Tracksetter John and Skier Bob on Moraine Lake road at Lake Louise
Of all the places on the face of the earth, by some fluke we were lucky enough to end up in close proximity to the best early-season skiing to be found anywhere. Adding to our bounty was another 12 cm of snow on Moraine lake Road last night, allowing John to trackset it again, and Upper Tramline has been trackset as well. (This is significant – read my parking instructions below.)
I arrived in the late afternoon to find Tracksetter John at the MLR trailhead….not on a snowmobile, but on skis! He had just finished skiing the trail, checking out his handiwork from earlier in the day.
MLR is now double trackset with a wide skating lane. The snow today was much softer than yesterday, but with a cold night tonight, it should set up nicely and be firm and fast tomorrow. The forecast is calling for -15 tonight, so any colder blue grip wax should work fine.
No rock skis required. I used my best skis today, with good glide wax, and improved my top speed from yesterday’s dismal 28 Km/hr to 42 Km/hr. Love that GPS!
Parking instructions for tomorrow
Vehicles are lined up and down Lake Louise Drive with skiers trying to access Moraine Lake road ski trail
If past experience is any indicator, when you arrive at MLR tomorrow, you’ll see vehicles lined up and down the road for hundreds of metres. (Unless you are a real early-bird.) Odds are that you might have to walk a kilometre just to get to the ski trail. You’ll be walking on gravel with your ski boots, and dodging traffic on the road.
The Parks Canada parking lot at the Chateau is spacious and allows easy access to Moraine Lake road with a 1.6K downhill ski
Upper tramline is now trackset, so drive on up the road to the Chateau parking lot. Rather than walking on gravel to get to the trailhead, you’ll find a huge, almost empty parking lot within a few metres of the Tramline trailhead. It’s a pleasant 1.6K ski down to MLR. You’ll know when you’re there, because you’ll suddenly see hundreds of skiers(okay, maybe a couple dozen), with many of them weary from a long walk. As I write this, 1083 people have read this blog today. I’d like half of you to come on Saturday, and half on Sunday. 🙂
Say hi if you see Cheryl and me on the trail tomorrow. We’re hoping to get there by 11 a.m.(we’ll be skiing on Tramline first).
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Excellent skiing today. Cold must have kept most folks away, as there were only about 20 cars in parking lot at 10:45 am. Brilliant sun, and dead calm. Fabulous. Poles hit pavement just for a short stretch near top. PM, skated the 1A. Still soft, as it has just been rolled. No classic track yet. Should set up nicely overnight. Steffi, George and I had entire road to ourselves the whole time.