Banff Lake Louise News
Current happenings, updates, and news.
For a Banff & Lake Louise experience visit banfflakelouiselive.com and view our featured offers that include accommodation, activities and much more!
If you're looking to host a party, meeting or conference that turns heads and goes down in history as the most magical event ever then look no further. Come on in, sit down and lets chat!
Did you know that early 2009 is the perfect time to have meetings and events in Banff National Park due to low season rates, and why not beat the crowd to the more popular dates?! How's that for a sales pitch?!
Make your job easier, check out our Meetings section, watch some videos and enjoy some idea's provided to me by an event's coordinator:
Living "Ice" Statues ............... or.............. Ice Center pieces, glasses & more!
Local and loving it... that's how the local tea connoisseurs feel about their tea houses in Banff National Park.
If you're around for the holidays and visiting Lake Louise be sure to stop by the Tea Cottage at the Lake Louise Inn. They will be open December 28-30 for a Traditional Afternoon Tea with those tiny little sandwiches and bite size cakes. Reservations are needed for the Traditional Tea, but stop by any time to warm up in the 84 year old log cabin.
If you can't make it for afternoon tea in Lake Louise, be sure to stop by The Fairmont Banff Springs to enjoy this English custom at the Castle in the Rockies. Reservations are recommended to enjoy this tradition, but even if you don't have any take the chance and wander past the Rundle Lounge.
The Banff Tea Co. right in the heart of Banff believes that "smelling is believing" and the rule of thumb when choosing your tea is "if you like the smell, you'll like the taste. It's a great way to shop". Stop by and chat with Susanne (one of the owners), she grew up at a teahouse in Lake Louise called "Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse" which is only accessed via hiking. You can sit down and enjoy their international selection of tea at the restaurant beside the store called Cafe Soleil.
Looking to stay up to date on the latest and greatest news from Banff National Park?
Look no further... Banff Lake Louise Tourism just launched a FREE text messaging service so you can receive up to date information right on your cell phone.
What kind of texts can you receive? Try these out...
- Festival updates for our upcoming WinterStart Festival
- Weekly Ski Updates - every thursday
- Daily Conditions - every morning at 8am
- Weekly Events - for those wondering what to do with your weekend!
It's pretty darn easy to sign up, just visit www.banfflakelouise.com/plan-your-trip/mobile-alerts
We guarantee we won't use your number for anything else... so seriously, sign up now and stay connected with The World's Finest National Park!
Thank you Charlie Locke!
For those of you who haven't heard the news, half of Lake Louise Mountain Resort has been sold and the new owner is bringing back the terrain park!
The park is currently under construction with no completion date given at this time, but for more information be sure to visit the Lake Louise Mountain Resort website.
The Heavy Metal Rail Jam is coming up on November 22 for those of you itching to have some fun in the mean time!
It all started back in 1928 with a single log cabin built by the Brewster family.
80 years later you will find a world class ski resort which covers 3 mountains, with 12 lifts accessing 107 named runs.
Interesting facts about Sunshine Village:
- The Continental Divide chair crosses back and forth between Alberta and British Columbia.
- In 2001 they opened the world's fastest eight-person gondola.
- They were the runner-up for the Silver Eagle Award, the highest honor given to environmentally progressive ski resorts in North America.
- They are the only ski in/ski out resort in Banff National Park.
And for those of you ready to hit the slopes I've got some great news...
Lake Louise Mountain Resort and Mount Norquay open with selected runs tomorrow!
Lake Louise will offer both skiing and riding from the top of Glacier high speed quad to the base area. Wiwaxy will be machine groomed for skiing and riding. Mount Norquay will have the Cascade chair serving the Speculation run and will be open weekends until their projected full opening on December 5.
And Sunshine plans on opening November 14.
For more information on what is going on at the hills visit www.skibig3.com.
If you're not looking to do the costume bar hop this Freaky Friday then I've got some great news for you!
Each year the Banff Fire Fighters' Association presents a Halloween celebration the whole family can enjoy.
So put together a costume and get your butt to the recreation grounds in Banff for free hot chocolate and hot dogs. Sit around the bon fire and tell the story about the Hook or whatever urban legend you remember that will send shivers up your listeners spins.
Fireworks will fill the eerie night sky at 8pm enticing all the witches, ghouls and goblins to raise their voices in awww!
So join us from 7-9pm at the Banff Recreation Grounds for a howling good time!
That was my costume last year... I can't wait to come up with something better this year!
With 13 art galleries in town you will never experience a hard time finding something that you'll just have to have!
Every day the sun, moon and clouds create a diversity in the appearance of our landscape. They give the mountains a new look & the lakes a different hue of turquoise... it's no wonder Banff National Park inspires so many people to explore their creative side.
We created this video about one of our local artists doing what she loves to do... enjoy!
Arts, Culture & Heritage on banfflakelouise.com
Because they can thanks to the highway wildlife crossings in the park!
A wildlife crossing is a structure built as an underpass or an overpass at various locations along the Trans-Canada Highway. To date there are 22 underpasses and 2 overpasses with an additional 8 crossings being created over the next 4 years!
The animals didn't quite know how to deal with these structures and didn't really trust them until one day a tiny vole made the first daring dash across to the other side. Soon enough researchers found Elk prints in the trackpad (sand) placed at each entrance of the crossings, followed by the bears, wolves, coyotes, cougars, moose, deer, big horned sheep... even the wolverines and lynx have crossed over to the other side.
The researchers have found that grizzly bears, wolves, elk, moose and deer prefer the high, wide and short in length overpasses while the black bears and cougars prefer more constricted crossings.
Stop by the information centres in Banff and Lake Louise to check out some of the motion detection videos of the animals using the crossings. Or visit the Parks website www.pc.gc.ca/transcanada for more information.
A cougar using one of the crossings
This town called Banff is a spectacular place to live, work & play... I'm going to fill you in on a few reasons why.
Last year a program was started up by a large business in town which gave every single elementary school student a free ski pass for the season... wow! This year they expanded the program to offer a pass to the High School students as well. If only I had gone to school in Banff... what a dream!
Other companies around town run a program called "Everybody Gets to Ski" where they collect and distribute used ski and snowboard gear for families in need.
I came here to work for one season... this will be my 6th winter coming up. Living in a community that promotes a healthy and active life style will do wonders for your well being.
Here's a great little video we created about being a part of Banff National Park.
Banff National Park has got an abundance of events, art exhibits, live music and community activities happening every month. We are a population that likes to keep busy and to keep our visitors entertained.
October brings WordFest to town at The Banff Centre and various other venues, with over 70 artists speaking, reading and performing in over 65 events.
November is WinterStart... we say good bye to summer and hello winter! Be sure to join us for the Santa Claus Parade of Lights, indoor chirstmas crafts and activities, plus a christmas tree decorating contest between local business owner that you get to vote on.
November & December brings the Bombardier Lake Louise WinterStart World Cup to the Lake Louise Mountain Resort. Over two weekends you can hang out, ski/snowboard and watch the Men's and Woman's Super G & Downhill races.
Want to know what else we've got going on in the Park? Check out our Events and Festivals page!
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