The Rockies under snow

The Rocky Mountaineer season, the busy summer months when most people picture Banff and Lake Louise, closes for winter, and with it goes most of the crowd. What remains is a genuinely different landscape rather than simply a colder version of the same one: Lake Louise freezes over solid enough to skate on, the forests carry snow rather than green, and the mountain light, low and slanting for much of the short winter day, suits photography in a way high summer's flatter, more direct sun rarely manages.

Ice where there was water

Johnston Canyon, a popular summer walking trail near Banff, changes character most dramatically of all: its waterfalls, which run as open water for most of the year, freeze into columns and sheets of ice thick enough to walk beside on cleated boots, a version of the canyon that draws its own dedicated winter visitors rather than simply repeating the summer route in colder conditions. Lake Louise itself, glacier-fed and turquoise in summer, turns into a flat white expanse, often marked out for skating directly in front of the historic hotel on its shore, with the same mountains that ring it in summer now snow-covered from base to peak.

The hot springs that started it all

Banff exists as a national park largely because of a discovery that has nothing to do with skiing or scenery. In 1883, railway workers building the Canadian Pacific line came across a natural hot spring in a cave on the slopes of Sulphur Mountain, and the commercial potential of a thermal bath in the middle of the Rockies was recognised quickly enough that the federal government set aside the surrounding land for protection in 1885, creating Banff National Park, Canada's first. The Banff Upper Hot Springs, developed from that same geothermal source, remain open through the winter, and a soak in naturally heated water with snow-covered peaks visible through the steam is one of the more distinctive ways to spend a cold afternoon in the Rockies. Wildlife is easier to spot in winter too, in its own way: elk and bighorn sheep move to lower valleys as snow covers the high ground, and their tracks and dark shapes stand out clearly against a white background in a way summer's dense green cover never allows.

What the cold actually asks of you

This is not a gentle winter by British standards. Temperatures in the Rockies through January and February regularly fall well below freezing, sometimes considerably so, and a trip here in winter requires proper cold-weather clothing rather than a heavier coat over summer layers. Days are also short, with only a few hours of good light either side of a long dusk, which shapes the itinerary around a narrower daily window than a summer visit would allow.

Two operators, a similar season

Both tours covering this season run in January and February specifically, when the ice and snow conditions are at their most reliable. The Canadian Rockies Winter Adventure, run by Just You, spends a week based between Calgary, Banff and Lake Louise, with Johnston Canyon among the excursions on offer. The Rockies Winter Wonderland, run by Travelsphere, covers similar ground over eight days, adding Jasper to the route further north.

Why bother, given the cold

The case for going in winter rather than summer comes down to what the cold removes as much as what it adds: the crowds that fill Lake Louise's shoreline in July are largely absent in February, and the mountains themselves, snow-covered and quiet, have a stillness that the busier season doesn't offer. Restaurants and hotels in Banff that book out months ahead for summer are considerably easier to secure at short notice in winter, and prices generally follow the same pattern. It suits travellers who would rather see the Rockies at their starkest than at their most convenient, and who are prepared to dress properly for the privilege.