We went to Banff for lunch and a dip in the hot springs today. I knew it would be futile to go there to ski. Took a little walk on the Spray river trail to see just how bad it was. I imagine the photo is indicative of most of the ski trails in the area.
Skiers on Spray river west
As I walked back to the trailhead, it surprised me to see a couple ladies starting out. They were on waxless skis but it didn’t look like fun. When I learned they were from Vancouver and here on business but came out a day early to ski, I apologized for the horrendous conditions. They replied, “Oh I didn’t think it was that bad.”
Am I spoiled, or do they have poor conditions as a matter of course out there?
Spray river west
The snow was very wet and would have been impossible to wax for even if there was no debris. The air temperature was +6°C.
Things won’t improve for the forseeable future according to the forecast. The weather situation looks a lot better at Lake Louise, but I don’t know if they got the strong winds and consequent debris. There’s no new snow predicted for anywhere. What a freakin’ disaster.
Lunch was delicious. The hot springs were nice, but I felt disconcerted about going there without doing a long and vigorous ski first.
******
Banff National Park posted this on Facebook :
Trail Crew had quite a surprise this week when, while track-setting Moraine Lake Road, they were brought to a halt by a vole in the track. When one of the trail crew members went to investigate, the little rodent swiftly climbed onto his boot and up his leg!
Parks Canada photo by Dave Allen
After a quick photo, this little one was returned to the nearest visible vole track where it travelled briefly before diving back under the snow. Fun Fact: Animals that live in the space between the ground and the snow are known as “subnivean”.
Parks Canada photo by Dave Allen
Great to see the Parks Canada Trail Crew getting the story out.
I understand Dave even texts Kathryn at the Lake Louise Info Centre with updates… so, if they keep this up, we might be able to get quicker updates from the Info Centre than Skier Bob… the mind boggles!
But they were able to tell me exactly where the track setters were “Live”!
Of course we have to work on them being actually open.
As a former Vancouverite: we’re spoiled. The conditions out west can be pretty bad. That said, we pay for it with all the layers we have to buy. It’s a good bargain.
Yeah, the debris ruin the beauty of skiing.. 🙁
Went to Nordic Center y-day night – the tracks had some debris as well. The Skate lane was perfect though.
As for the wax in these wet and slushy conditions: The Klister is the answer 🙂
Universal mixed with Red. The proportion is varied depending on the amount of water in tracks – more water in the snow, more red klister to add.
Start also has a good Black Magic Klister that supposes to help to keep debris and dirt away from skis. But I’m not sure if it will work in these dirty tracks…
Haping for more snow!