Two New Heated-Seat Six-Packs To Debut At Banff Ski Areas as Canada’s 24-25 Season A Week Away

Canada’s 24-25 season is expected to start in a week’s time, all being well, with Banff’s Mt Norquay ski area targeting Saturday November 2nd for their opening day if conditions are right.

The region’s other two centres, Lake Louise and Sunshine are both aiming to open the following weekend, a fortnight today.

So far the signs have been promising with plenty of autumn snowfall, and the region is also in the La Nina sweetspot for the coming winter, expecting to receive below average temperatures and above average precipitation which should hopefully mean abundant powder.

On that colder-than-average forecast its good that both will be debuting new six-seater heated chairlifts.

Lake Louise Ski Resort will debut its new Pipestone Express Chair, formerly known as Upper Juniper Chairlift. It will offer better access to Lake Louise Ski Resort’s famous West Bowl, where intermediate to expert skiers and boarders can ride some of Canada’s most technical in-bounds terrain. The heated bubble chair will come fitted with the same features as the Banff Sunshine lift, with a blue bubble to create some difference between the two. 

“We’re excited to celebrate the addition of Pipestone Express to the Lake Louise fleet,” said Richard Burkley, CEO of Lake Louise Ski Resort. “This lift is the latest in a series of investments to expand terrain and uphill capacity. Pipestone gives quicker lap times in West Bowl and easy access to backside runs and will be a terrific addition to the Lake Louise lift inventory.”

Banff Sunshine, meanwhile, has replaced its original Angel Express quad chairlift with the resort’s first ever state-of-the-art, six-seater, luxury high-speed express lift. The lift is complete with heated bucket seats, footrests and a yellow protection bubble, to keep you cozy and comfortable. 

“At Banff Sunshine it’s our goal to create a guest experience worthy of our location in Canada’s first national park - Banff National Park,” said Kendra Scurfield, vice president of brand and communications at Banff Sunshine. “It was this goal that led us to invest in upgrading our Angel Express to a six-passenger high-speed luxury heated bubble lift with Evo technology from Poma. Our new lift, Super Angel, will be the first of its kind in North America. We’re thrilled to be able to enhance our guest experience with the brand-new Super Angel Express, flying winter 2024.”

Sunshine’s new lift is scheduled to be unveiled next month just in time for the winter season whilst Lake Louise’s new chair will debut in the first week of December, all being well.