I returned to PLPP yesterday and had another very enjoyable afternoon of skiing on almost the identical trails as on Tuesday. They’ve received 2 – 5 cm of new snow over the past two days depending on elevation and it has helped to bury any remaining tree debris.
Moraine at the Whiskey Jack junction had new tracksetting
I stopped at Ribbon creek on the way out and took a photo. It looked fabulous, but the tracks were a bit glazed. I spoke to a skier who had just finished, and purple wax was still working fine. Ribbon creek and the Kananaskis Village trails were trackset on Wednesday. The temperature at the trailhead was +1°C.
At the Pocaterra hut, about 2 cm of fresh snow has fallen on the previous tracksetting. I expect that it will be trackset again before the weekend. I walked out about 50 metres and took a photo and saw no debris on the trail.
The moose had been browsing on shrubs along side of Whiskey Jack
Curiosity about verifying the GPS distances was the driving force behind my skiing on the same trails again. Climbing Whiskey Jack from Moraine junction gave me 3.4K which agrees with Ray’s and Keith’s numbers. The trail’s in great shape for climbing or descending with the 2 – 3 cm of fresh snow.
Skiers on Wheeler
There was evidence of the Moose on Whiskey Jack. It appears she spent considerable time browsing on the shrubs at the side of the trail.
The next leg of my GPS journey, the stretch of Pocaterra from WJ to Packers, gave the same reading as on Tuesday, 2.9K. From Packers to Lynx was 3.2K which was 200 metres more than the reading on Tuesday. I’d be happy to receive feedback from others on that one if you can watch your GPS next time you ski it.
A little bit of fresh snow in the tracks can slow you down. On Tuesday, my top speed while descending Pocaterra was 41.5KmH, while yesterday it was only 36.5.
Does anyone remember the old Lynx trail before it was re-routed to avoid the ice flow? It didn’t have that big hill, and it was 400 metres shorter. I included a photo where it branches off, and it appears some skiers are still trying to use it.
If you’ve lost an item of clothing or gear, check the photos. I’ve included a picture of the “lost and found” at Pocaterra hut.
The air temperature at Elkwood at 2:30 pm was -1°C. At Pocaterra at 5 pm it was -3°C. I used Toko blue(-2/-6) which gave me excellent grip for climbing and I didn’t need to rewax.
Your moose left tracks all over Packers some time on Tuesday. Wouldn’t it be exciting to be cruising down one of the steep hills and have it step onto the trail. Do you think it would react to “Track!”?
It reminds of the time I was flying down Whiskey Jack with my friend Chip. There was a coyote standing ahead on the trail. He started running down the trail when he saw us, and kept about 30 metres in front of us no matter how fast or slow we were going. After a few minutes of this, he must have got bored, and ran off into the trees. -Bob
Bob – I pretty consistantly get 3.0Km as the distance on the section of Pocaterra from Packers to Lynx.
That’s probably it, because Marlene also got 3.0K the other day. -Bob