Exploring the Best Skiing in Canada: The Big Three in Alberta with Ken Read

Photo Credit: Ruben Krabbe

If you want to experience skiing in the Canadian Rockies, there is one place that should be very high on your list: Banff, Alberta. Surrounded by enormous peaks, spectacular scenery and some seriously good snow, Banff is the gateway to three world-class ski areas collectively known as the Big Three: Lake Louise, Sunshine Village and Mount Norquay.

And here's the beauty of skiing Banff: you don't have to choose just one.

You can ski a huge mountain at Lake Louise one day, chase powder at Sunshine Village the next, and then spend a few hours carving turns at Norquay before heading back into town for dinner.

Few ski destinations offer that kind of variety.

As former Canadian ski racer and longtime Canadian skiing advocate Ken Read explains, the region's secret weapon is choice. From bases in Banff, Canmore or Lake Louise, skiers can decide each morning what kind of skiing they want — big mountain adventure, powder, groomers, steep terrain or simply a few quick laps.

Ken Read

My guest today was one of the Crazy Canuks back in the 1980s and won some serious speed events like Kitzbuehel. Ken Read’s love and passion for the sport and for all sports Canadian has led him to serve in multiple positions to help advance skiing and sports in general.  After his professional ski career, he served as the chair of the Canadian Olympic Association Athletes Council, as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes' Commission, the FIS Alpine Committee Executive Board where among other things he re-organized youth development programs.

Mount Norquay: Banff's Local Mountain

Let's start with Mount Norquay, the closest of the Big Three to the town of Banff.

Norquay has something the other two don't quite have: a genuine community-hill feel.

It is one of Canada's oldest ski resorts and is deeply connected to the local skiing community. The scenery is spectacular, with Cascade Mountain towering behind the resort and Mount Rundle across the valley.

For families and beginners, Norquay is particularly appealing. The beginner area sits right beside the lodge, making it easy to get started, while the tubing park adds another winter activity for non-skiers and kids.

But don't make the mistake of thinking Norquay is only for beginners.

Head around to the backside and you'll find a high-speed detachable quad and some surprisingly serious vertical. It's where locals can get their ski legs working without committing to an all-day expedition.

Ken's strategy? Go straight to the backside and work your way around the mountain.

One of his favorite runs is Giver Grandi, a versatile descent that gives strong skiers several options along the way. And then there's Night Flight — a run that locals know but many visitors don't. According to Ken, you might still find fresh corduroy there late in the afternoon.

Sunshine Village: Where the Snow Lives

Next up is Sunshine Village, and this is where the Canadian Rockies start to feel seriously wild. Sunshine sits on the Continental Divide, helping it capture the storms that move through the region. Its elevation and location make it one of the great snow destinations in the Canadian Rockies. Getting there is part of the experience.

Unlike many North American resorts, the parking lot isn't the base of the ski area. You ride the gondola up into the mountains, eventually reaching Sunshine Village itself.

It's almost European in concept. You leave the car behind, ride into the mountains and then spend your day skiing high above the valley.

The terrain ranges from beginner-friendly runs to genuinely intimidating expert territory. One of the best things about Sunshine is how it introduces skiers to big-mountain terrain gradually. You can start on relatively short runs such as Strawberry or Angel, build confidence and then progressively explore more challenging terrain.

All the while, you're looking around thinking: “Wow.” That's because Sunshine delivers scenery on an almost ridiculous scale.

From the Great Divide, you can look toward Mount Assiniboine, often described as Canada's answer to the Matterhorn. Around Goat's Eye, the feeling becomes even more remote, with enormous peaks surrounding you in every direction.

Want Something Steep? Sunshine Has That Too

For expert skiers, Sunshine has some serious ammunition.

Delirium Dive is one of the resort's legendary steep areas. But this isn't casual “let's see what happens” terrain. Access requires appropriate avalanche equipment, including a shovel, backpack and transceiver. There is a controlled entrance, and the terrain leads into a remote part of the ski area. That's a good reminder that big-mountain skiing is a different game.

For less extreme thrills, Goat's Eye is a favorite. Ken describes it as a leg-burning experience with sustained fall-line skiing — exactly the kind of terrain that makes you forget about stopping for lunch.

