Tracksetter John at Lake Louise goes above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the best possible trail conditions for all of us skiers. Today, as I was skiing along the Great Divide, I encountered John at the second Telemark trail junction.
Tracksetter John at the second Telemark trail junction(There are three places along the Great Divide where you can access the Telemark)
He’s made one pass with the snowmobile already on the Lower Telemark trail, but as you can see in the photos, this is one gnarly place to make a trail. It’s not skiable right now, at least not with skinny track skis. It takes a lot of shovelling to get the snow in the right places.The Telemark trail was never a road, it’s just a path cut through the forest. It has plenty of old tree stumps and roots, lots of low spots where water can appear, and many other challenges which John mentioned but I can’t remember right now.
Moving snow from a high spot onto the trail. Part of the challenge with the Telemark is that it’s built on a slope.
John made note of the fact that Alasdair Fergusson and the Calgary Ski Club have spent countless hours working on this trail so that it would be easier to groom and trackset. With fewer hazards, it takes less snow depth to make a safe, enjoyable ski trail.
The Upper Telemark also has had one snowmobile pass but requires a lot more snow before it will be skiable.
John later appeared on the Great Divide on his skating skis to check out his handiwork.
The Great Divide
The Great Divide(old 1A Hwy) is now groomed for skating and single trackset. It’s in good shape, although pole tips occasionally touch pavement, and there’s still a few bumps on the skating lane. The old pavement has many heaves and places where vegetation is now growing, so it’s not quite as perfect as Moraine Lake road. Great views, though.
The Great Divide is groomed and trackset
Snow temperatures at Lake Louise are staying below freezing, although today there was some of that semi-wet snow falling so waxing was a bit of a challenge. I used my waxless skis to avoid any problems.
Moraine Lake road
There was a couple cm of new snow over yesterday’s grooming on MLR but it’s in excellent early-season condition. When I was skiing on MLR in the late afternoon, the snow temp was -3°C and the fresh snow had been well skied-in, so I was able to use my waxable skis with Swix VR45(-2/-8).
Bill, the manager at Wilson Mountain Sports in Lake Louise, told me that he had well over 100 entries in the Atomic SkinTec skis contest on the weekend. We’ve made a believer out of him. Thanks to everyone who stopped in and entered.
