Today, my thermometer didn’t get above -32. I’m bunkered down and just staying inside, except for a lot of snow shovelling. The weather forecast is predicting good skiing weather for Saturday and Sunday. For Banff, Environment Canada is forecasting a high of zero on Sat and -3 on Sunday, with lows of -15 and and -7.
If the amount of snow on my driveway is any indication, there should be a few trails revitalized from this snow and bitter cold. I’m thinking especially of Healy Creek(because of the loppet), but I’m looking forward to getting back out on Goat Creek, too. I would expect the natural snow trails at the Canmore Nordic Centre will be vastly improved as well.
I imagine, and hope, all the tracksetting crews are waiting for some decent weather to get back on the trails. I see from the Kananaskis report that PLPP did some grooming yesterday. I don’t know if there are any implications of trying to groom and trackset such cold snow. Maybe Jeff or Jody can comment if they are reading.
After today’s -32, the predicted high of -22(and sunny) tomorrow will seem pretty nice!
Each x-c ski season I try to “thank” the groomers for all their EXTREME hard work in creating such beautiful trails for us to ski on, by bringing in a big batch of homemade cookies and leaving them with staff (eg. my friend Carol) at PLPP Visitor Centre to give to them. This is a perfect day for baking, so let’s show the groomers how much we appreciate their hard work and cook up a batch of homemade cookies for them to enjoy. Not sure where to leave for Lake Louise groomers but they sure deserve some treats too!!!!
What a lovely thought and act, Helen…
Nice gesture Helen. I second your kudos .We have a cross country paradise now compared to the old days when skis where the only thing that did this job. It can be a very cold experience so thank you boys.
Hi Bob,
There are a few issues when grooming in these cold temperatures. The main one is equipment there is a lot of moving parts and hydraulic hoses that tend to break when the cold becomes extreme. Most of these cats are not really designed to work in much colder than -25. My older machine blew 12 hoses once in -35 and it was so cold they didn’t leak until I put it inside for the night.
We tend to lay off the grooming when it’s this cold just to keep our equipment from breaking down.