The Goat Creek/Spray River trail from Canmore to Banff is my second-favourite ski trip of all time. Now, with a few changes to the tracksetting, it will be even more fun and a lot safer.
Skier on Goat Creek
Goat Creek is a wonderful trail with lots of variety and magnificent scenery which runs from the Goat Creek trailhead above Canmore to the Spray River bridge at 9K. From the Spray River bridge you can go a further 9.9K on Spray River West to Banff.
Goat Creek
Last winter we had a very limited window with good conditions. It was not trackset until Dec 14(although we had enough snow since Nov 14), and in mid-January the weather changed dramatically. Thereafter, it rained, turned warm, we had little fresh snow, and Goat Creek became icy and not very skiable.
Goat Creek at 2.5K with Ha Ling peak in the distance
Goat creek has historically been double trackset by Banff National Park with a ridge of snow in the middle which makes it difficult to snowplow on fast downhills, or to change lanes. It becomes treacherous when hard-packed or icy.
Any reader of this blog will know that I have been a critic of the infamous “ridge.” You can see the ridge in some of the photos I’ve posted, but I also created a video which illustrates the problem.
For further background, click on this link to read a post from last winter which generated 23 comments A predicament on Goat Creek and the remedy.
Goat Creek bridge at 7K
Goat Creek gets heavy use by skiers, snowshoers, walkers, and fat-bikers. Last winter, it was suggested on this blog that it would make a lot of sense to groom/trackset the trail to better accommodate the non-skiers, and do away with the annoying ridge. It would make it a lot safer for skiers, too.
Spectacular scenery along Goat Creek
Today I had an informative meeting with Banff National Park’s Visitor Experience Manager, Greg Danchuk and his sidekick, Eric Baron. I requested the meeting to address not only the Goat Creek issues, but the tracksetting plans for the upcoming winter. As you may recall, last winter there was very little tracksetting in BNP. It occurred only on weekends, and as mentioned, some trails were not trackset until well into December.
Greg assured me that tracksetting would occur whenever there was enough snow. Goat Creek will be single trackset and will have a lane of corduroy for all the multi-users. The ridge will be gone!
Goat Creek ends at the 9k mark at the Spray River bridge
There are a number of other initiatives which BNP is undertaking to address the growing number of multi-users. I won’t get into a lot of detail, but for example, they are planning to encourage multi-users who are setting out from Banff Springs Hotel to use Spray River East and leave Spray River West to the skiers. Signage is being prepared to facilitate this, and possibly even “trail ambassadors”(that’s my name for them) will be on hand to suggest to users where they would have the best experience.
Skier Bob and Chip at the Goat Creek trailhead (The distances on the sign are incorrect. It’s .9K to Banff boundary, 9K to Spray River, and 18.9K to Banff) and dogs are only allowed as far as the Banff boundary.
In addition to being a terrific ski trail, you’ll often see signs of wildlife on Goat Creek. Many times I’ve seen wolf and cougar tracks. Twice in the summer I’ve encountered bears(not just their tracks).
With the limited window of opportunity last winter, I still managed to ski Goat Creek eight times on very good conditions. My life will be complete if I can ski Goat Creek a dozen times this winter!
You got me, Bob. Add another 6′ 39″ to the tally for “Picture Postcard”, and 4′ 16″ for Hydroline, as I couldn’t stop watching, again!
I just tuned in for the first time this season, as excitement was mounting. Now it’s over the top, with a supercharge of adrenalin from Hydroline and the “Drop of Doom” 🙂 🙂 🙂 . Looking forward to the mellow bliss days, a la Postcard, along with the thrill days, and the long steady “runner’s high” days, and the You-never-know-what-to-expect days, and …
See you out there.
Living in NS, its always great to ski out West,,ie Nordic center,Elk Pass and really enjoy your column esp all the trails I may have missed over the years. A question,, What is the actual distance fr Spray lakes to Banff on the Goat trail one way,and is it groomed for skate skiing. A return trip would be doable in a day??
Bob Murray Amherst NS
The distance is 19K one-way, or 38K return. The trail isn’t wide enough for skating. You could do a return trip quite easily in one day IF conditions are favourable, if you’re fit and a reasonably efficient skier.
Thank you Bob Truman for your wise insight & continued advocacy on behalf of the recreational cross-country ski community. Agreed with delayed grooming in BNP last year and having skied various for 25 years, I’ve indeed witnessed the ebb and flow of the fed’s (& prov govt’s) commitment to not just accommodating, but facilitating xc skiing as the sport has evolved. We are a large, lightly tread but often nearly inaudible user group that NEEDS to be louder & more persuasive of our requirements -and THAT is why I thank you for your tireless service to our ‘community’.
Great work Bob! I know that you’ve been an proponent of getting this fixed for quite some time.
I’m at home on a beautiful sunny Southern Ontario day, recovering from a slight back spasm (don’t tell them at work that I’m really just prepping for the Jays game!).
I began with watching your Goat Creek ‘ridge’ video, and with a nice cup of tea I continued from one wonderful SkiHere video to the next. I’m always impressed by the superb musical choices for your ski videos!
So today you might say that you were my XC ‘Warren Miller’, and really got my ‘juices flowing’, as in term that Gord recently used.
One of my favourites is the Fox Creek video with Chip.
It will be interesting to see how this section has changed with this past year’s improvements.
Henry, you don’t know how much I appreciate your comment about my musical choices. I doubt that anyone has ever heard the music I enjoy because it’s so obscure. “Skiing in a picture postcard” is the most-watched video(in minutes watched) of all the videos I’ve created.
,,,my second-favourite is this one Hydroline Feb 5, 2012. It was the day in 2012 when I reached 1000K for the winter and I felt like I was flying. The snow, the weather, my skis, everything was perfect, or should I say, magical.
The music is certainly obscure to my ear.
Whatever your recipe Bob, don’t give it away. I’ve done enough music editing for video to know that you have a great knack that can’t be taught! I hope that you continue to treat us to more this winter, which, of course, will be filled with lots of the beautiful white stuff.