for an intermediate blue run skier in canada to leave the marked trails. It won't kill you to leave the marked runs for the unmarked runs if you respect the mountain. Typically if you don't go in closed off areas or cross roped off areas, you'll be fine. Know your limits and use common sense, if u don't evolution will take care of your life very quickly. haha. PS. Avalanches are a major danager in the Rockies if you leave the ski boundaries, not sure if avalanches kill many in the alps but they do here. Usually its because people haven't used good judgement! Is Lake Louise as big, or even a fraction the size of large resorts in the alps, NO. But lifts are very well spread out. We just don't have the regular crowds, so lifts are layout to cover the most terrain possible, not to shovel people up the hill! Lake Louise has enough terrain to keep any one entertained for a week. Remember atleast half their runs are unmark and off piste unlike the alps. Its hard for me to compare acres to km/miles of piste as the europeans do it. If you want to party in the Rockies go to Whistler. Banff is nothing compared to Whistler let alone compared to the alps for Apres. Parting at Ischgl is unbelievable. haha. Let me focus on some of the plus points; You are skiing in a real Canadian National Park. That means few people usually (compared to the alps). Which means real winderness. On 'off weekends' you regularily ski runs with no one around if u stay away from bottlenecks. If you get the right week its like ski in Canadian wilderness in the stereotypical sense of the word. THE SNOW! OK lake louise doesn't get as much snow as other resorts in the rockies but its dry and as fluffy as feathers. None of the wet slop that is normal in the alps or Whistler. Mind you i found very high resorts in the alps get good dry snow. Oh one big plus, typically you don't get those fashionestas you get in the alps, if you europeans bring your shiny gold $3000 snow suits here people will laugh at you behind your back! Canadians are too nice to do it in your face, but i will because you've come to the wrong place! People in canada ski in ski resorts, they don't go to ski resorts to be seen or whatever people with $3000 snow suits do. If you are an easy going entry level or intermediate skier you will still have a blast at lake louise. Just expect it to be different. Remeber you just traveled 12 hours by plane, you are far away from home. Let me know if you have questions julian.herbert@hotmail.com PS. Maybe some background is helpful to understand my point of view. I was a ski instructor for 3 years (2 part time one full time). i consider myself an expert skier, I eat black (black in the alps) runs for breakfast. Comparing that to Canada, I ski black diamonds with ease and double black diamonds make me smile ear to ear = they are a good challenge! I find the canadian rating system is more consistent than the alps'. Since i come from ontario I am not an expert in powder skiing but its not that hard to get use to! Born canadian, to german parents. For that reason I have skiied in Austria, Itally and the Rockies never the US. Sorry guys if i go to the US i have to deal with that the handful of americans that make my jaw drop. I live in Ontario = bad skiing I'm a mining engineer so i understand risk and safety. good conditions poor apres-ski reasonable prices excellent overall

steve Visited: December 2004   I was lucky enough to take a trip to Lake Louise each week for around 2 months in winter 04-05. The snow quality was excellent, the choice of runs was superb, the mountain restaurants were fantastic, and overall I think this is the best ski resort I have ever been to! excellent conditions unknown apres-ski unknown prices excellent overall