Researched route, Icefields Parkway
Icefields Parkway
A forest climb off the Icefields Parkway to the small peak at the south end of a roadside ridge, with short north and west runs off the top.
Hector South Ridge is a roadside ridge east of the Icefields Parkway near Lake Louise, and this route goes to the small, rounded peak at its southern end. It's a forest climb: about 3.3 km and 696 m from the highway shoulder to the top, and 6.5 km there and back. Above the trees it opens out, with a saddle north of the peak and a gentle ridge to the top. A guidebook describes short runs into the bowl on the north side and down the west side, and that's what this route is for. Where you go from the top, and what you ski, is your call. We built this route from research and haven't skied it ourselves.
We built this route from our own extensive research. All resources are cited on the dashboard. We haven't skied it ourselves, the routes illustrated may not be the best line choice, use your own judgement when planning. Remember you are still responsible for your own tour.
Last checked October 21, 2026.
| Distance | about 6.5 km round trip, 3.3 km to the top |
| Elevation gain | about 696 m on our line; a guidebook gives about 680 m |
| Slope angles | mostly 9 to 16 degrees in the forest; up to 26 degrees on the steeper step before the saddle; 20 degrees or less along the north ridge; slopes beside the line reach 37 degrees within 200 m; terrain data reads low |
| Trailhead | 1,758 m on terrain data |
| High point | 2,451 m on terrain data; no source we found gives a height for this peak |
| Nearest town | Lake Louise |
| Pass required | Parks Canada |
| Skied by us | Not yet |
From Lake Louise, take the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93N) north off the Trans-Canada. A guidebook puts the start on the roadside about 8.5 km up the Parkway from the Parks Canada gate. We read our start off that guidebook's map. It's on the east shoulder, about 1.2 km south of where the mapped Hector South Ridge route meets the highway, which is where trip reports for that ridge start. There's no lot. Trip reports on this stretch describe tight parking on a snowy shoulder along a straight piece of road, with an up-track already heading up from the ditch. Pull fully off the road, and treat our start as approximate.
Stopping isn't allowed in the signed avalanche zones along the Parkway, which Parks Canada sets and posts. Parks Canada's map of its Mount Hector closure zone puts it on that mountain's west face, from the Mount Hector and Andromache pull-off north past the Hector Lake trailhead, well north of this start. We haven't seen the roadside itself.
In March 2026 a size 4 slide, set off by Parks Canada's avalanche control on Mount Hector's slide path, covered about 250 m of the highway. The road reopened on March 26. From March 27 Parks Canada closed the roadside where the debris lay beside the Hector slide path, with the closure set to end on June 21, 2026, and news reports quoting Parks Canada described a no-stopping zone along about 500 m of the highway there. A guidebook puts that slide path about 15 km from the gate, roughly 6 km north of this start, so the start wasn't inside either one. Closures like these go up after big slides, so check Parks Canada's bulletins and 511 Alberta before you go.
You need a Parks Canada pass, and Parks Canada requires snow tires or chains on the Parkway from November 1 to March 31. The Parkway closes now and then for avalanche control, so check 511 Alberta before you leave. There's no cell service on the Parkway. We'd leave our plan with someone who isn't coming.
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