As if Emerald Lake wasn’t enough, I skied a number of trails at Lake Louise yesterday on the way back. I don’t know how conditions could be any better.
There is now a trackset trail on the lake at Lake Louise
Many of the lesser-used trails are now groomed and trackset including Peyto, Upper and lower Telemark, and there is now a trackset trail on the lake as of yesterday at noon. Bruce had just finished tracksetting the lake and was backing the snowmobile into the boathouse as I skied across the lake.
Fairview had a couple cm of snow over the recent tracksetting but was well skied-in and in excellent condition
Wanna have some fun? Check out the Peyto trail. The trailhead is accessed behind Deer Lodge, but you can’t park at Deer Lodge. Park in the big Parks Canada parking lot at the Tramline trailhead(where it meets Fairview) and simply walk about 60 metres up the road to Deer Lodge. The Peyto trail is downhill for most of the way to the Great Divide and it’ll give you a thrill without being dangerous.
For being so near to all the boot traffic, the beginning of the LL lakeshore trail still had excellent tracks
Peyto will also access the Upper Telemark behind the Chateau where you can ski down to world famous Lake Louise. At this point you can ski on the hiking trail along the lake, or take the freshly trackset trail right on the lake.
I did a complete loop(actually, a figure-eight)without ever taking my skis off. I skied Peyto down to the Great Divide, The Great Divide to the Upper Telemark, the “new” Upper Telemark which isn’t so steep to the lake, on the lake to the boathouse and through the trackset parking lot to complete the loop.
Fairview trail
It was then on to the Fairview loop:
Tramline – perfect. The tracks were fast enough that I could tuck and coast.
Fairview – excellent. It’s really neat how this trail splits in a number of places.
Moraine Lake road – unbelievably wonderful. It had been trackset Tuesday morning.
Climbing the steepest part of the Upper Telemark trail
Trailhead cafe – the elk stew was delicious. A chef from Num-Ti-Jah lodge works part-time at Traihead cafe and made the elk stew. He was there to serve it himself. Incredibly tasty.
I wish I’d had time to ski the Pipestone trails. I imagine they are in great shape, too.
I met a large group of school kids on the steepest and narrowest part of the Upper Telemark as I was descending. They were just setting out and I had no hope of getting past them, so I stood and took photos for about five minutes while they herring-boned their way past. I was kind of surprised to see them on such a difficult trail, but I guess when you’re young, your body is more forgiving when it hits a tree.
I imagine this article would apply equally to cross-country skiing, and it’s why I will never take a computer with me on the ski trail: Walking outdoors away from technology and gadgets can boost brain power 50 percent.
