Skiing at its best!

What a fantastic day! Without a doubt, these were the finest conditions I’ve seen so far,  and I had my most enjoyable ski of the season. This must be the best place in the world to ski.

We hit the trail around noon on the first machine-set tracks of the season at Pocaterra. The thermometer at the hut said -18 but the sun was shining, the wind was calm,  and I was soon down to one layer. The snow was surprisingly fast for being so cold. The snow temp was -16 so waxing was simple and easy. Climbing hills was a breeze because you hardly ever needed to herring-bone. As you can see in the above photo, Peter skied the whole way without poles!(Just kidding).

The groomers have been doing a great job here. Every trail we skied was trackset and in good to excellent condition. Lynx, Amos, Wheeler, Whiskey Jack, and Pocaterra.

Speaking of tracks, we had company. These very fresh tracks were running along Pocaterra near the Whiskey Jack junction:

I’ll be relying on our readers to help me decide what animal belongs to these. Two days ago, I posted photos of tracks along Whiskey Jack in powdery snow and Lorne suggested they were Lynx. A rare and magnificent animal to ever see, but I was fortunate enough to have a Lynx cross the trail in front of me about 8 years ago on Boulton Creek. Maybe 20 metres away, he seemed pretty casual and not scared, just trotting along.

Here’s a close-up:

Perhaps this next photo will give another indication of who this was. It stopped to mark some territory here:

The grooming in PLPP is beyond compare. Just look at those immaculate tracks! The next 6K to the Lynx junction is about as much fun as you can have with your skis on. Mostly downhill, some long straights where I could stay ahead of Peter, and some twists and turns where Peter scares the bejesus out of me when he passes – and somehow manages to stay on his feet!

I’ve changed my day trip to Pocaterra for tomorrow(can’t wait to get back there!). It was originally going to Lake Louise, but the expected high is only -17. In PLPP it’s going to be a balmy -11. We skied in -18 today, so it should be even nicer tomorrow.

Peter wore thin socks today, so he was happy to get back to the warm and cozy hut with the blazing fire:

Thanks to these kind gentlemen who we met along the trail for taking the great photo at the top of this post:

They were heading down Tyrwhitt which looked to be freshly trackset. The groomer was out working today, so I expect there will be more trails trackset than what it says on the trail report.

I not only get to have a wonderful day on the trails, but I came home to this email which I find very gratifying:

Hi Bob,

Thanks for putting together such a great blog!  My boyfriend and I are quickly becoming Cross-Country enthusiasts, and since discovering “Ski Here!” about 3 weeks ago, our trip planning has gotten a lot easier.

Keep up the great work!

Regards,
Deana Hall