Jessica in the Lake Louise to Banff Loppet 2019
As the empire goes through its first extreme cold snap of the winter, congrats to Chip and Alf for braving the elements and submitting trip reports.
Arriving at the Corral Creek turn-off, about 11k into the Lake Louise to Banff Loppet 2017
Banff Tracksetting Update
A number of skiers have been wondering why there’s been no tracksetting in Banff for the past week. I asked Eric Baron, Product Development Officer, Visitor Experience, Banff National Park, Banff Field Unit. I received this reply to my inquiry…
“(Tracksetter) Don has been away and will be back tomorrow.
For the Tunnel Mountain Campground ski offer, all of the approvals are in place but the volunteer tracksetters are working on the Loppett course.
Cold weather wax
Please continue to check the Banff Trail Conditions web page to see when grooming is completed on the various trails.”
If BNP would let us know about these absences, it would save us checking the Banff trail report numerous times a day.
Also in Banff, there should be some grooming on the Brewster Creek trail later this week. Sundance Lodge opens this weekend, so the snowmobiles will be going back and forth along the trail.
Loppet season is just around the corner
The temperatures will moderate just in time for the Lake Louise to Banff Loppet this Sunday. It’s a good opportunity for non-racers to ski some trails which will only be groomed once this winter.
Check my Loppets page for a list of upcoming loppets.
The Kicking Horse Ski Club posted some information today about their Feb 15 event, the Nordic Yoho Challenge
Agreed! Who do we write letters to for this kind of thing?
Send feedback regarding this issue to Eric Baron. eric.baron@canada.ca
Eric is temporarily in charge of this department. The Visitor Experience Manager is normally the person who looks after this area, but that person is retiring. Eric was one of the Parks personnel who I met with in 2016 to discuss the reconfiguring of the grooming on Goat Creek. That’s where the grooming changed to single tracksetting, leaving a multi-use lane for hikers, snowshoers, and fatbikers. It also got rid of that godforsaken ridge down the middle. It was a big improvement over double tracksetting where both tracks would get trashed by multi-users, and the ridge was a safety hazard. You can read some background on this Great News re: Goat Creek
Don is the only guy that does tracksetting in the Banff area? That is Parks Canada lame. What would happen if the guy got sick or injured for a few months?
Parks Canada needs a back up plan. Cut the clear cutting and burning of Banff forests and shift the money to tourism enhancing services, like trail maintenance instead. The tourism economy will be better off along with people’s health.