Eagle Ridge and Frontside Chute Complexes

The Eagle Ridge (ER) and Frontside chute complexes at Lake Louise Ski Resort are the resort’s primary expert terrain systems; 4,200 acres of high-alpine terrain managed within Banff National Park. Top elevation 2,637 m; vertical drop 991 m. The Slate Range’s limestone and shale create a boulder-field substrate; many steep chutes require 160 cm+ snowpack to safely open.

Eagle Ridge (ER 1–7). The backbone of backside technical terrain, numbered east to west (skier’s left to right). (For the Boomerang corridor and Upper Boomerang (formerly Hikers Paradise); Summit Chair access; see Whitehorn Back Bowls.) Access via the Paradise Chair and “The Corridor”; a high-alpine traverse sensitive to wind-loading (prevailing winds strip the windward side and deposit slabs into leeward bowls). ER 3, 6, and 7 were permanent avalanche closures under Parks Service before the resort assumed avalanche operations in the mid-1990s. ER 1 = East Bowl (cornice entry, broad bowl above Ptarmigan Quad). ER 2 = Crow Bowl (narrow channel, quarter-pipe, cliff bands; “Patroller Pitch” operational descent). ER 3 = competition venue (Freeride World Qualifier, Big Mountain Challenge; Eagle Air cliff). ER 4–5 = cliff-band complexity; Upper/Lower ER 5 divided by massive cliff; Upper ER 5 often closed (micro-features, narrow chokes slow to fill; patrol uses snow fencing to catch slough). ER 6–7 = steepest on the mountain; ER 6 dense rock bands; ER 7 narrow gullies, best late-day powder. M.G. Gully (Lower ER 5, skier’s left): tree-filled chute, mandatory drop exit; accessed from Saddleback/Split Rock via high traverse above Kiddies’ Corner.

Frontside chutes: Eagle Flight vs Flight Chutes. Eagle Flight (Run 48) and the Flight Chutes (42, 43, 45) share a South Face aspect but are distinct. Eagle Flight: single run, hike-to from Grizzly Gondola or Top of the World Express; least-trafficked expert run on the mountain; steep, ungroomed fall-line; holds snow longer than adjacent groomed runs. Flight Chutes 1–3: accessible via the Home Run cat-track; steep technical gullies funneling to Flight Chutes Cat Track (Run 40); more “frontside technical” than the Alpine Alphabet Gullies (firmer, precise edge work). Upshoots (Run 41) and Mirkwood (Run 38) form a concentrated expert zone with the Flight Chutes; Upshoots named for appearance “shooting up” from Whitehorn Lodge.

Patrol and avalanche. Paradise Radio Watch coordinates backside sweeps; “Whisky” call begins final sweep. Flight Chute sweepers traverse Home Run through Chutes 1 and 2 to “Olympic Top”; ER sweepers coordinate with Summit Chair. Avalanche control: explosives, ski-cutting. ER 5 is a “problem child”; avalanches funnel through cliff chokes, stripping the base. Wind can deposit 40 cm overnight on Frontside chutes. Closure violators face lift suspension.

Microclimates. Front Side: maximum sun; best cold mornings, can soften or ice by afternoon. Back Bowls/ER: north/northeast; sheltered, dry powder. Larch: north-facing; best snow retention into spring. West Bowl: mixed aspects.