-The smile from Karen says it all-
Update: Video from Nov 22 skiing on MLR
A severe case of envy will set in as you look at the photos from today’s skiing, that is, if you weren’t part of the fun.
I wouldn’t have missed this day of skiing for anything, and everyone on Moraine Lake road agreed, it couldn’t be better. Cold snow, easy waxing, a bright blue sky, beautiful weather, and those wonderful new tracks.
Moraine Lake road at 7.2K
When I arrived around noon, the air temperature was -3°C and the snow was -4. Swix VR45(-2/-8) worked well all day, although I could tell the snow was colder at the top of the hill, between Kms 4 – 7.
Moraine Lake road
Everyone must have read last night’s update because it was quite busy. “Busy” for cross country skiing means you see another skier or group of skiers about every 5 minutes 🙂
The official distance for Moraine Lake road from the trailhead(where it intersects Tramline) to the end of tracksetting is 8.9K(the avalanche sign), but if you start right at the barrier at the end of the parking lot, and ski to the viewpoint where everyone actually goes to, the distance would be 9.2K.
Moraine Lake road
I met Helen Read who ignored the avalanche sign and skied all the way down to the lake. It adds about 3K to your trip and is on skier-set track. She said it was excellent all the way.
Moraine Lake road
I’m usually the last car in the parking lot, but skiers were still arriving as I was leaving. The conditions should stay nice with the predicted cold temperatures. There are small amounts of snow in the forecast which will serve as a good top-up and allow the grooming crew to re-trackset again.
Although they don’t all show up in the photo, this is the Valley of Ten Peaks. This viewpoint is 200 metres past the avalanche sign.
Beginner skiers
Moraine Lake road is a relatively easy trail for the first 2.6K where it crosses Paradise Creek. This portion of the trail would be a good one for beginners and novices to practice on. If you’re feeling confident, you could cross Paradise Creek and go a couple hundred metres up the hill, turn around and practice your snowplowing technique on the way back. Watch out for speeding downhillers, though.
Great Divide
Great Divide
I skied out for 1K on the Great Divide to see how it’s holding up. There’s been 3-4 cm of new snow since it was trackset on Sunday. The tracks are a bit washed out and wobbly but the snow was cold and the tracks were fast. The snow temperature was -6°C. I met Bob and Karen from Red Deer who had just finished. They said it was in good shape all the way to the O’Hara end. Watch out for the bear, though.
