Instant winter

I’ll take -17 any day if it’s this beautiful

Tara from Banff on the Spray River west side. Nov 21, 2010

I’m glad we didn’t let the cold weather or the football game deter us today. It was a sparkling winter wonderland in Banff National Park as we skied the Spray River west side this afternoon. Mike Freeman’s photo from yesterday was enough to motivate us and I’d have to say that the trail was in better condition than I saw it at any time last winter.

Who wouldn't be happy about this wonderful snow?!! Nov 21, 2010

When we got out of the car at the trailhead, it seemed remarkably pleasant for -17. I skied with one layer and a thin shell and felt no cold.

The trail was trackset with about 3 cm of fresh snow. Nov 21, 2010

At 5.3K where the west side meets the east side(which has been snowmobile packed), the tracksetting continued on, I’m guessing to the 9.6K point. According to the trail report, if you continued on to Goat Creek, it’s only snowmobile packed.

We had some company. Nov 21, 2010

On our way back, we were marvelling at how preferable it is to ski in this cold snow, compared to spring skiing when you have to fight with variable conditions and difficult waxing. Green wax worked perfectly today.

Stopped at the Banff hot springs after skiiing and met some holidayers from Texas who came here to experience winter in our majestic Rocky Mountains. People from the far reaches of the globe will save up and plan a two-week once-in-lifetime holiday to come and see the beauty of this spectacular place. I am truly thankful for living here and being able to experience it every day.

Karen Fisher sent this email:

“I know that it is chilly out there but we had a fantastic  ski on Saturday  Nov. 19th to Elk Pass. It was groomed and track set to the pass with about 4 cm of new snow on top.   Seven members of the Norseman Ski Club enjoyed our first ski of the season.

Thanks for your blog, keep it up.”

A quick note of thanks to everyone who sent in comments and emails this weekend. Keep ’em coming.