Update Fri Feb 17 @ 9:45 a.m: South end trails in PLPP were groomed last night. Lake O’Hara fire road was groomed yesterday.
This is from Groomer Jeff at West Bragg Creek:
What a difference 48 hrs makes!!
The latest chinook and associated warm temps have again taken their toll. Widespread freeze-thaw events have left a variety of conditions out on the trails including, lakes, streams, ice, slush and some surprisingly skiable surfaces, depending on location.I would advise against using the trails until further notice however, as conditions are too unpredictable and can vary greatly within very short distances.
I had six straight days of skiing with good to excellent conditions, but it’s all come to a sudden halt, just like doing a faceplant when you hit wet, slushy snow. It was +10°C in Canmore today and I expect most ski trails are very wet. I figured today was a write-off, but thanks to Ray Perrott’s trip report, we know that Lake Louise received 5 cm of new snow. Hopefully some of the trails at LL will be groomed tomorrow and the temperatures there will be cold enough to preserve the snow.
The weather forecast is calling for cooler temperatures everywhere starting tonight which means icy conditions. We’ll require some fresh snow for most trails to become skiable again, but there’s not much in the forecast. The ski areas with snowcat grooming should be somewhat rejuvenated if you don’t mind skiing on “margarita” snow.
Now might be a good time to re-familiarize ourselves with Words to describe snow conditions. There’s definitely been a shortage of “Steppenwolf” snow this winter.
