Skoki Lodge Day Trip
Trip date: Tuesday Feb 28, 2023
Submitted by NotDeadYet
Particpants:
Me solo
Discussion:
Yesterday, I return skied to Skoki Lodge near the Lake Louise ski area: a trip I have done many times. Its one of my favourite (mostly AVI-safe) back-country tours.
Overall the conditions were very good with a dusting of new snow over a reported 17cms in the past 4 days by the resort. Temperatures varied from -16c start to -6c finish with negligible wind (which is rare) and good sunny views before lunch. It took me 9 1/2 hours for this 28km tour with 1100m elevation gain. This was slow (I'm old).
I started from the empty trail head parking lot using my usual half-length skins on a pair of vintage tele-skis. While the ski-out has been rolled it remains closed to downhill resort skiers which made for a nice end of the day controlled descent without an endless snowplough.
As always the scenery beyond the resort was excellent and included distant views of Mt Temple and nearer views of Mts. Richardson, Pika, Fossil, Redoubt plus Ptarmigan Lake. As always, the lodge staff were welcoming and permitted use of their warm dining room for my picnic lunch. Many overnight visitors use a variety of gear including snowshoes. Unless you are a very confident skier, I would recommended something sturdier than track skies for descent control on the rutted skier set trail.
A lovely day.