My advice is to do the ride to the top of the mountain during the first day of your vacation that the weather is clear.

Why?

Firstly, if you wait until the last day of your trip to do the Jasper Tramway or Banff Gondola (Sulphur Mountain Gondola) or other mountain ride, it may be too foggy or raining hard or even snowing hard.  You’ll get to the top and will either have an obstructed view or won’t be able to see anything at all.

During my last trip to Jasper, we took a chance on the Jasper Tramway on a foggy day with low-hanging clouds.  It worked out ok, but it was too cloudy for hiking at the top and the view while riding the tramway car was obstructed, as you can image from the pictures below.

Secondly, seeing the views early in your trip gives you perspective.  You’ll better appreciate the vastness of the Canadian Rockies.

Here’s one of the views from the trail on the top of Sulphur Mountain, a worthy excursion after reaching the summit on the Banff Sulphur Mountain Gondola ride.

Thirdly, in the case of the Jasper Tramway or the Banff Gondola, once you are dropped off at the upper terminal, if the weather is good, you can explore the summit area for even more great views.

That being said, a little cloudiness is to be expected.  As long as the clouds are above the mountains, the views are spectacular.  If you are in doubt, you can always call the information desk at the popular Jasper and Banff attractions to find out the current weather conditions at the top of the mountains.

Related posts:

1. Tip: Johnston Canyon Trail in Banff National Park

At one point, as I hiked up towards the summit, I looked down and the Jasper Tramway upper terminal was covered with clouds.

While the view of the surrounding Canadian Rockies was mostly blocked, being amongst the clouds is a unique experience.

Looking down on the Jasper Tramway upper terminal on a cloudy day

The clouds were drifting along the top of the mountain and right over me.  It was so cloudy that we couldn’t see the summit.

“The Whistlers” mountain is named for the nickname of hoary marmots. Marmots are nicknamed “whistlers” because they make a whistling sound.

Near the top of "The Whistlers" Mountain in Jasper National Park

Marmots can sometimes be seen up here in the top of the mountain amongst the rocks.  I didn’t see any this time.  It had been snowing earlier that day so maybe the marmots were taking the day off.

Some of the most interesting and fun hikes are located nearby. You can hike or bike the Lake Annette Loop – a short circular trail that is great for kids and takes less than an hour to complete. The Old Fort Point Loop is about a two-hour hike that is another option for families with slightly older children. You can visit Maligne Canyon where there are many different sized trails. Athabasca Falls is a beautiful scenic short hike where you’ll see the falls. There are two sets of falls. The upper falls is the shortest hike while a slightly longer hike below to the second falls is often less crowded.

Take a trip to have a dip in the Miette Hot Springs. These are local natural mineral springs that are wonderfully warm and relaxing. For a fun day or afternoon you can enjoy whitewater rafting or a river float trip. A short drive to Maligne Lake offers wonderful boat cruises. You can visit Spirit Island or rent a canoe or try your hand at fishing.

The town of Jasper is a great place to relax and soak in the atmosphere and scenery. There are many little shops and eateries. You can take a stroll through the downtown area or try a new Pedi-Cab. You can also try a new motorcycle tour of Jasper. Grab a picnic lunch to take with on a hike or spread the blanket out on the grass. To get a bird’s eye view visit Jasper Peak and take the Jasper Tramway. You can eat at the Treeline restaurant located at the top of the mountain.

My best advice is to avoid arriving at the Jasper Tramway hungry at lunch time expecting to get into the Treeline Restaurant quickly. Pack some energy bars. At peak hours, the Jasper Tramway will have a wait, maybe 15 minutes, maybe more. Then, since the seating in the main area of the Treeline Restaurant is limited to 50 at a time, there could be a wait to get into the restaurant. Though there may be a wait at peak lunch hours, I wouldn’t worry about it. And if it is too busy, eat an energy bar and take a hike to the peak of Whistler’s Mountain and then try the restaurant again on the way down.

The restaurant is a hidden Jasper National Park gem that few travelers plan into their itinerary. Amongst the choices for dining in Jasper National Park, it ranks high for its atmosphere.

The Jasper Tramway is still a great time even if the restaurant is skipped. The Jasper Tramway Experience (tramway and hike) is a must-do but the restaurant is likely to make good sense for most travelers who can be flexible about when they eat. If you are already paying for tickets to ride the Jasper Tramway, eating at the restaurant is a good way to get more out of the experience.

See the lichen clinging to white rocks in the foreground and surrounding Canadian Rocky mountains in the background.

Learn more about the Jasper Tramway and don’t forget to bring a digital camera, some water, snacks, and wear layers even in summer because of the cold wind.

