When I read that MaSid was going to Elk Pass to work on his couch, I was thinking it would be a good day to do some exploring and tracking. Alas, my job comes first, and I thought most readers would want to know about the conditions on the new tracksetting in the north end of PLPP. Hopefully I’ll find the couch when it’s finished and ready for company.
Fresh tracksetting on Lodgepole
Temperature was -18°C at the PLPP Discovery Centre (formerly known as the Visitor Centre). I started out on Meadow, crossed the road and on to Lodgepole which had new, excellent tracksetting. Likewise Braille. It sure didn’t feel like -18 in the bright sun. While on Braille I stopped and removed a layer as I was getting too warm.
Colin and Janessa on Braille’s new tracksetting
Crossed the road again and enjoyed the wonderful conditions on Wheeler which had brand new tracksetting. Jen and Cody from Winnipeg had found a picnic table in a sunny, scenic spot along Wheeler to have their lunch.
Gillian and Guillaume on Whiskey Jack
The final 500 metres of Wheeler(near Packers) is not trackset but the snow cover is fine and it has been groomed. Ran into Charlie and Pam at the Whiskey Jack – Moraine junction. It seemed a lot colder here, but they said it was a lot warmer on Tyrwhitt, so I’m thinking there’s an inversion happening.
Pocaterra at Whiskey Jack junction. If Helen was here, she would break trail on the right side! I skied on the left side where it was already skied-in.
I decided to climb Whiskey Jack in search of the warm weather. WJ has a couple cm of new snow over the recent tracksetting at the bottom, and about 5-6 cm at the top. Sure enough, it was a lot warmer at the top.
Pocaterra to Lynx for the first time this season was a pleasant and fun downhill if not real fast on the fresh snow. There should be pretty good conditions after the next tracksetting.
Most of Lynx looked like this, but there were a couple spots with an excess of twigs.
Lynx had nice grooming, no tracksetting, a couple locations where twigs are sticking up but it’s totally skiable. I was climbing the steep hill, but it looked safe for descending.
Lynx, Woolley, and Meadow are still low on snow but are skiable. This was about the roughest spot I saw in 6K of skiing on these trails. It’s not bad.
Things got a little rougher on Woolley and Meadow but both trails are totally skiable. Some uneven patches, a few twigs here and there, but no rocks and nothing that would damage your skis and nothing that I would consider dangerous. We’ll need another significant snowfall to enable tracksetting on these trails.
I always hate stopping at the Packers junction because, as you know, it’s the end of the fast downhill and with a full head of steam, it’s nice to continue flying down Pocaterra. I eventually came to a stop, and backtracked just so I could take a picture of Packers. It’s still looking pretty rough.
Stoney-Nakoda is at the corner of Hwy #1 and Hwy #40 on the doorstep of Kananaskis Country
Check the Ribbon Creek Live Grooming Report for today’s update. Lots of roller packing including Ribbon Creek, Hay Meadow, Bill Milne, Wedge, and Evan-Thomas fire road.
Everyone driving south on Hwy #40 passes right by the Stoney-Nakoda Resort and Casino, including me. Today I stopped there for lunch(or was it a late breakfast?) on my way through, as I often do. I’m not much of a gambler, but the food is excellent and I took a picture of the food specials which they are offering. Stoney-Nakoda has been a long-time supporter of this blog and offer my readers a Sun – Thurs room rate of $79. Check the ad on the sidebar for details.
Hey Bob! Just wanted to thank you for helping us find some great tracks yesterday! We ran into the grouse again on our way out and basically did the reverse of the trails we skied with you.
Til’ next time,
Janessa
My pleasure. Good luck with your training. -Bob