New tracks on Moraine Lake road

Andrew was laying down a new set of tracks late this afternoon. He had already combed the skating lane, so MLR should be in prime condition Tuesday morning for classic and skating.

Beautiful new tracks on Moraine Lake road

It was trying to snow, so the early skiers may have a skiff of snow in the fresh tracks, although there is no snow in the forecast. The temperature is dropping down to -6°C tonight, with a high of -3 tomorrow, so waxing should be easy.

The first person I saw on the trail today was Chuck, one of this blog’s valued trip reporters

Air temperature at the trailhead was +1°C and it looked like about 2-3 cm of new snow fell last night. Today in mid-afternoon the snow was a little on the warmish side, but I was given good waxing advice at the trailhead by Chip who had just finished skiing. He said VR45(-2/-8) would be the best compromise and although I had very little grip for the first K, it got better and better, and I had no problem climbing the big hill. If left to my own devices, I probably would have waxed a lot warmer at the the start, then struggled with high-heels by 3K.

Jessica, Samantha, and James from Seattle. This was their first time on skis.

Just as I was starting up the hill, a group of three skiers were coming down. It turns out they were from Seattle and this was their first time ever on skis. They didn’t come here to ski, but they had hoped to see Moraine Lake. Skiing was the only option, but it proved to be too much of a challenge and they turned around about half way up the hill. Samantha was coming down in my tracks but I could see the look of fear in her face, and I quickly moved out of the way. We all had a nice chat and went on our way.

New tracksetting was occurring late this afternoon

Two people who did see Moraine Lake today were Bryan and Sibylla Lane from Banff. They said the ski down to the lake was excellent on skier-set tracks. Tracksetting ends 2K before the lake because of avalanche danger, and there is a sign posted to that effect.

By the way, I did not ski in the new tracks. New tracksetting is usually very soft, so it’s always best if they are given a few hours to set up properly. The old in-bound track was still there for me. The new tracks should be firm in the morning.

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