Trout Unlimited, Parks Canada, and The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise invite the public to participate in a contest to guess when Lake Louise will be completely ice free. Each guess costs a minimum of $20, with proceeds going towards westslope cutthroat trout restoration in Banff National Park. To participate in this contest go to: www.tucanada.org/Ice-offLakeLouiseContest

The contest, hosted and run online by Trout Unlimited, builds on a long-time local tradition of guessing when Lake Louise will completely thaw out, officially marking the beginning of Banff National Park’s summer season. This date varies from year to year, but often occurs around the beginning of June.

Participants who guess the correct date of the lake’s thaw will be entered in a draw for the following prizes:

Grand prize: Two nights stay at The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise on Fairmont Gold, including a $100 credit towards food/beverage, spa or activities from the Mountain Heritage Program ($800 value).

Second and third prizes: One night’s stay at The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise in a Deluxe Lakeview room, including breakfast and parking ($600 value).

Other prizes: One of 25 free one-hour canoe rental vouchers at Lake Louise ($50 value).

Since August 2011, Parks Canada along with various partners and volunteers have worked to remove invasive brook trout from Hidden Lake in Banff National Park. To date, 3,127 individuals have been removed from the lake and 231 pounds of brook trout donated to the Invermere Veterinary Hospital and the Alberta Birds of Prey Nature Centre.

Once all brook trout are removed, genetically pure westslope cutthroat trout will be reintroduced to Hidden Lake. Westslope cutthroat trout were formally listed as a threatened species under Canada’s Species at Risk Act in March 2013.To learn more about this project visit:

https://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/banff/plan/aquatiques-aquatics/hidden.aspx

Proceeds from this contest will go towards funding a four-month term student biologist position that will work side-by-side with Parks Canada on restoring westslope cutthroat trout in Banff National Park. This student will gain practical and invaluable fisheries experience and will also be asked to make presentations to the public about the westslope cutthroat trout conservation work and what is being done to help them.

For additional information on this contest visit:

www.tucanada.org/Ice-offLakeLouiseContest

The contest closes Monday, June 3 at 11:59 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.

To check on current thaw conditions go to this webcam and click on “camera

9”: https://cams.skilouise.com/cams/live.php

Parks Canada

Above photo: A picture of Lake Louise taken at the end of April, 2013. Lake thaw

is now fully underway.

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