The “Jasper Tramway Experience” is a 3,000 foot ride followed by a steep walk from the tramway drop-off terminal to the summit of the Whistlers Mountain. Along the way, it is clear why the Jasper tourism bureau’s slogan for the park is “Wonderful By Nature”. This is Canada travel at its best. As you ride the gonola and then hike to the top of the summit, the panoramic views of the Canadian Rockies are spectacular.

The Jasper Tramway Experience is made up of a sequence of 4 segments:

1. The ride up the Jasper Tramway to the upper terminal – The tramway car has a guide who tells a brief history of the tramway and interesting facts about the park on the way up. You’ll feel like a sardine packed into the tramway car with 10 or 15 strangers. Don’t fret. You’ll be near a window and get a nice view on the way up.
2. The hike from the upper terminal to the summit – After the tramway drops you off at the upper terminal, you can hang out for a few and soak in the view from the decks. Then, start your hike up a steep but flat mountainside. There are several long plateaus along the way and it is not a difficult hike. Parks Canada urges visitors to stay on the trail to protect the fragile alpine vegetation.
3. Time at the summit – This is time on top of the world. The view up here is much better than from the tramway upper terminal down below. Find a rock, sit down and take in the view of the surrounding Canadian Rockies.
4. The way back down – Walking back down, a different set of leg muscles are worked. On the way down on the tramway, the guide tells a different story.

If the way back down occurs earlier in the sequence, you have either turned around or fallen down. Falling down the hill would not be good as in most cases, you’d build up momentum before hitting one of the 200 year old trees or a very large rock.

View Jasper Journal’s Jasper Tramway photo gallery.

The best rule of thumb is to not go when there is a line of tourists in front of you from a tourist bus. Even still, waiting 20 minutes in line to go to the top of Whistlers is so much more worth it than 45 minutes to get onto a 2-minute long Disney theme park ride that you’ll forget 10 minutes later. The view from the top of Whistlers should be hard for anyone to forget. Ever.

Maybe its a nice sunny, warm, blue-sky day, or maybe it is cooler and cloudy, or maybe there’s even some drizzling rain. These are all good times for the Jasper Tramway experience.

Even a cloudy day will usually allow for distant views of the Canadian Rockies panorama that spreads before the Jasper visitor. Sunny days allows tourists to see for a virtually endless distance.

Rainy or foggy weather will limit the view, but then again, there will be less people and more solitude. If it does rain, there’s the option of just doing the Tramway ride to the upper tramway terminal and skipping the hike.

What to bring

In the summer, you need the essentials of an hour-long, windy, cool uphill hike with a view. Keep in mind that the hike is in the alpine climate and therefore can be very cool.

• Hiking shoes or sneakers with a lot of traction
• A light backpack
• Wear layers for chilly, windy weather at the top. For summer weather, a fleece or windbraker on top, long sleeve shirt underneath, then a t-shirt. If it is hot at the bottom, zip-off pants are nice to have. They are great throughout Jasper National Park, especially when hiking on variable weather days.
• A bottle or two of water
• Energy snacks like Cliff Bars, Zone Bars or Powerbar Harvest Bars or the likes
• Cameras and video cameras if you have them. If you don’t mind carrying it, a small travel tripod is useful. There are some really light ones around. Carrying a heavy full-size tripod is not a good idea.
• Small travel binoculars are nice, but not necessary. You’ll see the Jasper townsite, the Miette Valley and the Athabasca Valley from the top of the Whistlers.
• Some people used walking sticks or poles, from simple carved wooden sticks to advanced carbon-fiber hiking poles. These are good for balance and some people use them to reduce stress on their back, legs, and feet.

In the winter, you need all of the above, a heavy coat, hat, gloves, maybe an ice axe and ice shoes, plus you need to be a really skilled hiker.

What not to do

Here’s some tips:

• Don’t bring heavy, bulky items that you don’t really need. Do you really need the can of Aquanet for your hair? The Jasper National Park garden ornament can wait too. Buy the souvenirs on the way out, not on the way up. It makes for an easier hike.
• Don’t fall down the mountain. It is steep and probably thousands of feet before a hard object.
• Don’t play on the edges. After the edges, there is nothing.
• Don’t use uncommon sense (the opposite of common sense).
• Don’t let kids run rampart. Leave them home if you have to.
• Don’t bring pets. Pets are not suitable for the experience.
• Don’t bring a fear of heights. Looking only upwards is no fun.
• Don’t dress for the beach – it is much colder at the top than at Jasper Townsite.
• Don’t wear sandals. Hiking a rocky, slippery surface in flip-flops tends to be less enjoyable.