Lake Louise: The Giant of the Big Three

Then there's Lake Louise Ski Resort. If you've never skied there, prepare yourself.

The setting alone is spectacular. Across the valley sits the iconic Lake Louise, with the Victoria Glacier and enormous Canadian Rockies forming the backdrop.

But this isn't a resort that's all scenery and no substance.

Lake Louise is one of Canada's largest ski resorts, with terrain ranging from beginner runs to serious expert chutes and bowls. The sheer scale means you can spend an entire day exploring without running out of options.

One of the great things about Lake Louise is accessibility. You can get off the lift and be into substantial terrain remarkably quickly. For stronger skiers, the upper mountain offers a maze of chutes and steep pitches, including the famous Emergency Room area and the expansive West Bowl which is particularly interesting. Terrain that was once difficult for visitors to access has now been incorporated into the ski resort's operational plan, creating a much more accessible experience for skiers. The result is acres and acres of adventure.

But Lake Louise Isn't Just for Experts

Here's something worth remembering if you're an intermediate skier:

Don't be intimidated by Lake Louise.

The mountain is enormous, but there are accessible routes down from the upper mountain, along with beginner and intermediate terrain lower down.

And then there is the Men's Downhill. You don't have to be a World Cup racer to enjoy it.

The run offers roughly 1,000 meters of vertical skiing, mixing cruising sections with short, steeper pitches. It's a fantastic example of what makes skiing Lake Louise so enjoyable: you can spend the day working on your turns, chasing speed or simply soaking up the scenery.

And now, like Sunshine, Lake Louise has modern heated lift technology to make those cold Canadian days considerably more civilized. Because skiing in -20°C is one thing.

Doing it from a heated chair is another.

The Secret to Skiing Banff? Don't Pick Just One

The biggest mistake you could make on a Banff ski trip is treating the Big Three like one resort. They're not. They're three distinctly different experiences.

• Norquay is the local mountain — quick, friendly, community-oriented and surprisingly challenging.

• Sunshine Village is the snow machine — high, wild, spectacular and full of big-mountain terrain.

• Lake Louise is the giant — enormous, varied and capable of delivering everything from beautiful groomers to steep chutes.

And that's exactly why Banff is such a compelling ski destination.

You can wake up in the morning, look at the weather and ask a very Canadian question:

“What kind of skiing do we feel like today?”

Want groomers?

Lake Louise.

Want snow?

Sunshine.

Want a few fast laps and a local vibe?

Norquay.

Want to explore the wild side of the Rockies?

Take your pick.

Why Banff Belongs on Your Ski Bucket List

There are plenty of great ski destinations around the world, but skiing the Canadian Rockies delivers something special. The mountains are enormous. The terrain feels wild. The snow can be exceptional. And because the three major ski areas are accessible from Banff, Canmore and Lake Louise, you have an extraordinary amount of variety within one trip. You can ski beneath some of Canada's most spectacular peaks in the morning and be sitting in a Banff restaurant that evening.

They create one of the most complete ski vacations in Canada. So, if you're planning your next winter adventure and asking, “Where should I ski in Canada?”

My Favs:

Hotel - Post Hotel in Lake Louise a smallish, comfortable hotel with an amazing restaurant. The Chateau Lake Louise is one of Canada's grand hotels with amazing views and services.

Restaurant - The dining room at the Post Hotel.

Groomer - Men's Downhill to Juniper Jungle (but its been a while)

Steeps - I haven't skied these since they became part of the mountain but any of the chutes off the to the left of the top of Pipestone Express

Episode Transcript

Welcome to Where to Ski. I'm John Morgan. Finally, we're headed to Canada.

We're going into the Canadian Rockies near Banff in Alberta. I've skied these beautiful and wild mountains and they're amazing. Grab your skis.

Let's go to the big three of Lake Louise, Norquay and Sunshine Village. Banff is kind of the center of the action here. Small town, about 100 kilometers or just an due west of Calgary.

Driving west from Calgary, you hit a wall of mountains after about 45 minutes. Once you get to Banff, you just start seeing why the skiing is so good. Keep driving and the first area you come to is Norquay.

It's kind of the town hill of Banff. Then you get to Sunshine Village, which is a snow haven. And finally, you come to the final jewel, the town of Lake Louise with its own renowned ski resort.

