Lake O’Hara

The ski up to Lake O’Hara is one of the most beautiful destinations I’ve been to in the area since I’ve moved up.

You will be able to find the parking lot just outside of Lake Louise as you enter BC. It would be recommend to arrive early to mid-morning as the lot isn’t too big but there are quite a few spaces for the most part. From there you will embark on on an 11km, 500 meter climb up to the lodge. The conditions for our ski day were beautiful as they were recently track set with a light dusting of snow to help the grip on the way up. You will find yourself in good company as there are folks who stayed in the lodge for the evening coming down and others with the same plan to climb up for a delicious lunch.

Around the 5km mark you will see a picnic table to have a break and snack and then make your way up towards the second half of the climb where you will see some day lodges that are open for the summer. It’s uncertain if you can access these in the winters.

When you arrive eat the lodge, you can enjoy a fantastic lunch between 12:00 - 1:30pm. You are asked to leave your boots at the door and you can easily change into dry clothes while you wait. The fireplace is there to warm as well. There is a fixed menu but they can accommodate any requests that you may have. Today’s lunch was a fantastic soup with grilled cheese, salad and tea. From there, we had a yummy apple crumble desert!

With full bellies, we headed out onto the lake as we made our way back to the car. These descents are long and fun with plenty of views along the way! The sun was shining, and the tracks were in pristine condition. From there we made our way to Outpost Pub in Lake Louise for a glass of wine.