Skating at Lake Louise in Alberta

On our first morning in Banff National Park, Bob and I had planned to go cross-country skiing, but with the sun shining brightly, we headed up instead to checkout the skating surface on Lake Louise.  We were pleasantly surprised to find not one but two ice rinks, with one reserved for ice hockey, and the other set off by a glistening castle fashioned out of blocks of ice for ice skating.

Although the Ice Castle was a good size with impressive dimensions, it was dwarfed by the massive mountains encircling Lake Louise.  It had been constructed in the center of the ice skating rink that was reserved for pleasure skaters.

Being first thing in the morning, only a few people were on the ice surface, curiosity seekers drawn to the whimsical ice castle for a closer look.  The maintenance crew for the ice skating rink was hard at work clearing the ice of the overnight snowfall.

The frozen creation was complete with ornate details carved into the ice, and with hazy sunshine illuminating the transparent structure, a delicate shade of aquamarine blue reflected from the depths of the solidified water.  A perfectly round globe of ice topped each newel post, and shimmering within each globular crystal ball was a delicate white lily, silk of course.

This is a view of Chateau Lake Louise where it sits at the shore of Lake Louise.  We snapped this photo from Fairview Lookout overlooking the lake and historic chateau, a lookout reached by taking a short snowshoe hike up a fairly steep slope.

Bob and I dropped in on the skating rink several times while we stayed in the area and never tired of the intimate atmosphere there created by the protective embrace of the mountains surrounding the iconic lake.  The landscape was buried beneath the most snow that Banff has seen in early January when compared to recent decades, and yet, we managed to score several sunny days in a row.  Still, drifting snow whipped from the surrounding slopes and forests served to obscure the sun at regular intervals.

The builders of the ice castle did not miss a beat.  Complete with battlements on top of the castle walls, the structure seemed to mirror the nearby mountain peaks.

Source:  Skating on the ice at Lake Louise in Alberta