It's huge. My guest today was one of the crazy Canucks back in the 1980s and won some serious speed events like Kitzbühel and others. Ken Reed's love and passion for the sport and for all sports Canadians led him to serve in multiple positions to help advance skiing and sports in general.

After his professional ski career, he served as chair of the Olympic Association Athletes Council in Canada as a member of the IOC Athletes Commission, the FIS Alpine Executive Board, where among other things, he reorganized youth development programs. Ken knows skiing and has helped programs in Canada and across the world. Ken, thank you for joining Where to Ski.

I'm really psyched to have you join us today. Thank you. It's a pleasure to join, John, and to look forward to it.

Yeah, this could be fun. Your own ski credentials are pretty well known, but Eric and Jeff are racing now and doing really, really well. I know it's been a bit hard road for the skiers, especially the tech skiers on the Canadian team late.

Maybe we can talk for a minute about the 24-25 World Cup and Canadian skiing before we start talking about the hills where you live. Well, quick summary. Of course, we all hope that we have a good season, weather cooperation and so on.

If there's any indicators, it looks like we're going to have a very snowy winter everywhere worldwide because we're getting lots of weather. But when you look at the Canadian team, the Men's Speed Team is in a pretty good place. They have a very competitive group.

It's still a relatively young group. They're up against the Swiss who have also a similar young, really tenacious group. So they've been battling each other for now for several years.

And they're in good shape. On the tech side, it's a little challenging. Financial situation is a bit tricky.

And we haven't had a sustained real effort to build cohorts, build groups of athletes for quite some time. So the inevitability happens with retirements and injuries that you end up with a very thin crew. So as a result, what's happened is the top athletes are now racing independently so that they can compete on the World Cup.

And they're starting with a new development group with younger athletes that will take some time. But those are the circumstances. And so far, the group that are independent have had lots of good training, and they're focused on trying to restore Canada's presence in the tech side.

Well, good luck to them all for this season. That's exciting for you to have a couple in that crowd. Well, it means lots of early mornings and anxious moments.

And especially in downhill and Super G, it's one run. Slalom and GS, it's two runs. And so after a weekend of World Cup racing, yes, we need the next week to recover.

I could spend hours talking about ski racing. But let's talk about where you live and ski. You grew up in Calgary.

You still live outside Calgary. And from there, you can get to three different world-class resorts in like an hour. What's it like for you waking up and deciding where in the morning and figuring out where to go skiing? Well, there's very unique to our region.

And that is that we don't have on-hill accommodation at our ski resorts. But what we have is we have good hubs that allow you to, you know, from Canmore and Lake Louise, which creates you in proximity. And it gives you that choice.

And that's as you touched on is the important thing is that we have, you know, we have Lake Louise, which is one of Canada's largest ski resorts with really accessible off-piste, you know, right up the chair. And it's right there. It takes you 15 minutes and you can be skiing steep chutes, or you can have great grooming.

You have Sunshine Village, which has great snow, has a good variety of skiing, especially for the lower end. And you have Norquay, which is a local hill, but gives you lots of, you know, especially if you're looking for that, if you're a low-end skier, that's the place to go and to learn the craft of ski racing, or if you want to have just a quick turnaround, or if you're looking for just that community spirit. And then on top of that, we have other choices outside of our immediate area.

So our whole thing is actually, we plan usually the day before to say, okay, where do we want to go? What kind of skiing do we want to do? We wanted to do a lot of Zoom and Groom, well, off to Lake Louise. If we are looking for something that's quick and, you know, we just want to get up there, ski for a couple hours, and then, and then do other things the day, well, then Norquay's your choice. And it's great to have that variety of choice.

Let's start with Norquay a little bit. I know it's near and dear to your heart. I think that you've been pretty closely involved with that area.

What's it like when you come in there? Well, with Norquay, it's the oldest ski resort, certainly one of the oldest in Canada. We'll be celebrating 100 years in season after next, 2026. So it's been in operation for a long time.

It's a great community hill. But the main thing when you arrive is, number one, you've got spectacular scenery. You're looking up at Cascade Mountain behind you, and you've got Mount Rundle across the valley.

