Dec 27, 2019
The Wedge Connector is ideal if you’re a beginner or novice skier. Christine and I took Ricky out for his first ever ski trip today on Wedge and at the conclusion, he said it was a lot of fun.
Wedge Connector
Just so there’s no confusion, the trail which starts at Wedge pond is actually the Bill Milne trail for the first 400 metres. At the 400 metre junction, you can turn left and continue on Bill Milne all the way to Kananaskis Village. We continued straight on the Wedge Connector for another 2.1K.
Skiers at the Bill Milne/Wedge Connector junction
Wedge is in good shape. I’d give it a higher rating such as excellent if it wasn’t for the hikers who post-holed the middle of the trail. They were really deep boot prints, just like on Tanya’s report. I’m thankful it was the middle of the trail and not the tracks, but it is impossible to snowplow. Luckily, you probably don’t need to snowplow because the one small hill is pretty gentle.
Wedge Connector
The boot prints don’t start until you reach the 1K point. The hikers walked on the first 1k but it didn’t impact the trail very much. It’s a multi-use trail and walking is allowed, but good grief, with all the trails available for hikers, why do they have to destroy the ski trails.
That small hill is a lot of fun for a new skier. Ricky enjoyed it so much, he climbed back up for another go. The downhill is about 300 metres of sustained fun with a very small elevation drop.
Hikers destroyed the middle of the trail
The trail is relatively clean and free of any fallen trees. There are a couple spots where trees have been removed with a bit of debris remaining on the trail. You’ll see the odd little twig, but I removed most of them today.
The Wedge Connector ends at a small bridge over Evan-Thomas creek. With a bit of walking, you can reach the Evan-Thomas ski trail but it’s not groomed yet. When Evan-Thomas is groomed, I enjoy doing the 7k loop consisting of Wedge/Evan-Thomas/Bill Milne.
Wedge Connector
I also skied the Bill Milne trail between Wedge pond and the Mt Kidd RV Park. One tree is encroaching on the hilly part but there was still plenty of room to get around it as I was going downhill.
The air temperature at 2 pm was -6°C and the snow was -9. VR40(-4/-12) worked well but the snow was very abrasive and I had to add wax mid-trip.
The Ribbon Creek and Kananaskis Village trails are being groomed as I write this at 8:20 pm. You can follow the tracksetter’s progress on the Ribbon Creek Live Grooming Report.
Wedge Connector Dec 27, 2019
It was really nice to meet you today Skier Bob at wedge connector! That really is a great trail for never evers. See you on skis soon!
It was nice to meet you and your friends! -Bob