Big sky country

Strathmore golf course

Just as Cheryl, Tessa, and I finished skiing the Strathmore golf course, who should pull up to go skiing but the man himself. 

Groomer Ed Meyer and wife Tina at Strathmore golf course.

It was a thrill to finally meet Ed Meyer, the groomer who creates this amazing 10K network of beautifully-groomed and trackset trails. The trail conditions, snow quality and weather were close to perfect today. 

Cheryl and Tessa were enjoying the excellent conditions at the Strathmore golf course.

There was a few cm of fresh snow since the last tracksetting but Ed did a bit of grooming this morning to work in some of the new snow. The air temperature at 2 pm was -5°C and the snow was -7 in the shade. I used VR45(-2/-8) and had perfect grip. Cheryl was on skins. 

You can ski on the lakeshore or on the lake.

It’s a real treat to have a venue where we can let Tessa trot beside us off-leash. There were other skiers and dogs on the trails but with so many trails, it’s rare to encounter anyone. With few trees or mountains to impede your view, you can see other skiers off in the distance.

The tracks at Strathmore golf course were excellent.

I hope the trails in Calgary, West Bragg, Ribbon Creek and Strathmore can survive the +8 temperature which is forecast for Monday. It is warm for one day only, and some snow is predicted for Tuesday. 

Thanks for all the trip reports. It sounds like conditions are excellent everywhere. Welcome to all the new people who are leaving trip reports. Readers are appreciative of the information you provide. 

Take note that the Pipestone trails and parking lot will be closed as of March 11. Tomorrow(Sunday) will be the last day you can ski there. MaSid’s couch on the Pipestone River will be lonely for the remainder of the winter. 

At West Bragg Creek, Telephone Loop has been trackset.

 

3 Comments:

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  1. Unfortunate about pipestone closing. Wanted to get in there today and see how the couches have faired over the course of the winter. Sounds like they have been user maintained well, although there wasn’t really a big dump after they were built. If anyone was there today and can share a photo or some info, that’d be great. Worthy of doing again? Other/better locations? Thanks in advance.

  2. Thanks Bob for highlighting the tracks at Strathmore (and thanks to Ed for the hard work!). We had a lot of life changes this past fall, one of which was moving to a farm north of Chestermere out of Calgary. Farm life and 3 busy teenaged kids means there hasn’t been much time to get out to our usual haunts for skiing – even WBC is a longer haul now. I have been missing the quick trips to Confederation Park so I was delighted this morning to be able to head out to Strathmore for a quick ski before the kids’ activities start up for the day. What a hidden gem!

  3. Thanks for the kudos Bob.
    It was great to finally meet face to face. Glad you enjoyed your time out.

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