Being unsure of the weather at Louise, we met in Canmore to discuss conditions, the forecast and various options and then decided to head for Louise to see for ourselves. There was very little new snow on the highway and the sky was looking favourable so we went directly to the upper Louise parking lot. We started out at 10am in pleasant temperatures and great visibility with the sun poking through broken cloud and were at Saddleback pass in about two hours.

Approaching Saddleback pass

Bill with Louise range behind

The water/food break was short. We could see weather to the west and were wanting to take advantage of the good skies.

The slide down from the shoulder to the Haddo/Aberdeen Valley was hard and slick (as usual). In retrospect we should have (as Bill suggested) ripped our skins for the descent. Once down to the valley, the scribe has usually taken an uptrack up through the moraine features in the bottom of the valley, but we found a nice uptrack up the moraines on the south side of the valley - more consistent slope and safer route (no overhead hazard at all).

The track up the couloir was hard and steep with sharp difficult kick-turns. The more wise (Ulli and Bill) took off the skis and kicked steps up the top third of the climb.

Ulli on the way up to Pass

Almost up the Couloir

We still had good light and surprisingly no wind at the Pass, and the views were fabulous. But did not dally for too long except to snap a couple photos and grab a bite, before heading down.

Ulli at Pass - Aberdeen behind

Clifton and Bill at Pass - Haddo and Aberdeen behind

The descent is steep at first but lays back a bit further down.

The Descent from the Pass

It is a long descent.

Looking back up to the Pass - Bill below, Ulli above

There had been a lot of skier traffic and little new snow for a while so we encountered lots of hard old tracks. Halfway down it opens up a lot so we could get off to the sides to find better ski conditions and Bill showed us how to do it properly. Skiing was better the lower we got.

Bill showing style

Halfway down - Pass in background

The fairly long slog across the lake took us 45 minutes and we arrived back at the car close to 4pm - 6 hours and 700m.

Lake Louise and Chateau

Thank you Bill,Ulrike, for joining me, Clifton on a fine tour. And thanks to both Ulli and Bill for the great photos.