Confederation Update

This is an update from Kevin at Foothills Nordic Ski Club:

Confederation Park Golf Course and Canmore Park are groomed and trackset. Great conditions.

The Confederation Park Golf Course parking lot is typically open to the public Monday-Thursday, 4:00-9:00 PM. Gate is closed to cars promptly at 9:00 PM. Don’t get locked in!

Outhouses are available in the Confederation Park Golf Course and Canmore Park parking lots.

Note: An individual, believed to be a nearby resident, has been observed walking along the ski trails with arms spread wide, intentionally contacting skiers. Ski with caution, do not confront the individual, but feel free to send any pictures of malicious activity to grooming@foothillsnordic.ca

New video

Here’s a 1-minute video from yesterday’s skiing on Lodgepole and Braille in PLPP. It has a surprise ending!

For more skiing videos, see the complete list of videos 

15 Comments:

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  1. Skated confed today. Really enjoyed the conditions – lots of room for both techniques – thanks very much to all the volunteers who have created this great facitlity. Great environment when skaters and classic skiers can co – exist and are nice to each other!

  2. Skied Confederation Golf Course this Thursday morning and noticed a crew putting up a fence around the parking lot. I would like to know what the purpose of this fence is for? Are we going to be charged to ski there in the future? Why is the parking lot only going to be opened from 4 to 9 PM. There are a lot of skiers who ski in the morning and afternoon and will still have to park on the street, would it not be better to open the parking lot early in the morning to these skiers.

    • From what I was told the city won’t allow the parking lot to be open unless the facility is manned by Foothills as the city is concerned about somebody going joy riding around the golf course which if you have been around awhile you know will happen. If you go to Shag Golf Course the fence is on the inside of the parking lot so that lot is open. If they were putting fence up on the inside of the parking lot then maybe it is so the lot can be opened up.

    • With the parking lot gate open, the City is concerned that joyriders will drive out onto the golf course and damage the turf. The fence around the parking lot is a requirement from the City if the parking lot is to be used.

      No one is going to be charged to ski or to use the parking lot.

      The City will not allow the parking lot gate to be open without having someone on-site, keeping an eye on things. Getting volunteers to do this from 4-9, Monday to Thursday is one thing. Quite difficult to find volunteers to staff it throughout the day.

  3. Is a far stretch to call the current conditions at Confed/Canmore ‘great’. The packed base is thin, tracks are washed out, trail marking is sparse and there is no snowfence installed to protect the tracks when the inevitable winds start to blow.

    There is more than enough snow on the ground to build a 2 foot base if it was raked from the sides with aluminum snow rakes, packed with the new UTV and trackset with the Ginzu.

    Heed the lessons of Bob Freeze/Hawk Ridge – he managed to build a much thicker base with far fewer hands on rough farm fields (i.e. not manicured golf fairways). Forget about the snowgun for now and get the existing snow harvested and set before the next Chinook rolls through and all the grassy bits open up.

    • Instead of complaining about it why don’t you grab a rake and help out the small group of volunteers at confed that are doing their best with what they have to work with.

      • there were no less than 20 volunteers out last night doing exactly and then it was groomed afterwards. I’m curious to see what it looks like now so I’ll go check it out tonight. If you are interested in helping then contact Foothills Nordic at volunteer@foothillsnordic.ca.

        • Knew Bob, and knew Hawkweed…several people were interested in taking it over near the end. Does SS know how much it cost him each year to keep it open? Those interested in taking it over found out, and that was that! The world is full of good ideas, but short on the hands or mean to implement them, eh?

          • And yet Foothills was able to crowdfund ~$150K for snowmaking and grooming equipment, have a massive volunteer base and aren’t paying taxes/rent for the venue. Plus the additional funds from grants, memberships and ski lessons. So there’s no shortage of money or hands.

            Those who wanted to take over HawkRidge wanted to do it for profit – not necessarily to support XC skiing.

            http://blogs.fasterskier.com/citizengroomer/

  4. If I have someone trying to clothesline me at Confed, I don’t know what I’d do? Any suggestions on how to deal with a crazy person?

    • Just act like a crazier person! Maybe that will scare them away. Actually that sounds like something the police should be called on.

      • “intentionally contacting skiers”
        You’re right Pete, under C.C. that is assault

        265. (1) A person commits an assault when
        (a) without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly;
        (b) he attempts or threatens, by an act or a gesture, to apply force to another person, if he has, or causes that other person to believe on reasonable grounds that he has, present ability to effect his purpose; or…

  5. Did you manage to get that girl’s permission to post her “trip”-report on the video on Braille? Ha, that looks like me doing a night ski there with failing head lamp batteries. It was nice to hear Scott M’s report on Bohart Nordic Centre in Montana; although I vowed not to spend a dime in USA until the new-to-be president has completed his term of office. And thanks Carol, for reminding us of the always meticulous grooming and excellent conditions at Dawn Mtn in Golden. I keep intending to visit there.

    It could have been my fault that she fell because I was standing in her way. She is a relatively new skier and is really fast, but I didn’t realize that she had to refine her stopping technique -Bob

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