Update Dec 6 @ 8: 30 a.m: I’ve added 14 new photos to the Emerald lake Lodge contest page. The deep freeze has settled in; it’s -21°C in Canmore this morning. This blog set a record for unique visits on Sunday Dec 4 with 8,059. Everyone’s looking for skiable snow. Redearth Creek was trackset yesterday according to the Banff Trail Report.
Some of the Kananaskis Village trails were groomed(not trackset) this morning and offer pleasant skiing if you don’t mind dodging the occasional thin spot. It sure was nice to be skiing on some different trails for a change even if the conditions weren’t perfect.
The best conditions were on Upper Kovach
I arrived at 1:30 pm and could see that a couple skiers had already been out. A skiff of new snow was on the fresh corduroy. The air temperature was -12°C and the snow was -10. Not sure of what I would encounter, I used an old pair of rock skis which are very flat and slow.
Those are deer tracks crossing Terrace trail
Not all the trails have been groomed but you can do 10K with a bit of backtracking. Terrace north(but not the final 700 metres down to Ribbon Creek) , Terrace link, a portion of Kovach, and Aspen are groomed but you could ski on the ungroomed trails if you wanted to complete a loop without any backtracking. The Live Grooming Report is not accurate. The only part which isn’t groomed is the south portion of Kovach, below the Aspen junction, and Terrace to the village(1.6K).
As always in the early season, Lower Kovach has a couple hundred metres which are quite thin, as does Aspen. Upper Kovach in the vicinity of the Lookout was wonderful with good snow coverage. You can see the good and the bad in the gallery photos.
Terrace trail
I don’t believe I put any new scratches on my skis(although it would be hard to tell since they are already so scratched up!). I didn’t hear any scraping or grinding sounds, anyway. I removed a half-dozen small rocks from the trails. You’ll see lots of grass and twigs on the trails but they are inconsequential to your enjoyment, and do no damage to your skis.
I saw plenty of deer and rabbit tracks.
Check the Groomer’s Reports for the West Bragg Creek update.
My email inbox is full of photo entries for the contest. I’ll get them posted tomorrow(Tues) morning.
It must have been groomed Yesterday afternoon; I skied in the morning and got lots of scratches on my skis from rocks that I couldn’t see under that fluffy top coat. Sure could hear them