But it's got that community spirit. And so the lodge is situated right beside some, you know, fantastic beginner area. And so with the magic carpet right up in front, if you want to ski, you want to have that exposure to snow sports.

If you're into tubing, there's a great tubing park that's right there. You've got all of that. And it is community-based.

So you see that it's the kind of place that, if you have a youngster sitting on the side of the hill, you know, sitting there crying, somebody's going to stop inside of 30 seconds and say, you know, what's on, and good chance that they're going to know who their parents are and so on. So you have all of that. But you can have in the backside of the mountain, which is hidden from, you can't see it from down to the highway or from the town, is the detachable quad where you have high-speed skiing and some good vertical.

So you can do a lot of ripping in the backside, which, so what we actually do is we arrive, we go immediately to the backside and work our way back, just skiing different runs as you go through the morning. And it gives you the entire variety. And we've been working, I was part of the management group at Norquay, but now it's in the hands of the Watrous family.

And we've been working on trying to, number one, support community initiatives. So they have a very, very strong alpine ski club, the Banff Alpine Racers, of which our boys grew up in. There's a strong snowboard and freestyle club.

Lots of the ski school under Gord Fielding is a very, very strong group of instructors and so on. And that community feel and catering to the community. And that's one of the reasons why a lot of the runs are named after local legends, the Minogue family or there are various people that have had a significant impact in skiing in our community.

And we've also wanted to make sure that the athletes, so particularly all the levels within the ski club, have access to good training and great training environments. And so the ski resort has been extremely supportive of the club. That's one of the reasons why the Banff Alpine Racers is one of Canada's most successful ski clubs with a number of, and that doesn't include me.

Because the club was started by Mike Wigley of Heli-Skiing fame. He's my former coach, but the club only really started in the late 1980s. So those are credentials earned from about 1990 on.

That they've had a number of, you know, Thomas Grandy, Cary Mullen, Dion Hudetz, and more recently our boys and others that have been members of the Canadian ski team winning World Cup and World Championship medals. Well, that sounds like a lot of fun. It's pretty easy to get to.

What's your favorite run up there? It sounds like it's on the backside. My favorite run is probably, well, there's two parts. One is, it was probably Giver Grandy.

You know, it used to be known as Excalibur or Giver Grandy. It's got lots of variety. You've got to be on your skis and cruising well.

And the nice part about it is, as you come down, you can either make the choices of taking, about halfway down, of taking a tougher run, which is the main part of Giver Grandy, or you can slide over to the Legacy run, which is called Selva Legacy, which is where most of the race training goes on. Or you can go over to Night Flight, which in each one, if you go to Night Flight, you're probably going to find it's still corduroy because it's a run that a lot of people don't even know is there. And so you can be skiing at three o'clock in the afternoon and often be carving first tracks.

And if we hit it with this podcast, that won't happen anymore now that you've told everyone. I have to find it. Fair enough.

Fair enough. Okay. Let's go to Sunshine Village.

My introduction to Sunshine Village was driving in, figuring out that the base was not where you park. And then looking at the amount of snow up there, it's huge. I mean, the dumps that that place gets, it's amazing.

Yeah. Sunshine Village sits right on the Continental Divide. You actually on the Great Divide chair, you go back and forth between BC and Alberta.

And as a result, it sort of catches the snow and systems as it comes through. And so with its height and its location, it is the one that catches the most snow in our region. And you're correct.

It's one of the few resorts, I think in North America, that is on a European style where you load the gondola and you ride up to the village and then you do all your skiing up above. And so there's the efficiency of that, which the gondola is a six person, six person or eight person, eight person high speed. And you have multiple stops as you go up as well, because you can stop at Goat's Eye, which is the first pod, or you can go right up into the village and then you have right around the top terminal a variety of choice, especially for those that are looking for everything from beginner to expert skiing, but all relatively short runs.

Or you can then move to the, there's two newer chairs now that are coming off the bottom, the Angel Detachable, which is brand new this winter and heated chair. And it also feeds into the Teepee Town quad, which is also a heated chair. And that surfaces up the backside, Angel and Great Divide.

