I received the below email from Shabu. He’s looking for advice on the West Bragg Creek trails:
Bob,
Thanks for having a splendid site on Skiing. I am blind but I do X-country skiing. I have mainly skied in Kananaskis – Peter Lougheed Park and occasionally in Lake Louise. I have skied on Elk Pass and Whisky Jack with a bit of apprehension. I like deep track setting so when coming down a slope I don’t get off it. I have always a guide with me who guides whilst in the tracks and snow-ploughing. I was wondering how will I do at West brag. Are the trails difficult than PLPP? Are the tracks deep enough and what trails would be intermediate for me? Please let me know and I will really appreciate it.
Hi Shabu,
I echo Nick’s comment where he recommends starting early or going later in the day. Dogs are allowed off-leash on the Bragg Creek ski trails and I prefer navigating the downhills when there are fewer dogs around potentially running across the tracks.
Hi Shabu,
West Bragg Creek is a great place for xc ski. The infrastructure and the trail system are well developed and maintained. Grooming and track setting quality is top-notch, and what I mean by quality is the depth and straightness of the tracks. Note however, that the snow in Bragg Creek is generally softer than in Peter Lougheed, and so are the tracks.
You may like the Crystal and Mountain Road trails the most. Technically they seem easier to me than Elk Pass and Whisky Jack. Crystal is double trackset with the wide groomed skating lane in the middle. Mountain Road is double trackset with the tracks on right side when heading west. The left side of the road is a multi-use lane. Crystal Loop is roughly 7 km, Mountain Road is 4 km one way.
West Bragg Creek is a very popular destination for many on weekends. To avoid the crowds, I prefer to go early in the morning or later in the afternoon.
Cheers,
Nick
Hi Nick,If these trails work out to be comfortable for me, I might go there frequently as Bragg Creek is closer.
Once again thanks.
Shabu.
Thanks indeed for your response. It helps a lot. My wife and myself are planning to go tomorrow and try the trails out.
Hi, Shabu:
I enjoy the ~15 km (without adding it up) loop as follows:
Mountain Road/Mountain View West/Tom Snow/Moose Loop/Moose Connector/Mountain Road back to the parking lot.
It’s intermediate in my opinion, due to a downhill on Mountain Road, another one on Mountain View West, and a couple of rollers on Moose Loop. As I recall the track setter doesn’t put tracks in when he/she considers it too steep for people to safely stay in the tracks, which is normal in all the places I’ve skied. WBC is always weather dependent, being lower elevation than the mountains. If there’s snow, there’s great tracks.
If you are in Calgary, we like Maple Ridge golf course the best of all the local places. We went Tuesday night, and they had rolled it that day ( I think), with good tracks just beside the rolled part, probably from skiers out there before the roller went through for the first time.
Hope this helps…
Keep those tips up!
With kind regards,
Herb
Thank you very much for your suggestion. I have skiied a lot but not in West Bragg so tomorrow will be my first time. Hopefully I enjoy West Bragg.
Take care,
Shabu