Spring skiing?

PLPP was shrouded in snow today
(click on a photo to see the larger image)

Looks a lot like winter on Moraine trail. Apr 16, 2011

Cheryl and I headed up to the Kananaskis Fire Lookout today. It was snowing the whole time we were there, with lots of accumulation on all the trails. 

Be careful what you wish for...Already with an accumulation of 8-10 cm, the snow was still falling at the Elk Pass trailhead. Apr 16, 2011

This comment from Diana Piggot tells some of the story…

Glorious snow in PLPP today! (I’m not so good at pictures :S )
The Packers – Pocaterra – Whiskey Jack loop had been groomed last night, so was somewhat popular today, among the truly committed “crowd”, i.e. not so crowded. There was several inches of fresh snow on top of the grooming, and it kept on snowing. Fantastic! A little sticky, but not too bad, and a lovely tour in wonderful conditions for this time of year. A group parked beside us in the Boulton Parking lot did the loop in the opposite direction. We met them about halfway around, then again as we were approaching the parking lot – they had so much fun the first time they decided to go around again!!
What a pity the National Parks stopped grooming several weeks ago – this is the best spring skiing ever.

The wall of snow on Lookout trail. Apr 16, 2011

The air temperature at Boulton Creek was -2 as we started up Whiskey Jack around 1:20 pm, with conditions exactly as Diana has described.

The fire lookout is usually one of the best places to get spectacular photos, but the visibility was poor today, so not a good day for taking pictures. How about this mailbox? There must be 125 cm of snow here. Apr 16, 2011

We hit it pretty lucky with the wax. I used Toko red(-1/-2) and had adequate grip, and it got better as we gained elevation. By the time we reached the Fire Lookout, where the temperature was -8, the grip was great without any icing. Cheryl had success with VR50 covered with VR45.

We returned the same way we came. As you know, it’s an ultra-speedy trip down. I had to bail on one of those sharp corners. You either stay in the groove which has been created by previous skiers, or you’re in the rhubarb. The snow was nice and soft, though.

Pocaterra trail between Whiskey Jack and Packers. Apr 16, 2011

Back on Pocaterra, we were gliding along quite fast despite all the fresh snow. The trail had been skied-in well(thanks to Diana), and was just trackset last night.

Packers. Apr 16, 2011

Turning left at Packers, we had an easy time descending with all the fresh snow. Back at Boulton, Cheryl drove the car to Elk Pass trailhead so I could ski Moraine. Good tracks in about 8 cm of fresh snow(see photo at top).

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