Lake Louise Snowboarding: Blayne Campbell's Grizzly Express Gondola Lap

Blayne Campbell's "Snowboarding Lake Louise – Gondola Lap" is a pure, top-to-bottom cruise down the groomers of one of Canada's best-known ski areas. Shot in November 2011 with a GoPro on a homemade pole, the video follows a single run from the top of the Grizzly Express gondola to the base, with the peaks of Banff National Park filling the background.

Blayne Campbell's Grizzly Express gondola lap

Campbell uploaded the film on 20 November 2011. He rode a 2011/12 Bataleon Riot 157 with Burton Triad bindings and Burton Ion boots, and filmed at 720p and 60 frames per second. The pole-cam angle keeps both rider and slope in view, so you can follow every change in gradient as the lap unfolds.

The Grizzly Express is the six-passenger gondola that rises from the base of the front side. It serves long groomed runs back to the bottom, and it is also the start of the route to the Larch area: ride up, then follow Run 65 past the Paradise Triple Chair and Temple Lodge.

Lake Louise Ski Resort at a glance

• Location: inside Banff National Park, Alberta, near the village of Lake Louise and 57 km west of Banff.
• Elevation: base 1,646 m, summit 2,637 m, for a vertical drop of 991 m.
• Terrain: about 4,200 skiable acres (roughly 1,700 hectares) and 145 marked runs and back bowls, rated 25% beginner, 45% intermediate and 30% advanced.
• Snow: around 454 cm of snowfall a year.
• Mountains: most of the terrain lies on Mount Whitehorn, with more on the lower slopes of Lipalian Mountain.

History and World Cup racing

Skiers have come to the area since the 1920s, when it was the gateway to Skoki Ski Lodge in the backcountry. The first lift went up in 1954, and a poma followed in 1960. Today Lake Louise is a regular stop on the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup: races first ran here in 1980, and the resort held World Cup races every season from 1993 to 2019. Run 1 on the front side is the men's World Cup downhill course. In December 2013 the resort also hosted its first FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup.

Riding Lake Louise: front side, Larch and back bowls

Front side. This is where Campbell's lap happens: long groomers, gullies, glades and steeps above the base, plus a beginner Learning Area with three carpet lifts.

Larch. Reached via the gondola and Run 65, the Larch Express Quad serves tree-lined runs, and Runs 143 and 150 are good green options.

Back bowls. The Summit Chair opens wide alpine bowls and steep lines such as the Ptarmigan Chutes. Save the high alpine runs for clear days: the bowls often hold wind-loaded snow, and good visibility makes a big difference up there.

The 2026/27 season is scheduled from 6 November to 2 May, conditions permitting, with lifts turning from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. Check the resort's lift, run and park status page on the morning you ride.

Explore more: Lake Louise within a Western Canadian shortlist; a longer snowboard-trip film from Japan.

Related reading

• Niseko Snowboarding: A Thirteen-Day GoPro Diary
• Snowboarding and Freestyle in Finnish Lapland
• Chilean Andes Snowboarding: Funner Filete
• We Ride: The People and Culture of Snowboarding
• Don’t Panic: A Snowboard Film Excerpt
• The Khumbu Icefall through Theodore Fairhurst’s Helmet Camera

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