West Bragg Creek
Hi Bob
Sundog, Iron Springs
Skied this route on Saturday and simply had to return again today. Conditions are wonderful – snow like silk, albeit tracks skier set due to snowfall. We didn’t mind a bit. Used red wax today and worked wonderfully. I say it worked wonderfully for me – I am 135 pounds, my husband 250 – he found red wax too slow – I suppose his weight should be factored in.
May get another ski in at Bragg Creek tomorrow before those woeful warm temperatures return!
A happy spring skier
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Evan-Thomas Creek
Hi Bob,
A couple of us skied up Evan Thomas Creek (headed left just before the bridge over the pond) to have a look at the frozen waterfalls. The conditions were generally great with blue sky and despite being on skinnier skis we only sank about 5 – 10 cm while breaking trail. Plenty of snow made for good bridges across the creek. We wandered around quite a bit having some fun (in case you decide to follow our tracks). We stopped at Moonlight Falls to watch a couple of ice climbers. A beautiful day!
Cindy Heselton
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The dream winter by which all subsequent winters will be judged
Peter was looking forward to having a picnic on this beautiful sunny day at the Nordic Centre, but the picnic table was buried in snow. Mar 27, 2011
What an incredible year for snow at the Nordic Centre. As you can see in the above photo, the picnic table along Meadowview trail has almost disappeared. It will be fun to watch this “barometer” of snow depth in future years. We ran into Dale Swanson who’s been skiing at the Nordic Centre since it was created in 1986, and he says this has been among the best two winters ever for snow.
Banff trail loop. Mar 27, 2011
Conditions were excellent when Peter and I started out this morning. The tracks were a bit icy in a few spots, but nothing more than a minor inconvenience. My red Toko was gripping well, as was Peter’s VR50. The tracks were fast, and it didn’t take much effort to ski as long as you had enough grip to ascend the hills.
Skiers at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Mar 27, 2011
It's always nice to drive up to the Nordic centre and see the flag hanging like this. Not a breath of wind when we started skiing today. Mar 27, 2011
We skied on Banff trail, Meadowview, and Freddie’s Flip. Instead of skiing to the end of Meadowview, and taking the ultra-fast and steep competition trails down to the daylodge, Freddie’s Flip is an alternative that’s fun and fast, but not too scary. It spits you out onto the upper loop of the Banff trail where you have about 2.5K to get back to the daylodge.
Late this afternoon, Cheryl wanted to ski for a while so I went back to the nordic centre with her. The tracks had turned to glare ice, and the stickiest wax would barely grip. We would have been better off skating or using klister. In six hours, conditions had changed dramatically.
Dig out those running shoes
Skiing is coming to an end, but the good news is that you can start running. How about a 5K or 10K run to welcome the warm weather? Blaine Penny, one of our regular posters, is encouraging all skiers to stay fit and join him for the MitoCanada run on May 1 in Canmore. youtube.com/watch
Canmore run
Thanks for the post yesterday on PLPP, Bob – it encouraged us to put in one last big day at the Park under some cloud, some sun. Temps didn’t get too high, but some of the trails are suffering a bit from glazing – notably Blueberry Hill which was frustrating (warmer wax would have helped on the way up but hindered on the way down). The latest tracksetting on Whiskey Jack and Packers was wonderful, and of course, getting sunshine for the run across Tyhrwitt is always a bonus. VR50 with a touch of V55 worked for us (most of the time).