Skiing update for Nov 28

Canmore Nordic Centre

-Pipestone trails. Photo by Chuck.-

A number of things to touch on today:

  • Canmore Nordic Centre
  • Bear on Elk Pass – Blueberry Hill
  • First Pipestone report
  • Grooming progress at Lake Louise 

Canmore Nordic Centre

A group of Meanderthals at the Canmore Nordic Centre

I skied at the Canmore Nordic Centre today on my Fischer Twinskins and had an enjoyable ski on very firm snow. The tracks were a bit icy but I think some sticky wax may have given grip. The waxless Twinskins worked well on these conditions.

CNC has about 2.5K of excellent trackset and groomed trails available, basically Frozen Thunder with a few additions. There is a track set from the daylodge down to Frozen Thunder except for about 50 metres where there’s a lot of ice. The natural snow trails we were enjoying there a week ago have become ice. The CNC’s trail report states:
“Trails Are Not Recommended for Skiing on Natural Snow Based Trails. Spring like Conditions, Unmarked Natural Hazards Bare sections, Ice patches.”

Canmore Nordic Centre

Bears are still out

Be sure to read Mary Perrott’s trip report. She saw grizzly tracks on Elk Pass and Blueberry Hill. A reminder, the first 2K of Elk Pass is not trackset. The tracksetting doesn’t start until the Hydroline junction. Don C also mentioned seeing the bear tracks on Tyrwhitt and Lookout. He also left us with the good news that “It was snowing hard when we left at 3 pm so hopefully there will be sufficient snow soon to trackset again.”

Pipestone

Check the trip reports for Chuck’s photos of the Pipestone trails which have been snowmobile packed. 

Canmore Nordic Centre

Lake Louise

Keith’s trip report is the first this year of any skiing on the Bow River trail. 

The upper trails at Lake Louise are groomed by the Heritage Guides at Chateau Lake Louise. I’ve received the first report:

Hi All!

Here is an update of the trails around the Chateau. Last weeks rain has slowed our progress considerably but we are still working on everything and hope to have most trails set for the weekend

Nordic Ski Trails:

Fairview Loop (#2): Sled packed from Chateau to the top of the BIG hill. Shoveling and trail work will continue this week.

Upper Tramline (#3): Double Trackset, Good condition.

Shoreline (#4): Shoveling and seld packing will be finished by the end of the week.

Lake Trail (#4): Last weeks rain and warm temperatures really set us back. There is currently to much slush on top of ice for a safe trail along the lake. We will need some prolonged cold for this to freeze. Travel not recommended.

Upper Telemark and Peyto Trails (#5&#7): Sled packed and leveled. We were scared to put a track in with the warm temperatures as when this trail freezes solid (as it is right now) it is quick!

Teaching Grid: Leveled

4 Comments:

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  1. Logging in Kananaskis Country is not new. Logging has occurred in Kananaskis every single year since Peter Lougheed first announced the creation of K-Country. The Highwood area has been part of Kananaskis Country since the beginning. Initially, less than 40% of Kananaskis Country was designated as Park land. The rest was Public Land Use Zone, which allows for forestry, oil & gas development, cattle grazing and recreation. Over the years, about 20% more land was switched from Public Land to Park status…so non-Park Land makes up less than 40% of K-Country.
    While logging, such as the most recent example at Highwood, sometimes raises concerns among the public, the real problem is that there is no recreation plan for the public land use zone in Kananaskis. This means that resource development decisions continue to be made without appropriate consideration for recreation or tourism values. Until such time that recreation gets the same legal standing as resource extraction, nothing will change.

    • Thank you Alf for your information. May be it’s time to bring in some changes to the government.

    • Your right Alf, plenty of logging has occurred near WBC and as a matter of fact, has been part of the ‘Kananaskis’ landscape since 1885 when John Lineham acquired timber rights in the upper Sheep River basin and floated thousands of logs down stream to his mill in Okotoks. Granted, the industry has evolved, and (thankfully) so too have our society’s expectations of regulated land use.

  2. Hello Skier Bob and thanks for your blog. I was wondering whether or not your blog is an appropriate place to bring up the topic of logging at the Highwood. The concern is that once this area is logged, then K Country will be next. This was a topic of concern on CBC radio.

    Thanks

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