-You can read Martin’s evaluation of the Great Divide and the Telemark trail on the Trip Reports(under the name MaSid)-
We’re getting so many informative Trip Reports that I don’t have to do much anymore except post pictures. Nice!
The Great Divide was trackset on Sunday afternoon
Mikhail left a comment on Facebook yesterday saying that the Great Divide was trackset late Sunday afternoon. I took advantage of that information and had a wonderful ski trip across the Great Divide and into B.C.
Jennifer had been to the BC border and was now returning
It’s a rare occasion when you can ski the final 3k in windless conditions, as they were today. My skis already had VR50(0/-4) on them from Friday, and I had maybe a bit too much grip with the resultant icing but very minor. A notch colder would have probably been more efficient.
Jennifer: “The Great Divide was fantastic today!! It’s trackset, and there is lots of snow to pack the bumps previously mentioned. The skate lane looked soft, but if you’re a classic skier, I highly suggest a trip here!! It was a gorgeous day!”
I will soon be entering the province of British Columbia
MaSid: “Divide is track set now. Still a little soft and bumpy in the middle for the skater crew. But I didn’t see any unhappy faces. No wind today.”
The Great Divide is probably the best trail that exists for beginner skiers, at least for the first 6.6K. The trail is not exactly flat, but the hills are very gradual, and the trail is nice and wide. If you fell down, all that soft snow would cushion the blow. If you are a raw beginner, 6.6K would be more than you might want to tackle for your first time out. Remember, you need to save some energy for the return trip.
I’m now skiing on the BC side
GD also offers some of the most spectacular scenery of any ski trail. At 6.6K, the trail takes a quick downhill for 700 metres to the divide. It drops about 50 metres over that distance which makes for a pretty fast descent. If you continue, the final 3K takes you into B.C., ending at the Lake O’Hara parking lot. That final stretch can often have some nasty weather with strong headwinds and drifting snow.
There’s 7 cm in the forecast for Wednesday, and another snowmageddon event on Friday with 22 cm if it materializes. That would result in a lot more of the Lake Louise trails being groomed.
Where does the trail for the Great Divide start? Is it in Lake Louise close to Morraine rd?
Would appreciate if someone could give me that information.
Thanks!
Just click the blue “Maps” link at the top of the page – follow the “Lake Louise Winter Trails” link to get Parks Canada’s unnecessarily large and media-laden PDF brochure trail map. Great Divide parking is just 500m further down (up?) the road from MRL parking, jah?
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/banff/visit/~/media/pn-np/ab/banff/visit/brochures/brochures%202012%20pdf/Publication_Guide_WinterTrailsInTheLakeLouiseArea.ashx
My partner and I skate skied the Great Divide this afternoon. The first 4-5Kms were soft but feasible (we are beginners/intermediate) , we decided to turn around entering the BC border as the middle pile was just too soft to keep going…..We were quite disappointed that it wasn’t groomed for skate skiing.