Ribbon Creek parking lot
Jan 8, 2021: Thanks for all the trip reports today! Thanks also for the comments on my previous post about signage.
Three rows of vehicles had nearly packed the Ribbon Creek parking lot by the time I arrived around 12:30 pm. I forgot to put my Kananaskis parking pass on the dash.
Coal Mine. The dog’s name is Janet.
The Swix thermometer was indicating -11°C and with a breeze, it felt cold. The sunshine helped it feel warmer but it disappears quicky behind the mountains.
It doesn’t take long to get warmed up when you start the climb up Hidden and Coal Mine on the way to Ribbon Creek. As soon as I got into the forest, the wind disappeared. Conditions were good to start and only got better as I gained elevation.
The plateau on Ribbon Creek
The plateau at the top of the Ribbon Creek hill was wonderful with beautiful snow and perfect tracks. The snow conditions for the “drop of doom” descent were excellent and no hikers had been on the trail.
Reaching “Old” Ribbon Creek at the bottom is always a trip down memory lane for me. It’s where I started skiing as a beginner 23 years ago. Old Ribbon Creek was the perfect beginner trail before it was washed away in the 2013 floods.
Aspen
I had no problems going down to the bridge on Link. It is pretty much hard pack but I wouldn’t call it icy.
Link had a lot of ground-up foliage on the trail. I’m guessing it was from the tracksetting crew widening the trail. It didn’t present any problems for skiing.
Kovach Lookout and Upper Kovach were all in fine shape. It seemed a lot warmer at the Lookout. I decided to avoid the mayhem at the Village and return on Aspen, Lower Kovach and the home-stretch fun run on Terrace to the Ribbon Creek parking lot where it seemed colder than ever.
Sandy McNabb: Lots of tracksetting has occurred over the past two days. Check the Sandy McNabb trail report for details.
Castle Junction to Castle Lookout was trackset today. No word on Castle Lookout to Baker Creek.
