Warming up for the weekend

Fresh tracksetting at West Bragg Creek. Photo by Groomer Jeff

Jan 17, 2020

Along with warmer weather, we have a lot of trails freshly groomed for everyone who is anxious to get out skiing after a week of hunkering down. 

The big news is that Goat Creek and Spray River(both sides) were trackset today. Read Barb Banff’s and Normand’s trip reports for more details.

McNair Pond. Kilometre 11 of the Lake Louise to Banff Loppet. Photo by Chuck

For anyone who would like to ski the first leg of the Lake Louise to Banff loppet, Chuck has documented a few kilometres of the trail with photos and descriptions on his trip report. It looks like snow conditions are exceptionally good, but you may want to remove your skis while going under the highway bridge. 

I’ve skied the 21K first leg of the loppet numerous times and it was beautiful in the early morning sun, especially along the Bow River in Lake Louise. The short section along McNair pond was another location where I wished I could have stopped and taken photos. 

The Ribbon Creek tracksetting crew was busy today. The image at the side shows all the trails which have been trackset. The forecasts indicate a high at Ribbon Creek somewhere between -10 to -14 on Saturday. It will be much warmer on Sunday, but probably windier too.

West Bragg Creek update from Groomer Jeff:

“It was a very brisk day out there, but a couple of dozen kilometres of trail got re-track set today. Tomorrow looks like another cold one, but your grooming crew hopes to have the majority of the trail system re track set for Balmy Sunday. Happy trails, and stay warm!”

Pipestone parking lot. Photo by Helen Read

Lake Louise tracksetting includes Fairview, Lake surface, and thanks to Helen’s info, Moraine Lake road. 

PLPP may see some overnight grooming. Check the Live Grooming Report in the morning. Update Sat Jan 18: Pocaterra, Lynx, Come-Along and Rolly Road were trackset last night.

Helen Read took a picture of the Pipestone parking lot today. It looks like it will be a while before we can ski there. 

I hope someone will check out Healy/Brewster Creek. The Sundance Lodge is open, so I’m curious to know if the trail is trackset.