Earliest ever tracksetting at West Bragg Creek

Colleen, pictured above on Loggers, read my mid-afternoon update about the tracksetting at West Bragg Creek. She grabbed her gear and headed out to indulge in the early-early season snow and grooming.

Tom on Lower West Crystal Line

We’ve already had a number of reports from WBC, thanks everyone. I’ll add a few photos and give you another glowing report.

I did the West Crystal – East Crystal loop which is about 8K. It was all trackset and in great shape. I did not see one rock, and there was very little grass poking through. Just a few slushy spots which were of little consequence but I did stop and shovel snow onto two of the larger ones. There’s plenty of extra snow on the side of the trail. When I ran into Eduard he reported seeing two rocks as he was coming up West Sundog.

Groomer Jeff, aka Boomer Groomer.

Of course with all the snow and the first grooming, conditions are a little soft but going slow is almost mandatory in such a beautiful place.

For wax, my VR40(-4/-12) which was on my skis from Sunday at Lake Louise did the trick. The temperature in late afternoon was -9°C and it dropped one degree while I was skiing. It was also snowing when I left.

This happy dog’s name is Dex.

I’m posting the photo of the fat biker because I want to remind everyone that these trails are “multi-use” until the end of November. All trail users should try to be polite and accommodating with each other. You might see hikers, bikers, snowshoers, and horses. They are designated as XC skiing only, from Dec 1 to Mar 31.

As long as everyone is willing to share the trails and accept some compromises, we can all enjoy the early season bonus. The alternative is that the government makes us live with hard and fast rules… and then nobody is going to be happy with the resulting lack of flexibility.