This winter, with warm weather and thin snow packs, it’s getting more difficult to find a good place to ski. From what I’ve been reading on the Trip Reports page, today was a challenging day for waxing.
The first year I skied, 1997 -98, snow conditions were wonderful everywhere I went and I thought it was going to be like that every winter. As I eventually discovered, that year was an aberration. Most of the proceeding 10 years were similar to what we are going through now, and that was one of the reasons I decided to start this blog. I’ve spent my share of time being frustrated with…
- no grip on slushy snow
- big clumps of wet snow in my grip zone
- risking my life on icy tracks.
Funny thing is, when I started this blog in Nov 2008, it was the start of three years of better-than-average snow and trail conditions.
We’ve been spoiled by the past three wonderful years, and this situation now is hard to accept. We can all be grateful, therefore, for all the readers who are willing to take a minute and share their information on the Trip Reports page. I hope it helps when making your decision on where to ski(or not to ski).
Lake Louise
Dogs are allowed on the Bow River and Campground loops at Lake Louise
It was Tessa’s day to choose the trail, and she picked a good one. Dogs are allowed on the Bow River loop and the Campground loop at Lake Louise so that was our destination today.
The snow temperature was -3, so still cold enough to use wax, and the best choice for today was Swix VR50. We spoke to a group of ladies at the Visitor Centre who had been out earlier on Tramline and Moraine Lake road. They were saying blue wax was working, so at higher elevations, and earlier in the day, it was probably colder.
The trail was in great shape and surprisingly fast for all the fresh snow. I generally only see this trail on a Sunday morning in late January at 8:20 a.m. as I’m doing the first leg in the Lake Louise-to-Banff loppet. It’s a pleasant ski on easy terrain, and if you’re not racing, you can spend an enjoyable two hours here with your dog. An added benefit is that everyone you meet on the trail is in a happy and relaxed mood.
The Campground loop has a skating lane, although today the only tracks in the middle were from snowshoers.
Just as we were finishing our ski around 4:30 pm, tracksetter John appeared on the snowmobile, and reported that he’d just finished tracksetting the Telemark loop.
For skiers with dogs, Lake Louise also has the Pipestone trails and the Lakeshore trail where you can ski with your best friend. In Yoho, the Yoho Valley road(aka Takkakaw Falls road) allows dogs, and it was recently trackset. A good place to check for Yoho trail conditions, besides the Parks Canada site, is the Kicking Horse Ski Club site. Scroll down to the bottom for the Trail Update.
