Friday night update

-The Great Divide at Lake Louise has better snow cover the further you go. Photo by Chuck O’Callaghan.-

Thanks to all the trip reports, we have a good idea where to find skiable snow this weekend.

Patrick Davis had a good time at the Canmore Nordic Centre’s Frozen Thunder(once he found it). Don’t feel bad, Pat, about getting passed by all those racers-in-training. I’m quite used to it by now. The nordic centre has been making snow like crazy this week, but I’m not sure if they’ll have any more skiable terrain by Saturday. Pat sums up his day with “All in all, it was fantastic!”

Chuck’s report on the Great Divide indicated that he ventured further than I did yesterday, and it sounds like the snow gets better the longer you ski, and he sent the photos to prove it. I wonder if anyone will ski up the Lake O’Hara road tomorrow? I expect Moraine Lake road will still be in reasonably good early-season condition, packed but not trackset. Word has it that snow gets thinner after the 7K mark.

Elk pass appears to have been snowmobile packed but is not yet skiable

You can stay in Calgary and ski at Shaganappi or Confederation golf courses. Chip enjoyed his day at Confed, and reports that “the track is a bit thin in spots, but there are no real hazards.”

Rich is not recommending West Bragg with “Way too many hazards poking through the snow.”

Thanks to everyone who has left trip reports so far this ski season.

There’s about 5 cm of snow at Pocaterra, not enough for skiing

PLPP in Kananaskis

We took a drive to PLPP this afternoon, curious to see what’s transpired there. Most trails have about 5 cm of snow, and it appeared that Elk pass had been snowmobile packed but it’s still too thin for skiing. There were skier tracks on Wheeler, which is a paved trail, but I hope those skiers were using old skis, as I could see some pavement poking through in places. If you’re new to this blog, PLPP stands for Peter Lougheed Provincial Park.