Enter to win a Banff Lake Louise ski vacation

Update: This sweepstakes is now over, but stay tuned for more great giveaways on our Facebook page!

You asked, and they answered! After an excellent first week of questions, we selected the top three questions from our Facebook fans as well as three bonus questions directed at individual Legends.

  1. What would be the best first run of the day right when the lifts open? (asked by Ruthy Bennett)
  2. Where do you find powder a few days after a storm? (asked by Geoffrey Grover)
  3. Skiing is great and all, but a guy’s got to eat… where is the best food after a long day of big turns and hard charging? (asked by Steve Hoffman)

Bonus questions!

  • Casey Bouius, if I let you steal my girlfriend, can I steal your line? (asked by Ben Reilly)
  • This is really for Stavros, who makes the best Moussaka to keep up your stamina for all day of skiing, and do you do pirohi for more energy? (asked by Carol Gabor Feduik)
  • This one is for Rocket: What’s the longest run, the steepest chute and the deepest powder stash at the Lake? (asked by Stephen Post)

The inquisitive Facebook users who asked the questions will receive 5 additional entries in our random drawing for a “legendary” Banff and Lake Louise ski vacation.

Read on for the Local Legends’ answers, and enter to win here.

Casey Bouius’s Answers:

Casey BouiusQuestion 1: My first run of the day is always off of the Continental Divide down a run called South Divide.  I find it is a great warm up as it is perfectly groomed and empty on first lift.  Plus most mornings it’s a great spot to be as the sun is rising up over Goats Eye and just starts to shed light on the Divide.

Question 2: There are a few places to get good snow at Sunshine a few days after a storm.  Delirium Dive if you venture out towards Milky Way and take G1, G2 or G3.  This can be busy on weekends so I tend to head to Goats Eye and hike up to Renegade or Stampede, which almost always have fresh tracks.

Question 3: In Banff I tend to go to St. James Gate.  Great Irish pub with lots of different beer on tap and good, filling food to re-energize for the next day of ripping.

BONUS QUESTION: Casey Bouius, if I let you steal my girlfriend, can I steal your line? (asked by Ben Reilly)
Sorry Ben, I don’t give up my lines.  As you know, lines are precious and individual, so you can keep your girlfriend and I will rip my line… and maybe just steal your line as well.  See you out there this season ripping some awesome lines!

Stavros Carlos’s Answers:

StavrosQuestion 1: Whitehorn 2 – A Gully is my absolute favorite for first run on most days of the week.  And, if you can hit it with fresh snow, nothing beats the Lone Pine at Norquay.  100% fall line awesomeness.

Question 2: Backside of Lake Louise and The Wild West at Sunshine are always a gold mine of post-storm powder.  The prevailing winds are always bringing in new snow that fills in The Wild West, Brown Shirt and the Whitehorn gullies for up to a week post storm.  There are always freshies to be had.

Question 3: Steak sandwich on Tuesdays at the Elk.  Take down two or three to fuel you up for a couple days.

BONUS QUESTION: This is really for Stavros, who makes the best Moussaka to keep up your stamina for all day of skiing, and do you do pirohi for more energy? (asked by Carol Gabor Feduik)
LOL… obviously my Mama followed by my restaurant, The Balkan.  Although I have to say, for total caloric intake, nothing beats Mama’s pastichio (layers of pasta, ground beef and bechamel). It’s the  BEST!  Who doesn’t pirohi for more energy?

Rocket’s Answers:

RocketQuestion 1: If you haven’t been to the gym in the early a.m. to stretch, warm up and watch the morning sports highlights: Get off the top of Glacier and head toward Men’s Downhill and Juniper Jungle. Make plenty of turns on the corduroy and enjoy the variety of pitches and the sunrise on the Lake Louise group of mountains across the valley.

Already went to the gym or warmed up? Go all the way to the top of Summit Platter and watch the patrol drop the gate to Whitehorn 1. Ski ‘First Gate’ in the sun with a little extra wind-blown snow in the lee of the ridge. Bend into Rodney’s Ridge, and if you are not wasted by the end of that, it’s because you really are warmed up and fit, and good for you!!

Question 2: Find leeward terrain: Wind is definitely our friend at Lake Louise, especially when it’s prevailing from the west. Leeward means the opposite side from where the wind is coming from. Boomerang/Brownshirt country is classic leeward bowl terrain, and many lines are not skied. Piece the shorter pitches together to make an interesting long run, and try not to be seen by your friends or that line you just discovered will be ‘shralpt’ the next time you sneak in there. Ask the Summit Patroller where UNC is (pronounced ‘Unk’ and rhymes with skunk). Also try skiing adjacent to the snow fences, the subtle ridges, or lines very few visit because they weren’t willing to go slow to scout  it out and reap the rewards next time. Lake Louise is a big place, and after 30 years of skiing here, I’m still piecing together new lines and getting a kick out of doing so.

Question 3: If you want to eat, like “right now” at the hill, take a seat at the Powder Keg in The Lodge of the Ten Peaks. Tasty vittles and cold beer await, and a whole pile of other folks will be there with the same look on their faces: like they’ve just put in a shift at “The Lake” and deserve a beer and some grub. If you’re headed to Banff, I like the Bear Street Tavern. Those guys are always coming up with savory food and plenty of it. Sit at the bar and catch some NHL or some adventure films on big TVs. Oh ya, the beers are cold there too and seem to be just as quenching of a riding thirst as any other place I’ve been to.

BONUS QUESTION: This one is for Rocket: What’s the longest run, the steepest chute and the deepest powder stash at the Lake? (asked by Stephen Post)

The longest run is the run that will usually finish you off at the end of the day. If your legs aren’t screaming and you don’t stop at least twice, then you deserve a date with Lindsay Vonn. Good luck!

Summit top to the bottom via Headwall, Upper Wiwaxy, Men’s DH and the XL line in the Terrain Park. Hit all three features, but no inverts right now ’cause you already can’t tell which way is up!!!

The midday long run has got to be Whitehorn 2 ‘D’ or ‘E’ Gully for sustained steeps and the “best to stay upright” incentive. ‘I’ Gully when its open is pretty steep, and you probably want to be on your game when diving in there.

Deepest powder stash at the Lake? If I told you, I’d have to kill you, and dying ain’t much of a living. If we ski together this year or ever, I’ll show you.