Friday night update

Helen and Kai at the Crystal Line/Loggers junction

Update Oct 24 at 8:30 a.m: The snowfall warning for Calgary and Bragg Creek has ended.

I enjoyed some wonderful sking today at West Bragg Creek, and by the number of WBC trip reports which have been submitted, it appears that a lot of other people were having fun, too.

Eric and David on Mountain road

I was thinking that the parking lot at WBC would be crowded tomorrow(Saturday), but will the snowfall warning keep some people away, or just bring more out? The snowfall warning is for Calgary and Bragg Creek with 10-20 cm expected. Snow will continue overnight tonight with the snow tapering off late Saturday afternoon.

David and Mazi at the high point on Loggers

Not all the forecasts are predicting a big dump. For example, Windy.com is only expecting 5 cm in the next 24 hours.

The snowfall warning is not in effect in the mountains. I hope we get a trip report from someone who skied at Lake Louise today. I would be surprised if Parks Canada didn’t groom Moraine Lake road and the Great Divide.

Winter Wonderland on Loggers

The temperature in late afternoon at West Bragg Creek was -10°C with light snow falling. My day got off to a great start right in the parking lot when I encountered K2 and Loki, two former sled dogs who are now retired. It was a precursor to a day filled with beautiful soft falling snow, trackset trails, many smiling faces, good conversations and lots more dogs.

Just a reminder, dogs are allowed to run off-leash at WBC, but are required to be leashed in the parking lot.

Upper West Crystal Line

I’m still using VR40(-4/-12) and it’s working well, but with tonight’s low of -15, you might need to dig out the green wax. Imagine, green wax on trackset trails in October!

Backdoor to Pocaterra is an option for the weekend. Here’s an exerpt from an email I received from Carl regarding PLPP high elevation trails…

Loki and K2, sled dogs who have retired

“We skied across to Pocaterra and up the last bit of it, the full length of Tyrwhit to Elk Pass, down Hydroline to Lookout, up Lookout to the fire lookout and down to the Pocaterra/Whiskyjack junction, and back to the cars (18km).

The snow was amazingly good, a full foot of snow that was heavy enough to barely, if at all, hit any rocks.”

Frozen Thunder is in full swing at the Canmore Nordic Centre and should be in excellent condition with the snow and cold weather.

Mother Nature is smiling on us right now. We lost a month of skiing last spring due to the plague, but the Snow Gods are compensating us with this incredible early season.