A wonderful discovery

My first look at the Strathmore golf course

I had trouble deciding on a title for this blog post.

Amazing news for dogs and dog owners
A beautiful day at Strathmore golf course
Off-leash skiing close to Calgary
Don’t make assumptions
The best $5 I’ve ever spent
Good food and warm bathrooms

Looking back at the clubhouse

I was curious about the Strathmore golf course so decided to check it out today. It’s exactly the same distance from home as West Bragg Creek, about 65K.

There was good coverage and nice corduroy over most of it.

Cheryl and Tessa tagged along and dropped me off at the golf course and agreed to come back in an hour. I mistakenly made the assumption that being a golf course, dogs wouldn’t be allowed. Later I discovered that Tessa could have skied with me, and off-leash no less.

Chip had warned me the wind could be nasty out there on the open prairie, but I’m happy to report it was a beautiful sunny day with barely a breeze. The air temperature was -3°C and the snow was -6, so easy waxing with VR45(-2/-8).

There were some thin spots with grass and snowmobile ridges but no rocks or dirt

The clubhouse/dining room was open so I went in and introduced myself to Matt, the assistant manager and one of the golf pros. He was very helpful and friendly and had the neatest hair-do. He pointed me in the right direction and asked me to report back after skiing.

Skiing along the lake

The start of the trail is at the north end of the clubhouse and there’s a locked mailbox on a post where I slipped in my $5.

Not exactly sure where to go, I followed the grooming and ended up skiing 9.7K and didn’t do all the trails. I had to text Cheryl and ask her to give me an extra half-hour.

Randy was skating and Patrick was doing classic

As we’ve read previously, the golf course has been roll-packed. Like most trails, they could use 10-15 cm of additional snow, but I had no problems negotiating around the thin spots. There are a few dips and snowmobile ridges, but no dirt or rocks. I used rock skis, but didn’t need to.

It’s very safe because there are no hills of any significance. The trail is wide enough for skating.

Well worth the $5

You will also see some unusual “wide-ribbed” tracks along side the ski trail. I received an email from Ed Meyer with an explanation: “We were setting up more snow fence on Friday and the wide ribs are from our utility sled which doesn’t have a snow comb on it yet (going to install tomorrow).”

After skiing, we had a delicious meal in the clubhouse complete with a tasty dark beer from the Origin brewery located right in Strathmore.

Dogs are allowed off-leash

While chatting with Matt, Cheryl asked the ridiculous question if dogs were allowed on the golf course. Sure, Matt replied. Surprised, I piped in “As long as they are on leash, right?” To my amazement, he said they are allowed to run off-leash.

If you go with your dog, please pick up after it or we will lose the privilege.

The clubhouse and restaurant, known as Stix, is open Tuesday-Saturday noon-8 pm. The ski track is open 24/7. You can buy a season pass in the clubhouse for $40.

We first learned about the Strathmore golf course near the end of last season when Ed Meyer sent me an email. When there is enough snow on the golf course, the grooming is done with a snowcat as you can see in this post from last year: Another place to ski

Here’s a map to show the location of Strathmore golf course.

Glenmore Park grooming

Pete sent me an email saying there’s a 3K groomed skate loop in South Glenmore park in Calgary.