On my way back from Calgary, it was already late afternoon and I had no intentions of skiing, but my vehicle just automatically turned at Hwy #40 when I reached the casino exit.
I arrived in Peter Lougheed Park with about one hour of daylight remaining. I checked a few trailheads, but only saw new grooming on Meadow, which I already knew about from the trail report. I skied from Elkwood to the Visitor Centre and back on Meadow, and it was pretty decent. No tracks, a few uneven spots, but nothing serious.
Back at the Elkwood parking lot, I heard the tell-tale sound of a Pisten-Bully. Jody had just started his shift, and was laying down brand new tracks on Wheeler. This is only a wild guess, but I’m expecting by morning we’ll have the first tracks of the winter on Wheeler, Whiskey Jack, Tyrwhitt, and Kananaskis Fire Lookout(north side only).
If past experience is any indication, Elk Pass, Hydroline, and Blueberry will be groomed and trackset on Friday.
Pocaterra
For those who want to ski from the hut, Pocaterra trail is groomed(not trackset), and is skiable. Tracks start when you get higher up, at the Packers junction.
If you are a beginner or a novice skier who is looking for an easy trail, Wheeler would be a good choice, as would Spruce road. Both are trackset.
By the way – has anyone tried the Mount Shark trails yet?
It looks like Kananaskis Country just posted an update to their website showing that Spruce Road and the WWL Access were groomed and trackset while Wheeler was groomed only. We’ll have to see what the morning brings! Thanks Bob!