See Comments below for updates on West Bragg Creek, Upper Ribbon Creek trails(Skogan Pass, etc.), Sawmill(backcountry).
This must be what heaven is like
- Skiers enjoying the sun and snow on Elk Pass
Acting on Steve’s comment from yesterday, we skied in Peter Lougheed Prov Park today and it was fabulous. We skied the following trails and all were in good condition: Whiskey Jack, Tyrwhitt, Elk Pass, Blueberry Hill, Fox Creek(good snow and lots of fun dodging around the trees), Boulton Creek, Packers, Pocaterra.
Whiskey Jack/Pocaterra junction looking north towards Gap Mountain
The air temp was around -4 and there were no signs of snow deterioration due to warm weather. The only inconveniences were some pine needles on the north end of Tyrwhitt and some minor ice flows on Packers. If you were coming down Packers you’d want to be cautious, but climbing was no problem. All downhills were fast but you could stay in control.
Toko blue wax rated for -2/-6 worked like a charm(that’s the cheap stuff – no carbon in it). Cheryl used VR45, rated for -2/-8 and also had no difficulties. I use Toko -2/-6 a lot. It is the mainstay of my wax bag, and it’s about the cheapest wax you can buy.
Click here to see more great photos
I’d be interested in knowing what the situation is at West Bragg Creek. We get tons of people searching for info on that area. Did anyone ski at Ribbon Creek?
Update Jan 23: The Lake Louise to Banff Loppet and Relay has been postponed to Sat Jan 31 due to the extreme cold. See my blog post here. or see current photos of snow/trails.
Canmore Nordic Centre Jan 25
Work has kept me off the trails over the past week, but I did manage to get in a couple hours at the Nordic Centre on Sunday with my friend Peter. It was very cold but the sun was shining and there was no wind. Peter, on his skate skis, said he felt like he was on sandpaper. Luckily, I still had a pair of skis with green glide wax from the previous cold snap and I was moving pretty well.
There are still a few spots on the natural snow where you have to dodge rocks and dirt, but the man-made snow is excellent.
West Bragg, January 23.
Skied Crystal Line and Sundog Friday afterwork.
Both freshly groomed/trackset over several centimeters of new snow, with good conditions over a solid base which has survived the heat of the last week. Looked like one pass was done on Iron Springs, with well defined tracks still showing through the new snow, anywhere that didn’t get set today. Applying a cold glide wax worthwhile for the next couple of days, as the skis felt quite sluggish in the minus 20 temperature.
See photo here: http://www.bobtruman.com/Ski_Photos__Blog/page_2147016.html
Jan 18th Sawmill is completely chewed up by Snowshoes. A couple of women who toughed it out to the back lake said it was skier set but the front trails are pretty beatup with no tracks at all. very icy coming down and you have to dodge the 20 person groups of showshoes. Made for a thrilling but scary trip
Alf just sent this in:
“The upper Ribbon Creek trails between Nakiska and Skogan Pass are in great shape. The nicely groomed trails have held up well to the recent warm spell. They are fast due to surface hoar, but generally not icy.”
See photos at:
http://www.bobtruman.com/Ski_Photos__Blog/page_2147016.html