-Mary at the top of the big hill. She had already been to the end of Elk Pass when I met her.-
Mackenzie and Ian on Elk Pass.
It was like Christmas morning when I logged in and saw that some grooming and tracksetting had been completed in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. After the warm weather and rain, this was an unexpected bonus.
Stunning beauty on Elk Pass
The air temperature at Elk Pass parking lot was zero when I arrived around noon. The snow temperature was -1, and it looked like wax would work. I started up the big hill on the new grooming with VR50(0/-4) and had minimal grip. I decided to wait until I reached the tracksetting at 2K before I made any adjustments to the wax.
Arriving at the Elk Pass – Blueberry Hill junction
All along the way I was meeting and talking with happy skiers who had read the blog this morning and headed for Elk Pass. Most were on waxless skis which was reason enough to be happy. I met Mary at the summit of the hill with a big smile on her face. She had already been to the top of the pass and now had 1K of fast downhill to finish the day.
Emily on Blueberry Hill
Soon after the tracksetting started, just past the Hydroline junction, I applied some VR55 and had much better grip.
The intersection of Elk Pass and Blueberry Hill is a popular resting spot, lunch spot, and general all-around meeting place. Many skiers were gathered around when I arrived.
Margot stopped to chat on Blueberry Hill
Do I go to the top of Elk Pass or head up Blueberry Hill? I did Elk Pass last Saturday, so decided some variety would be nice. Blueberry Hill is trackset for 2.7K, thereafter it is just skier set for the final .5K to the end. The snowcat is unable to navigate any further at this time.
Ward and Ania at the Elk Pass – Blueberry Hill junction
I enjoyed skiing part of the uphill with Emily whose friend Dave was way ahead of her. My VR55 was grabbing a bit on the colder snow, but not enough to be of concern. I was happy to have the excellent grip.
There was an incident on my return which could have been lights out for me, but luckily I can yell really loud. I’ll fill you in with my next update.
