Ski season is on!

It’s wonderful to be back on the snow! With 4 cm of new snow over yesterday’s grooming, the Kananaskis Village trails were very enjoyable today. The sun made an appearance in mid-afternoon and there was not a breath of wind.

Upper Kovach

When I arrived at 2:15 pm, the air temperature was -13 and the snow was -7. It’s nice to ski on VR40(-4/-12) this early in the season with great grip.  I skied the perimeter loop of 7.3K which includes Terrace from the village, Kovach to the Lookout, and back to the village.

My mantracker skills told me that about eight other skiers had been out on these trails earlier today. The nice thing about fresh snow is that you get to see a lot of animal tracks, too. 

Untracked snow on one of Kovach’s S-turns

I encountered very few hazards; two rocks on Lower Kovach which were easy to spot and avoid however it was a good thing I was on my rock skis because I was careless while going over those rivulets on Upper Kovach which intersect the trail and hit some dirt. I could see them coming and could have been more careful. If I remember correctly, there’s three of them. 

The junction of Kovach and Terrace Link

Some places along the trails have large tree canopies and the snow can be a bit thin right underneath them. I noticed a few places where some twigs were sticking up through the snow, but not very often. 

The S-turns still had lots of snow and I tried to avoid snowplowing it all to the edge. As I approached the village, there were a few places where the trail wasn’t groomed but had Pisten-Bully tracks through the snow. I didn’t have any problem skiing right on the tracks. 

The skiers who were out earlier left me some untracked snow, so I had fun breaking trail as I neared the village.

The snow guns have been going at the Canmore Nordic Centre

Canmore Nordic Centre

I stopped at the Canmore Nordic Centre and Frozen Thunder looked great with all the fresh snow. See photo in the gallery below. The snow guns have already been operating and each one had a small mound of snow near it but they weren’t running when I was there. 

If you missed the trip report, Alaric provided this bit of news:

“Len has been out grooming (still too thin for tracks) on the Bow Loop (aka Lower Banff Trail) out to the far end.  A little thin in places so best to be on rock skis, but surprisingly great. I classic skied even without tracks as it would be a little thin for skating. Quick reminder that you need a day pass or an early season pass if you are skiing as the regular season pass doesn’t start until November 18th.”

Lake Louise

Today on Facebook, Anna Elkins left a comment that Tramline was being snowmobile packed while she was there.  Yesterday, Eric R reported that Moraine Lake road was packed. The Parks Canada trail report is down as I’m writing this. Perhaps it will have an update when it’s back up. 

Skogan Pass

Check my previous post for an update on Skogan Pass which was groomed and partially trackset today.