MLR, Upper Tramline Fairview Track skiing on 10-Mar-2026

This trip originally posted as Cascade Fire Road to Stoney Creek was changed to Upper Tramline, Moraine Lake Road and Fairview. The weather forecast was for new snow a day before for the Banff area. However, as we drove past Canmore and up to Lake Minnewanka there was only a skiff of snow, not what was expected to have occurred. Regardless, we put the skis on and skied down to the meadow before the start of the fireroad proper. Tracks were poor and snow was quite crusty, as well it had begun to snow. At the meadow, we could see that a snow storm was hanging over the Cascade valley. Due to all these circumstances (no new snow and supposed to be a sunny day), the decision was made to try Lake Louise area as it had been recently trackset.

Arriving at Lake Louise, we stopped in at the Info Centre to check for recent tracksetting. Parks indicated that Tramline, Moraine Lake road, Fairview, Campground/Bow River loops and Great Divide had been trackset. Since none of us had done Moraine Lake Road yet this year we decided to give this a go, throwing Upper Tramline and Fairview in as we planned to park at the Lake Louise Parking lot. Snow conditions were very good with what appeared to be fresh snow overnight. Fortunately, due to our late arrival others had already skiied the tracks before us, mitigating clumping somewhat under the skis.

We made the viewpoint for a late lunch and photos.

The sun came out which made for a slightly warmer break. The return ski to the Fairview junction was relatively slow due to the new snow. We opted to ski Fairview which turned out to be a relief from the long stretches of straight road on MLR and had been trackset as advertised with fresh snow.

Back at the cars somewhere around 3:30. About a 24km. day.

Thanks to Participants Philip and Jane for adjusting to the changed snow conditions which created a much more enjoyable day. Thanks to Philip for the photos.

Bob C/S