Lake Louise (Alberta)

Lake Louise is a lake in the Canadian province of Alberta in Banff National Park. The turquoise blue color of the lake comes from rock flour, which is washed into the lake by glacial meltwater and is also known as rock flour or glacial flour.

Lake Louise is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, a daughter of Queen Victoria.

The town of Lake Louise is located next to the Trans-Canada Highway, 180 km west of Calgary. Behind Lake Louise rise some snow-capped mountains like Mount Temple (3543 m), Mount Whyte (2983 m) and Mount Niblock (2976 m). Above the lake, the Lake Louise ski area is located on Mount Whitehorn.

On the eastern shore of the lake stands the Château Lake Louise, a five-star hotel. It was built in 1890 as a modest chalet and later expanded into a two-story hotel that became a center for climbing expeditions. A conflagration in 1924 destroyed the Schlosshotel, which was replaced by the structure that still stands today. Many hiking trails start directly at the castle hotel.

The lake and surrounding area is a place for recreational activities such as hiking, climbing, skiing and canoeing. The associated ski area regularly hosts FIS-organized ski races, usually downhill and super-G as part of the Alpine Ski World Cup (see Alpine Ski World Cup in Lake Louise).

Project Habbakuk

During World War II, experiments were conducted here with pykrete and ice for Project Habbakuk, a British plan for an aircraft carrier made of pykrete.