Lake Louise Ski Touring

A typical ski touring days in the Canadian Rockies is long, arduous and rewarding. Depending on the tour selection, we will on average ski between 1000m-1800m of vertical (up and down!) per day. Below you will find a sample itinerary for day backcountry ski touring in the Canadian Rockies. This itinerary is bound to change as the weather, daylight hours & avalanche conditions evolve during the season.

Sample Day Ski Touring itinerary for the Lake Louise region:

• Meet your guide between 6-7 am at predetermined location, sign waivers, and check gear
• Drive to ski touring destinations, purchase visitor pass
• Enjoy a full day of backcountry ski touring with lunch in the mountains
• Back from the last run one hour before sunset.
• Celebrate and start again the next day!

Here are some Canadian Rockies classic day trips:

• Bow Summit area: Observation Mountain, Cirque Peak, Crowfoot Mountain, Mount Jimmy Simpson, Dolomite Pass & Mosquito creek area.
• Lake Louise area: Fairview Mountain, Suprise Pass, Mount Hector, Popes Shoulder & Divide Creek.
• Yoho park & Field area: Mount Field, Mount Ogden, Cathedral Mountain.
• Kootenay parkway area: Storm Mountain, The Burn, etc.

This is an intermediate to advanced ski touring program. Prior day backcountry ski touring experience with a minimum of intermediate downhill skills is required. Guests are responsible to self evaluate their skills as groups need to be matched together based on prior experience and ability.  Please contact us to discuss your background and what kind of tour would suit you best.

Backcountry Touring & Avalanche Skills Equipment List

The Ski Touring objectives on this trip are located in Banff and Yoho National Parks. For Day & multi-day trips, suitable accommodation can be found at Lake Louise, in Field and in Golden. The town of Lake Louise is the ideal base location. For overnight backcountry trips, it is possible to stay in a backcountry cabin. The Alpine Club of Canada maintains a few well-located mountain huts in Banff and Yoho National Parks.

You will be meeting with your guide the evening before the trip starts for a final gear check. We will go over last minute changes (weather & avalanche conditions) and logistics for the following day(s). We will also sign a liability waiver.

The Rocky Mountain weather is generally cold and dry.  In winter you expect temperatures to be from -25C to –10C in the day while in spring daily temperatures could rise to zero.  Visibility may be poor or whiteout conditions when snowing heavily or clear on bluebird days. Ensure you are dressed for all variations as temperatures, wind and precipitation can change within the day.

• Pre-trip planning support
• Certified ACMG Mountain Guide, Ski Guide or Apprentice Ski Guide
• Group safety equipment (communication device, rescue kit, first aid supplies, GPS, maps, etc.)

Not included in price:

• Lunch, snacks or main meals if on an overnight trip
• GST 5% tax
• Personal ski touring boots, skis, skins or splitboard
• Personal avalanche safety equipment
• Transportation to touring location
• Visitor pass and overnight wilderness pass
• Additional charges due to changes in itinerary or ski location, guest must cover also additional guide costs (extra travel/accommodation/food expense)
• Trip cancellation and or trip interruption insurance. Medical, emergency rescue and evacuation insurance are also your responsibility
• Hut based programs, additional charges for guide wage, guide(s) pre-night hotel stay, hut fee, guide food, guest backcountry meals, 2nd guide costs, admin costs depending on the level of organization involved

Where can I rent Ski touring and safety equipment?

Summit Mountain Guides has a limited amount of winter safety equipment available for rental. Contact us for availability. Here are a few outdoor stores in Calgary, Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise and Golden that supply good service, quality outdoor equipment, and gear rental. Please ensure you rent gear well in advance.

Calgary:

Outdoor Center (University of Calgary)

Canmore:

Valhalla Pure Outfitters (403) 678-5610

Banff:

Monod Sports (403) 762-4571

Lake Louise:

Wilson Mountain Sports (403) 522-3636

Golden:

Higher Ground Sports (250) 344-7980

Skis, Telemark or Split Boards?

Which should you use? If you are a downhill skier then you should use Alpine Touring gear. Only if you are already an advanced Telemark skier or Snowboarder should you bring Telemark or Split Board gear. All types of gear can be rented prior to your day trip.  There are three types of backcountry systems you can use:

Alpine Touring skis are essentially downhill skis with a special touring binding which allows the heel to lift whilst going uphill or across the flats and then ‘locks down’ to become a regular downhill safety binding. We recommend this system to anyone with a background of downhill skiing who is not already an advanced telemark skier.

Telemark skis. These should only be used for this program if you are at least an advanced-intermediate telemark skier with some backcountry experience. This system is more difficult and less forgiving than the others.

Snowboarding with a Split Board is the most effective way to snowboard in the backcountry. We recommend this system to advanced snowboarder over snowshoeing.