The lodge, located within Banff National Park, was built in 1930 by the Ski Club of the Canadian Rockies and has welcomed visitors ever since: skiers and snowshoers in the wintertime, and hikers, “scramblers,’’ and artists come summertime.
In its younger days, the lodge attracted visitors from big East Coast cities and countries such as England and Switzerland, people who could afford to travel here for the whole summer despite hard economic times. Skim through the lodge’s old guest books and you find entries in beautiful swooping penmanship from people such as Sir George Simpson, who ran the Hudson’s Bay Company; Elizabeth von Rummel, daughter of a German aristocrat; and Linda Castle of Hawaii’s Castle and Cooke pineapple franchise (later known as the Dole Food Co.).
Now, the lodge draws visitors from all over the world, including the occasional royal guest (the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, visited last summer).
I had planned to ski from Lake Louise Ski Area to Skoki Lodge on my own last January, but Charlie Locke, owner of the lodge and ski area, and a local legend and adventurer, offered to travel with me that day.
The 7-mile, one-way trip traverses frozen Ptarmigan Lake, crosses two mountain passes, and includes 1,600 feet of vertical gain before a 1,000-foot descent. Most people with intermediate skiing abilities can tackle the straight-forward, three- to five-hour route, but you do need the skills to take care of yourself if the weather turns foul.
Leo Mitzel, who manages the lodge with his wife, Katie, said, “I get nervous because you just never know who’s on the trail. I’ve had people come in who have never seen snow before and they get on Deception Pass and all of a sudden it’s a whiteout. That’s why we put in so many [trail] markers.’’
