Lake Louise in Banff, Alberta Canada

Lake Louise Ski Area is like People Magazine’s most beautiful person in the perennial poll. This stunning ski area is big (4,200-acres with a 3,250’ vertical), bold (with miles of backside bowl terrain), and beautiful.

Four mountain faces keep everyone entertained from families, to racers wanting to charge Lake Louise’s World Cup downhill course, to freeskiers seeking the bountiful backside with expert ungroomed steeps, chutes and snowfields of Whitehorm and Powder bowls to name just a few.

A gracious gondola flanks the front side, along with numerous high speed lifts, while only a 1345’ vertical poma gets you to the serious steeps off 8,765’ Whitehorm summit. Once you drop over the backside, be sure to visit the original on mountain lodge, Temple Lodge, for fine fare and authentic alpine ambiance.

The Lodge of the Ten Peaks is a grand post and beam base lodge in which to boot up, built of native timbers heli-harvest from the resort’s own Ptarmigan glades.

Lake Louise has a policy, “ If you can see it, you can ski it”, according to Sandy Best, local guide and friend of owner Charlie Locke who bought back his resort from RCR, Resorts of the Canadian Rockies that owns Kimberley, Fernie, Nakiska, Mont Sainte Anne and Stoneham.

Stay at the ski resort’s namesake, The Chateau Lake Louise, built in 1890 as the Chalet Lake Louise, a far more modest hotel for alpinists by Cornelius Van Horne of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The fantastic and now famous castle like Fairmont hotel is perched on the shore of a gorgeous frozen lake surrounded by Victoria Glacier. The Château interior is gorgeous and grand with over 400 rooms plus grand lounges and restaurants with stunning views of the sparkling Lake.

It’s just a 10-minute shuttle from the ski area, and the hotel offers sledding, ice skating amid carved ice sculptures on the Lake and sleigh rides. As Van Horne said at the turn of the century, “Since we can’t export the scenery, we’ll import the tourists.”

Take a day to go Dog sledding with Kingmik near Lake Louise, enjoy the rush of being pulled by 10 eager sled dogs along a snow covered forest trail, snuggled in your down sleeping bag equipped sled. Before and after the sled ride, meet and pet the hard working, happy dogs.