Diamond dust

Something interesting always seems to appear on the ski trail. We skied the Tyrwhitt loop in PLPP today, one of my favourites.

Climbing Whiskey Jack(well, not in the above photo; we’re on one of the rare flatter stretches there). Whiskey Jack gains about 200m elevation over 4.3K.

Nice views in the above photo as we near the top of Whiskey Jack. If you want a closer view of the mountain, click on the photo 🙂

So far this year, we’ve been making the left turn at the top and heading down Pocaterra. Today it was finally time to go right…

Skiing through the meadows of Tyrwhitt was as beautiful and peaceful as ever. Heavenly.

Could have used green wax. The temp at the Boulton Creek trailhead was -8, but up higher my nose was telling me that it was closer to -15. I stopped at the picnic bench on Tyrwhitt to don some warmer clothes, as I knew we would soon be descending on Elk Pass.

After 9K of slow-going through fresh snow, we arrived at Elk Pass and were thrilled to see…

All downhill from here. I hated to break the momentum, but I just had to stop and take a few more photos along Elk Pass…

As if it wasn’t fun enough already, what more could we ask for  to make our day even better? Arriving at Fox Creek we could see new tracks there as well….

One of the best things about this loop is the amazing variety you ski through in only 18K. Fox Creek is a dramatic change from the wide trails up to now. It meanders single-track through forest which you could reach out and touch. In this direction, it’s slightly downhill and more enjoyable than you could imagine on the good snow and tracks.

It goes by way too quickly.

We did the homestretch on Moraine which was also in excellent shape…

Lots of carnage on the highway between the Stoney-Nakoda casino and Canmore. A semi-trailer overturned in the ditch, and a Jeep on its side at the Lac des Arcs curve. Be careful.