You’ve read the enthusiastic Trip Reports. It was indeed a terrific day on the south trails in PLPP. I might still be out there if I hadn’t run out of water.
GPS statistics for today. I would have made it to 50 KmH if I had better glide wax!
My half-litre was finished at 20K, so I was pretty thirsty by the time I reached 30K. It was hard to stop skiing, though, with the excellent snow and tracks.
From MaSid’s report, it sounds like Helen was thirsty today, too.
Tyrwhitt at its best
I’m still thirsting for more of these incredible conditions. I was eager to hit the trail when I read Jody’s report this morning and looked at the Live Grooming Report, but then I thought I should give it some time to warm up from the cold -19°C. I don’t have any skis glide-waxed for cold snow!
Andrew and Anna, on Tyrwhitt, arrive at the Whiskey Jack – Hydroline junction
I started up Whiskey Jack at 12:40 p.m on perfect tracksetting and cold snow. The air temperature was -3, and the snow temperature was -5 in the sun at Boulton Creek trailhead. From the way my wax was reacting, I could tell the snow was a lot colder in the shade. I used VR45(-2/-8) and it worked well all day.
The top of Blueberry Hill
The skiing was marvelous and all the trails were magnificent with cold, clean, dry snow and no debris or fleas. My intention was to ski the iconic Tyrwhitt loop (Whiskey Jack, Tyrwhitt, Elk Pass, and Fox Creek) but I got sidetracked a few times, wanting to squeeze in as much as possible.
Descending Blueberry Hill, you only see this sight for about 2 seconds because you’re going so fast
I took a side trip to the top of Blueberry Hill and spent half-an-hour at the picnic table admiring the views. Unfortunately this bright sun is our enemy now.
When I was rocketing down Elk Pass, I remembered there is one spot which gets a lot of sun, so I was prepared to hit slush, but no problem. The snow was in the bright sun, but no deterioration had occurred. I sailed right on through.
Elk Pass
Fox Creek and Moraine had good tracks. There is some debris, but most of it is embedded in the tracksetting so it doesn’t create any problems. The tracks are hard and fast which I enjoyed, especially going in the downhill direction of Fox Creek.
Moraine
When I got back to the Moraine – Whiskey Jack junction, I headed right back up WJ, knowing that Pocaterra had been trackset last night, too. At the base of Whiskey Jack, the snow in the shade was -8. With 25K on my wax, I added a layer before starting the climb up WJ for the second time.
Packers had 6 cm of fresh snow at the top, 4 cm at the bottom
I was tired and thirsty while climbing WJ, but the thought of the thrilling downhill to Packers junction kept me motivated, and Pocaterra was everything I expected. I’m not sure if my euphoria was all from the remarkable skiing, or if I was getting delirious from lack of hydration.
There’s about 6 cm of fresh snow at the top of Packers, so I had an easy, hilly-fun descent with no ice flows.
I could see you and your intrepid reporters smiling through the words of your cellective trip reports.
I also loved Kate’s summary, “we read, we went, we skied our little hearts out…”
Perhaps Bob’s Army could have a slogan, ” Veni, Vidi, VR40″ !
Then again, the lucky crew at MaSid’s couch might argue that it should be “Veni, Vidi, Vino”.