Skiing at its best

Jeff groomed and trackset Skogan pass this morning and you’ll never ski on better conditions than I did today. I originally set out for PLPP, but stopped at Ribbon creek to see what was happening. It was about 2:45 pm, and no sooner did I park than the Pisten-Bully showed up, having just finished all the north trails.

Look at that incredible snow! After climbing the steep Skogan screamer on corduroy, the tracks resume on more level ground.

I had the most wonderful ski up to the Skogan pass summit. Air temperature was -4°C at Ribbon creek, and the snow was -3. At the top, the snow was -5. It’s a 620 metre elevation gain over a distance of 10.3K.

On the final 4.2K there was already a dusting of fresh snow in the tracks.

A coyote had descended the trail right from the very top to the Marmot junction. I was accompanied by her tracks for most of the way to the top. Where I went straight ahead on Skogan pass, the coyote took the scenic route around the Skogan loop, but sure enough, her tracks appeared again as I reached the top of the loop.

Skiing under the powerline at 7.5K

The trip down only took 36 minutes. It was pedal to the metal all the way on these excellent conditions. As I was descending the screamer, about half way down I glimpsed a moose on the side of the trail but had no opportunity to take a picture at the speed I was going. There were lots of moose tracks on the fresh grooming. Somewhere on the way down my GPS indicated that I went 75 KmH. That would be incredible if true, but I can’t believe it.

The final 10 metres to the Skogan pass lookout. The coyote marked his territory on the right side of the trail before heading down.

Also trackset today were Sunburst, High Level, Marmot Basin, Coal Mine, Hidden, and Troll Falls.

Ribbon creek has some fresh snow but is still in good shape.

We can expect to see the Bill Milne and Wedge connector groomed tomorrow. These trails have a skating lane.

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