And it too, with you being right on the Continental Divide, you get to the top and on a sunny day, you have Mount Assiniboine, which is Canada's answer to the Matterhorn, right to the south, which stands out spectacularly. Every time you look around, you're awe-inspired. One of the favorites for me is actually to go up the Goat's Eye chair, which is then the very first one that they could come at the first terminal stop of the gondola.

And you can ride up a detachable there and you can literally ski around and you feel like you've disappeared into almost, you know, deep into Banff National Park. And you look around, you're just surrounded by, you know, you have delirium dive off on the one side and you're just looking at these, you know, 10,000, 12,000 foot peaks or two and a half, 3,000 meters that are untouched. And then you have, of course, the part of where you ski.

And so it's spectacular in that respect. And it's a great, Sunshine is a great ski resort for a variety of things. Number one is most people ski on ski resorts where you can, you get off the top, you can see the bottom.

When you get into the mountains for people that come from smaller mountains, that can be a little intimidating when you get dropped off in the top of a mountain, you're sort of going, where's the bottom? So you get that gradual introduction at Sunshine. That's what really kind of sets it apart is that you can ski on Strawberry or Angel or Teepee Town. And those runs are relatively short, introduces you to that mountain skiing environment and allows you to explore and, you know, test your limits.

Do, you know, start off with easier runs, take on more challenging runs. Well, all the while you're looking around going, wow, this is amazing scenery. And there's some really cool stuff up there.

So you're saying delirium run or delirium dive is one of the steepest things up there. That's crazy steep. Have you, I've never skied that, have you? I, to be honest, I have not.

That's one thing I have not done in the Rockies. The reason being is to do it, it has a gate to get through it and you have to have a shovel, a backpack with, and a with a transceiver. And that those are requirements to go into it because of certainly for avalanche awareness and safety, but also because of the restriction of the entrance and that it goes into a relatively remote part of the ski resort so that in the event of there being any accidents, they're well covered off.

And so as a result, you got to have that stuff with you or you can't go in. And of course all skiers respect that completely. That's in contrast to what will come to with Lake Louise, but it's similar kind of skiing, but a very, very, very unique aspect really sets Sunshine apart of having that one element where you need to have that backcountry material to be able to go into it.

And you are literally in the backcountry. Once you've ridden up the lifts, do a little hike up and it's, it's, it's a five minute hike from there to the, to the, through the gate and to the top and then down in, and you then have a good half hour experience skiing down through some magnificent shoots and skiing. It sounds like Sunshine's a lot like skiing in Europe where you get to the top and you don't know exactly where you're going to go and you don't see the bottom.

You just sort of go, okay, this, these are the runs I'm going to take and sort of cross your fingers and make sure they, you get down to where you're trying to go and you may not get to the right spot. Yeah. And, and probably I would say it's very, the most similar I've, I've seen in Europe is St. Anton where you have these, you know, the, the, the pure above the, above the tree line shoots and, and valleys and, and, and precipices where you're, you're you've got, you know, almost unlimited skiing within, within a certain balance and, and where you, you just have this magnificent wide open experience really that sets it apart.

And it's certainly in North America, that's relatively rare. It's quite rare because usually it's very well-defined. That's much wilder.

What's your favorite run up there to be able to ski? You know, that's, that's a, that's a tough one. Mostly because, you know, for me, I sort of go to different places for different things. So I go up in the Great Divide and that's where you open, you know, on a, on a really nice sunny day.

It's, it's a consistent pitch and the, the grooming's fabulous and you can kind of lay down just those lazy arcing turns. And, you know, I love to do that. I love, I love cruising.

But probably Goat's Eye. Goat's Eye is, it's, it's got some really nice fall line runs that it gives you that leg burning. You know, I'm, I'm a nonstop guy.

So I'll start at the top and won't stop until I get to the bottom. Where you're skiing continuously and, and looking for the perfect edge, perfect turn. I have a run with a lot of variety.

So down Goat's Eye is probably, would be my number one. Do you ever stop anywhere on the hill for food up there or any favorite places you stop when you, when you're like at the end of a run? Apparently you don't stop in the middle at any time. They have, they've got their Sunshine up at the central area in the hub with the lodge and a couple of unique little cafes and so on.

