When you enter Banff National Park, you are immediately struck by its vastness. In the winter, the mountains tower above with their snow-covered peaks and the snowy pines go on like an endless, seemingly impenetrable sea. During my visit to Lake Louise, we were lucky enough to have waist-deep powder, which meant one of the only ways to explore the park was by snowshoe. The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise offers day and night snowshoe tours from its lakeside cabin, which is stocked with a variety of styles of old-school wooden snowshoes. Our group opted for modern versions since we wanted to hike up steep trails into the park.
Our guide Mike set the pace, pointing out animal tracks of hare and squirrel along the way. Most people stroll around the lake in snowshoes but hiking up the mountain, cutting through the deep powder proved to be quite a workout. A little over an hour into our hike, we reached a clearing and Mike let us wind our own way down through the trees, gliding downhill in the powder. He even urged us to “huck” off jumps and land in the pillowy powder below. Throughout our two hours we didn’t see another person. I love snowboarding on the big mountains, but there’s something special about being alone in the middle of the park on a blue sky, powder day.
