Researched route, Icefields Parkway
Icefields Parkway
A short climb up a creek off the Icefields Parkway to a small bowl on the east side of Mount Jimmy Simpson, under cliffs and cornices.
Jimmy Junior bowl is a small bowl above treeline on the east side of Mount Jimmy Simpson, beside the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park, a little way north of the lake at Bow Lake. It's a short one: about 3.4 km there and back from the roadside, with the foot of the bowl about 363 m above the road. The first 0.6 km is flat and crosses the Bow River. From there you follow a creek up through forest until the trees open into the bowl. Reports describe it as busy on good days, and it sits under cliffs and cornices, with overhead hazard from Mount Jimmy Simpson described in a 2018 trip report. Our route stops at the foot of the bowl. Where you go from there 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 20, 2026.
| Distance | about 3.4 km round trip, 1.7 km to the foot of the bowl |
| Elevation gain | about 375 m on our line, counting the small rises; the foot of the bowl is about 363 m above the road; a guidebook gives 350 m |
| Slope angles | 2 to 13 degrees on the flats, 6 to 20 degrees along the creek, 21 to 35 degrees over the last 260 m; 30 degrees and more beside the line, up to 56 degrees within 200 m on its south side and 43 on its north side; terrain data reads low |
| Trailhead | 1,990 m on terrain data |
| Foot of the bowl | 2,353 m on terrain data; reports put the treeline near 2,250 to 2,300 m |
| Nearest town | Lake Louise |
| Pass required | Parks Canada |
| Skied by us | Not yet |
You start from the roadside on the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93 North), north of Bow Lake, where the creek that drains the bowl comes out onto the flats. A guidebook puts it about 35.5 km up Highway 93 North from the park gate where it begins, roughly 1.5 km past the Bow Lake lot, and says to park on the roadside by the drainage. We found no coordinates and no mapped pull-out there, so our start is approximate and may be a few hundred metres from where you park. A 2018 trip report parked a little north of Bow Lake and skinned a short way up the drainage. The nearest mapped parking is the Bow Lake lot, about 1.4 km from our start in a straight line over the flats. Starting there would add about that much each way, and we haven't drawn it.
You need a park pass. Parks Canada's bulletin of September 8, 2026 makes travel in Banff National Park an activity that needs a pass displayed in the vehicle, except for people driving straight through on Highway 1 and Highway 93 South.
Parks Canada has closed this bowl before to protect a denning grizzly: in April 2019, and again from November 2020, under the name Jimmy Junior Bowl. Its standing wildlife order, in effect from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, lets the park close small posted areas at any time. Those closures are marked in the field, with no details posted online. We found no notice naming the bowl on Parks Canada's Banff bulletins page on 2026-10-29. Check that page and 511 Alberta before you go, and watch for signs at the roadside. Parks Canada's avalanche closure zones on this highway don't include this stretch. The nearest are Dolomite Peak to the south and Silverhorn and Observation Peak to the north.
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