-Juliana, Tom and Mark at the Wheeler – Amos(south) junction-
No need for a long story about today’s skiing. Everything is perfect on the trails I skied in the middle section of Peter Lougheed Provincial park. The photos below will tell the story better than I can.
Jason on Pocaterra
At 12:20 pm, air temperature was -11°C, and the snow was -12. I lost or misplaced my brand new tin of VR40, so I used Start for snow temperature -7/-12 and it worked well. I could have used VR30, but I thought the temperature was going to warm up. It did a bit, and was -8 when I finished at 2:42 pm.
I started at Elkwood Amphitheatre and skied a 20K loop including Wheeler, Whiskey jack, Pocaterra, Lynx, Amos, Woolley, Meadow.
PLPP North trails. Click for larger image
The photo of Jason was taken while we were both doing a fast downhill on Pocaterra.
I’ve updated the PLPP Maps on the main menu. The new maps show the changes to Pocaterra, Come-along, and Boulton creek. I’ve also changed a couple distances which I know are incorrect.
Hi Bob,
My wife Taylor and I met you a while back at Ribbon Creek. We’ve been doing a tonne of skiing since then, and loving it! Your mention of the snow vs. air temp in today’s post struck a chord, since I’ve been working on my understanding of that with our waxing. In your experience, how quickly does the snow temperature follow the air temperature, assuming a typical forested trail (i.e., not too sun-lit), and average wind conditions? I did a terrible waxing job the other day, when I assumed the snow to be colder than it was!
Thanks so much, and cheers,
Jean-Marc
At this time of year, when the angle of the sun is low, the snow doesn’t warm up as much as the air. I’d guess the snow was 1-2 degrees warmer than when I started today, although the air temp was 3 degrees warmer.
Thanks Bob, that is helpful!