Just in time

-The snow on Moraine Lake road was cold this morning but was borderline wet by 2 pm.-

Chris Thomas’ trip report was exactly what I was going to say about Moraine Lake road today “just snuck in under the wire with the temperatures today, started out at about -3C, finished at +2C (at 1 pm) so just the last km was a challenge on 0C purple wax, so tracks will likely be glazed tomorrow.”

Chip explains the avalanche hazard of skiing to the lake to these skiers who were unfamiliar with the terrain. They went anyway.

I sure enjoy getting out with my friend Chip a few times every winter. It took us a while to connect, but we finally got together today for another delightful ski trip, our first of this winter. While driving out to Lake Louise, I got caught up with his summertime adventures, and I’m always happy to see that he’s made it through another hiking, climbing, scrambling season mostly intact.

We started out on MLR with VR50(0/-4) which worked fine all the way to the end. The tracks were in excellent condition but we could have used bigger baskets on our poles. The big snowfall from last week created soft shoulders and our poles broke through with regularity. Funny, I was using the large baskets yesterday, and changed poles this morning.

Wonderful scenery along Moraine Lake road. Mt Temple is one of the many mountains which Chip has conquered.

We reached the end of the trail in good time, but may have lingered too long while having lunch and talking with other skiers because on the way back, as soon as we required grip, there wasn’t any. Conditions had changed considerably in such a short time.

We added the same 0°C wax as Chris, and did okay for the remainder of the trip back. Most of the trip back is downhill anyway. Snow temperature starting out at 11 a.m. was -2, at 1:30 pm it was 0. Anyone starting out this afternoon was using very sticky wax. That’s why I always go early 🙂

Chip was able to stay in the tracks while cruising down the big hill. I had to lift a couple times on the sharp turns.

We’ve had a nice run of good conditions on cold snow for ten days. I managed to have fabulous ski trips on seven of those days and rack up 104K. The weather forecast for the next five days looks dreadful, at least if you’re a cross-country skier. When we arrived back at the vehicle, we took out the Skin-Tecs and skied up Tramline. I thought I better start getting used to waxless skis again.

Did you see the ominous update on the PLPP trail report today? “As of Tuesday, light rain accompanies chinook winds and trails are trending towards saturated and not recommended for skiing. With more rain and warm temperatures in the forecast, conditions may deteriorate rapidly and the wind will deposit tree debris on trails.” Arrggghhhh!

I’m enjoying the photos and comments in the Emerald Lake Lodge contest, thanks for sending them in.

More photos from today…