-Hugh, Cheryl, and Devon on Moraine Lake road-
Nice to be on waxable skis again! When I pulled into the Moraine Lake road trailhead, the first person I saw was Ray who had just finished skiing. I was hoping to get some timely waxing advice, but no luck. “I just used whatever was on my skis from last year.” Heh!
John and Patti
The snow was a lot colder today than it was yesterday. I used VR45(-2/-8) and had lots of grip. More than I needed in fact. That could be because I was using brand new skis for the first time and made the wax pocket too long. I scraped a few inches of wax from each end of my grip zone when I reached the end of the trail and had much better glide on the return trip.
Beautiful weather, cold snow, and spectacular scenery on Moraine Lake road today
The snow and air temperature at the top of the hill in mid-afternoon were both -7°C. When I started out at 1:30 pm(200 metres lower), the car said -2.
You will be reading lots of trip reports from Helen Read this winter
There was 4-5 cm of new snow over yesterday’s roller-packing. Still no tracksetting. I had a reasonably good skier-set track which was wobbly but it was firm and fast. The implement they use for tracksetting is sitting at the trailhead, covered with snow and looking very forlorn and neglected.
Lyle Wilson from Nipika Mountain Resort
I will be surprised, no, shocked, if the trail isn’t trackset for the weekend. Exactly two years ago today, Moraine Lake road was trackset for the first time with half as much snow. I remarked, “It’s amazing what magic they can work with so little snow.” So I’m optimistic.
John near Paradise creek
One of the advantages of starting late is that I get to see everyone coming down the trail as they’re returning. Lots of trip reporters were out today including Hugh and Cheryl Burton, Helen Read, and Chip. Devon, John and Patti are “future” trip reporters.
Lyle Wilson from Nipika Mountain Resort went flying past as I was talking to Helen. Lyle says they have some snow but not yet enough to groom.
Sorry I missed Chuck today, but it sounds like he was having a good time over at the Great Divide being stalked by bears. Make sure you read his trip report and click over to see the bear tracks.
There are two spots along the trail where your poles will hit pavement, one at Paradise creek for about 200 metres, and another at the curve at 7.1K which is maybe 100 metres. I would barely call it an inconvenience.
Any advice on going down to the lake? I know they have the avalanche warning but do many people actually go down and how risky is it?
Looks like similar conditions to today (Thursday) on MLR. Skating lane was a bit crowned but coverage was excellent. By 1:30ish groomers had begun rollering the uphill side of the road, presumably prepping for tracking. They had also skidoo packed Tramline above and below MLR.