I'm not as familiar with Sunshine because I tend to, you know, I'm, I'm, you know, I'm, I'm a local, so we, we tend to either brown bag it or, or ski half days or that kind of thing. Sunshine also then over at Goat's Eye has, has another little center as well. So, but they're well-serviced by, you know, food amenities and great ski school, everything that anyone would ever want, plus the scenery.

Does it make sense if somebody's going to Sunshine for the first day to get someone to show them around, an instructor or a guide for a while? Is it that big? Um, it definitely is, is that big. Uh, it's a good idea because, um, to me, um, the best way to experience, experience a ski resort is to have someone show you where are the best places to go. You can do that by, you know, okay, I'm going to try this.

I'm going to try that. But there is no question that if you go with local knowledge, you're going to have a much, much, much better day. And we have a ski resort of that magnitude, you know, it's not, it's not clearly defined.

You can't, you know, you don't look at the map and you go, okay, there's there, there, there, there's, you know, um, this one is, we're talking, uh, enormous areas that, uh, are serviced, not only have the lift, but then you've got a huge variety of choice and there may be sections where you didn't even realize was part of the ski resort. Okay. That sounds awesome.

Excuse me. That sounds like a lot of fun up there. I never spent a ton of time at sunshine.

I've been there once for like a day and that was it. It sounds pretty cool. Now let's, let's go up the, up the Valley a little bit.

Let's go hit Lake Louise. Most people are familiar with Lake Louise. They may not be so familiar with sunshine and Norquay.

It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. And it's got its own little town sunshine sort of out there on its own. Norquay drops right, pretty much into Banff and Lake Louise has got Lake Louise, the town of Lake Louise right there.

You look at it, you look over the lake and you look at Chateau Lake Louise and the mountains behind it. It's just like, it's stunning. Yeah.

Well, it's Lake Louise has, uh, um, the evolution of the ski hill, which, um, you know, it started off as, as a backcountry Skokie Lodge is in the back and then Temple Lodge and from Temple Lodge, the ski, the ski resort grew, um, cause Skokie remains a backcountry lodge. You only get there by, uh, putting on your cross-country skis and heading off on the trail. Um, but, uh, it always had across the Valley, the iconic, uh, the, the, um, Victoria, Victoria Glacier and the, and the lake, um, of which are, you know, just such a spectacular backdrop and same thing that you have in the Canadian Rockies, you have spectacular vistas every time you turn around and, and, and you, you, you hurt your neck looking back and forth.

Um, but right in front of you, you have the, the, the Cordillera of the, of the Canadian Rockies. That's the continental divide that stretches in front of you. Um, and then on Mount Whitehorn and in the, and then in the backside, you've got then this, this Canada's, uh, second largest ski resort, um, with just enormous amounts of skiing.

And, and in fact, just, uh, recently, um, Parks Canada, uh, in, in doing a swap, um, with, um, with the ski resort, uh, expanded the terrain on the front side, which, uh, then now that with the West Bowl, it just added enormous amounts of, of skiing that, uh, that you again have to know where to find it, but in all cases, you, you've got then this, so it has scope even bigger than sunshine and, uh, and accessibility. And, um, so, you know, between the village, which has its own, it's not a big village, but it has great hotels, great restaurants, and then into the ski resort itself, which, uh, has, um, the variety of, of everything you would want from low end right to the, the expert. But as, as, as I said at the beginning, for me to get onto the bottom, you're right up to chairlifts and, and now there will be two ways up because they too also have a new detachable, uh, uh, heated, uh, quad that went in this, this, uh, this past summer.

Um, you can then step off at the top in 15 minutes and go into shoots across the top. And one of my favorites is actually now you're right up to the top and you can go back and forth between the, the summit chair and the paradise chair, which goes down the back and literally just go back and forth through shoots, uh, on, on, and on sort of a massive saddle, um, where you have all these shoots from the ER shoots, emergency room shoots, which are extremely steep across and, uh, right across the whole side, which, um, it, the other interesting aspect is the prevailing wind comes from the West. And so it's constantly replenishing the snow.

So it'll be skied out and then the next day you come back and it's completely untracked again and relatively firm. So whether you've got wide skis or narrow skis, it's fabulous skiing. Now, the West bowl is that's off to the left going up, right? Left.

