Lake Louise is arguably one of the best known ski resorts in Canada.  Unlike some of the newer resorts like Kicking Horse and Revelstoke, Lake Louise has been there for a pretty long time and was involved in hosting the winter olympics at Calgary.  Lake Louise is in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and lies around half an hours drive past Banff before you pass through to the other side of the Rockies and the town of Golden.

Lake Louise has a real 'swanky' feel to it, with valet parking being offered for the rich & lazy amongst you!  The skiing is great, though possibly not 'as' good as Lake Louise sometimes like to make out - when we visited their report said "The best snow conditions in Canada" which having been at Kicking Horse the day before, and Sunshine the day after, we thought was pretty un-justified... but whats new!  Anyway, Lake Louise don't have to talk up  the resort, 'cos the skiing speaks for itself. 

The groomers are great - wide open, long, and Alpine like, then over the back there are a number of good powder bowls.  The terrain isn't in general as steep as somewhere like Kicking Horse, but for many skiers the balance of fast groomers to steeper stuff might be better.

As with Sunshine, we didn't like the chairs not having footrests but apart from that we had a great ski.  The snow could have been better, but its good to find resorts where you can have a blast even when the snow isn't great.

The park was closed off while we were there but looked really sweet and sits in a cool location right in front of the main lodge (which is a pretty impressive building in itself).

The groomers on the front of the mountain provide plenty of entertainment, then the very steep summit platter tow (poma) takes those who can stomach the ride up to the top from where you can access into Boomerang Bowl and plenty of nice terrain (though nothing too crazy).  As you ski out from the back bowls, a couple of chairs lead back to the front side while another takes you up the far side onto 'Larch'.  We had some great skiing on Larch and reckon with good snow the trees here would be great.  An 'alpine access route' also leads from the top of this lift which will access some great skiing in the right conditions.

For those well-heeled enough to stay in Lake Louise itself, the hotels are pretty impressive in a stunning location.  The alternative is to base yourself in Banff, enjoy the partying and shops and potentially ski at Sunshine and Mt Norquay as well.  The combination of these 3 resorts (which are often marketed together as 'the Big 3') would offer fantastic skiing and be a good option for groups of varied abilities and families.  For the more thrill-seeking, out-there-action type skiers Lake Louise is well worth a visit, but looking further afield to places like Kicking Horse and Fernie might be more inspiring.