One of Canada’s best ski resorts is bracing up for a transformative era. A couple of weeks ago, Lake Louise Ski Resort in Alberta announced the projects that they’re working on for the next few years. These projects were previously envisioned as part of its 2019 Long-Range Plan. These projects include three new chairlifts, an upper mountain lodge, snowmaking improvements, and new employee housing. A breakdown of these plans is below.
This Winter: While the 2023-24 season will see some moderate upgrades. These include a reimagined learning center area, adding more unique features in their terrain parks, upgrading the webcams, new digital trail maps on their mobile app, and more.
Upper Juniper Chairlift: During the 2021-22 season, Lake Louise opened the Lower Juniper chairlift, which added a new high-speed quad chairlift and intermediate terrain to the lower mountain. For years, the trail map has teased an Upper Jumper Chairlift, and it sounds like it’ll be worth the wait.
With a planned opening during the winter of 2024-25, the new chairlift will have heated bubble chairs. Its base terminal will be located near the top of Lower Junpier, and its top terminal will be next to the start of Sunset Terrace trail and the Top Of The World Chairlift. Foundational work has begun, with the main portion of construction taking place next offseason. The lift will give guests another option to reach the upper mountain and reduce base area congestion.
Richardson’s Ridge Terrain Expansion: During the 2025-26 season, a new terrain pod will open at Lake Louise. Richardson’s Ridge, which will be located next to the Paradise triple chair, will have SW and NE-facing intermediate and advanced slopes and glades. The lift-type hasn’t been confirmed by the resort in the press release, but based on the master plan, it seems likely to be a high-speed quad chairlift. Foundational work will start next summer, with the majority of construction taking place in 2025.
New Beginner Area Chairlift: Currently, the amount of easy terrain at Lake Louise is insufficient for families who want to learn. A terrain expansion will also occur around the existing beginner area, with a new detachable quad chairlift servicing this terrain. The new lift will be installed in the summer of 2025, with an opening during the 2025-26 season.
Upper Mountain Lodge – The new lodge, which will be situated between the top terminal of the Gondola and Ptarmigan Chairlift, will give the area a needed spot for guests to grab food and warm up. Construction may begin in the summer of 2025.
Snowmaking Upgrades: Lake Louise plans to add snowmaking around these new lifts and terrain pods. They also plan to modernize their snowmaking network, but the projects in particular haven’t been specified yet.
Staff Housing – Back in July, a fire destroyed the Charleston Residence, leaving around 165 employees without a home. They are currently planning to build new employee housing that will fully replace Charleston. In the meantime, they’ve “already secured adequate staff accommodations to be fully operational this season.”
For this season, Lake Louise’s projected opening day is November 10th.
Image Credits: Lake Louise Ski Resort
