Snowing at Elk Pass

There was already 5 cm of new snow over the packing which was done yesterday on Elk Pass, and it was still coming down. At the top of the big hill, we encountered snowshoe tracks, so it was a bit easier skiing in their tracks for the remainder of the way to the intersection of Blueberry Hill.

The temperature was right around zero, so it would have been a difficult waxing day. The moist snow builds up in the wax pocket, making it almost impossible to glide. We pre-empted that situation by using our waxless skis.

One of the advantages of skiing in fresh snow is that you can see a lot of animal tracks. A rabbit found the going easier on the packed trail, and after following it for 4K, we were still seeing its tracks when we finally turned around. A larger creature had come up, out of the forest, to the side of the trail, making a deep furrow in the snow, but didn’t walk on the trail, so it was difficult to determine exactly what it was. We hear there are still bears out, but I can’t imagine a bear choosing not to walk on the trail where it would have been a lot easier. No discernible footprints remained behind.

There were no rocks or other hazards that we encountered unless you want to consider a few small twigs as a hazard. Light snow was falling for most of the time we were on the trail. Driving home, it was snowing heavily around Barrier Lake. The weather forecast shows a snowfall warning in effect for the mountains, but not for Calgary. I expect the roads in the mountains to be in poor driving condition in the morning, mostly from the wet snow turning to ice.

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New Video

From Monday’s ski trip racing down Moraine Lake road.

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SkiHere wins award for second consecutive year
Top Backpacking Blogs

The only thing more amazing than winning this award, is that it actually exists. When you Google “Ski Blogs,” there are 166 million results, so making the Top 50 ain’t too bad I guess.

Criteria for this award: “…the most informative, engaging, and above all, useful blogs available. We hand  picked the Top 50 Skiing Blogs that make up this list based on their design,  user engagement, and on the accuracy and utility of the information provided.”

All contributors to this blog can share in this with me. Thanks for all the great comments over the past year.

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