Here’s the report from Chuck…
First ski trip of the season was Great!
First skier on the Great Divide – Yipee!
As the Great Divide was not ploughed last week, this trail had a base that is now frozen. And yesterday it got a few centimeters of fresh snow on top of it. The first kilometre to the meadow is sun affected, but conditions improve rapidly, and were really good at the 5 or 6 kilometre mark. Pole tips did not even strike pavement then because of the ice layer underneath the snow.
You may even see a moose who has been active in the area.
There was quite a bit of activity at the Moraine Lake Road, but it included Fat Tire Bikers and Hikers on a road that had been driven on since the snow (as well as ploughed for the weekend), so we were happy with our choice. Saw nobody all day!
Check out more of Chuck’s photos at:
https://1drv.ms/a/s!AhVZXBE7vMV7gQCsPN1LDyrWK5F9
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Let your voice be heard
Snow making is possible at Confederation golf course this winter
This is from Kevin at Foothills Nordic ski Club:
It is very important that the City of Calgary knows that the nordic ski community supports the efforts to improve cross country skiing in Calgary.
We asked the City “What is the best way for the nordic ski community to express its support for our proposal?”.
This is the process that was provided to us:
Follow this link:
Select “Recreation – Golf Course Inquiry” as the service type and click “Go”.
Then let the City know that you support Foothills’ proposal for improving nordic skiing factilites at Confederation and why you think it is so important.
Let your voice be heard. Thanks!
We skied Great Divide today to the shelter. Now in poor shape,with big patches of bare pavement, for the first few k’s. Spring conditions really with hard crunchy at 10 am, corn snow mid morn and slushy by noon. Much better at Divide end.
Good work Chuck and Jeanette! Usually I’m game for some early skiing, but right now I’m feeling pretty wimpy about snow and winter, as we are just back from nearly 2 weeks in the hot desert sun of southern Utah.
Thx for the info Chuck. How long do u think the trail will last ?
cheers,
I think this base will last.
Friends of ours went on Sunday and had this to valuable information to add:
Cindy and I were there today at around 10:00 am, there was a little bit of
new snow overnight and Chuck’s track was still obvious, but it was very wet
(0 to +2). Luckily there is an ice crust just above the road, to protect
your skis from the pavement. The snow is deepest at the Lake Louise end and
by the meadow it was pretty thin, at times going through to the pavement,
but then gets deeper again. We used silver wax which worked very well, I used my trail skis and Cindy used her track skis, both were fine. We went for about 45 minutes, a little farther than Chuck & Jeanette’s track from yesterday, then turned around — that was enough for the first day!
If it cools off and snows more, the skiing will be great … kind of the
usual story …
Done! Encourage others to contact the city as well…
Thanks for the instructions on how to submit to 311, I certainly wouldn’t have figured it out by myself… probably would have gone with the porta-potty option 🙂
So what are we saying here? ” I support the use of the GC for Nordic skiing?” Or are they expecting a bit more than that?
It is okay to provide the City with as much or as little comment as desired.
It could be “I support the Foothills Nordic plan to improve nordic skiing facilities at Confederation.”
Can keep it as simple as that, or add more “why” comments:
– There are no nordic facilities with reliable snow in Calgary, a Winter Olympic city of over 1 million people. This will help.
– The City should be supporting recreational initiatives like this, especially when there is no cost to the City.
– Help get year round use out of these City lands and facilities.
– With no nordic trails at COP anymore, Confederation is going to see more use. This initiative will help deal with the increased use proactively, instead of re-actively.
Or any other reasons that you can think of.
Thanks!
(And it wouldn’t hurt to send a second 311 note regarding skiing at Shaganappi as well.)
Okay, I have submitted comments supporting snow-making at both golf courses 🙂
It is actually quite easy!
Thanks Kevin and Bob – there is also the Calgary Ski Club’s project for snowmaking at Shagannappi Golf Course, which is potentially ready this winter. Skiers should support both projects in their comments to the City. We’ve been skiing on these golf courses since the early 1970’s, and both the clubs and the City have offered XC ski courses there. But most winters, natural snow permits skiing for only a short time. Since Winsport will not support XC ski trails, we need snowmaking in the city.