Yeah. That's the West bowl is sort of on the, we'll call it the West bowl, but it's the West side or the Northwest part of the ski resort, relatively new, all sorts of, um, you have to traverse around, go through a gate, although there are no restrictions, it's just a gate for security. Um, and then you go into the West bowl, which is then you have, uh, uh, acres and acres and acres of area.

That's been with shoots that take you down and then brings you back on a new cat track to the new chairlift, which then zips you back up to the top of the mountain. Wow. I skied that, um, years ago with, there were two brothers that owned the post hotel in town.

Yep. And, uh, they took me up there and that was out of bounds. Then they said, you have to, you know, you have to know where you're going.

And so they took me off. So it sounds like they sort of formalized that and made it more accessible for a lot of other skiers. Yeah.

What they did. And this is, this is a lot of people wonder, you know, what is the relationship with between parks, Canada and the ski resorts. And, um, the relationship is, is a good one.

Um, yes, it maybe takes a little longer to, to develop things at the ski resorts in the national park, but each they sit down and they do 10 year plans. And in that plan, it becomes a collaboration between parks, Canada and the ski resort as to how to make sure that the, the resort is, is a good, good custodian of, of operating a business inside the national park, how they mitigate, um, environmental impact and how they provide a good visitor experience. Knowing that as we all know, as skiers that you, you get, you get to cover these huge areas of skiing.

And then when the snow melts, nobody knows you were there. And, you know, and that's the beauty of is that you can venture way back into the back country and, you know, with relatively, you know, with no impact and see these amazing vistas from, from really unique perspectives, because you've been able to ride up the lifts and then come back. Um, so what they did was, um, that part of the ski area, at least was an area called purple bowl, which was never going to be allowed to be developed.

It was too environmentally sensitive. It made no sense. And so they did a swap for areas on that it's on the front, which fits within the scope of the ski resort.

Uh, there was lots of interest and demand of one to use these different places, the skiing, these different places. And it was difficult to properly patrol and said, so they incorporated into the ski resort and now it's a fully part of the operational plan of Lake Louise. That's a huge step forward because it was great skiing back in there.

And, you know, Lake Louise, isn't all steeps and steeps and shoots. Uh, first thing I skied there was the downhill run, which is actually sort of an intermediate run, most of it. And it's groomed and it's beautiful and it's really fun to ski.

Yeah. The, the, the interesting secret of, of, of the kind of skiing that I like to do, which is of course on downhills is that downhills are generally on relatively flat runs linked together by short steep sections. Um, and so the exciting part, the exciting part.

Yeah. So of course, Lake Louise is known for many years as the iconic world cup venue, uh, for Canada, especially our men's speed team, but men and women, but sadly that's, uh, no longer the case, uh, the world cup has moved on. So, but it's still the, the, the men's downhill, which you can go right off the top and ski the entire vertical.

Again, the one of those runs where you can get off the top and you've got a thousand meters straight down, nonstop carving the whole way, uh, with a variety of, you know, where you've got steeper pitches, long cruising sections rolling into the men's downhill where yes, it's a little short, steep, and then nice cruising. And then another little short, steep, and then nice cruising. And, um, maybe that's why I like to do that.

Cause I spent so much time. Cause I actually grew up as a member of the Lake Louise ski club. So that was my home mountain for many, many years.

And, uh, uh, but you, you go from that to where they now the bottom has got a new detachable, that quad, that, that services the lower end for, for internet inter intermediate and low end skiing. The beginner area is immediately in front of the day lodge, very accessible, very easy to find. And, uh, and then you have, um, you know, uh, any, any skier can then ride up, uh, the gondola up to the top, go over to the backside.

There's, uh, easy accessible runs, uh, long accessible runs, but then this is, that's the joy of being able to ski in a, uh, such a magnificent huge ski resort, like Lake Louise, where every run you've got to, you have a run that will permit even the beginner to be able to get to the bottom. Um, and, uh, so it's not something to be intimidated by instead it's to, to embrace it and enjoy it because it's going to be a really incredible experience. Um, and then for the higher end skier, it has those long runs that allows you to be able to cruise or do the steep pitches.

And it's so immediately accessible, which makes it just, um, you know, such a wonderful place to ski. I love you. You've mentioned a couple of times, you guys have put in, um, heated chairs up there.

Those are life changing. Well, they are. So no question.