I’m back in Canmore, hopefully for a couple days. Snowed a fair bit here, I’m guessing about 10 cm. It’s a much colder and powdery snow than we had last weekend.
I made it out to the nordic centre this evening and it was in magnificent condition. It had just been trackset, the snow is nice and cold so easy to wax, and the temperature was a pleasant -5. I am disappointed that I didn’t take my camera because on my way back, the crescent moon was shining on the snow-covered spires of Rundle Mountain and it was a scene worth capturing in a photograph. It was truly spectacular, and I felt very lucky to be cross country skiing this late in the season in such a beautiful setting.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll normally pick Peter Lougheed Prov Park as the best place to ski, however, I am softening my attitude towards the Canmore Nordic Centre! It has never been near the top of my list as a favourite place to ski, but with spending most of my time in Canmore in the winter, I’ve started to develop an appreciation for the place. Maybe it helps that the maintenance crews get out immediately after a snowfall and groom the trails. Perhaps it’s because it’s so convenient: five minutes and I’m there.
I have now surpassed 1200K for the winter; that’s the most I’ve ever logged in one season. You’d think I’d be in better shape after all that skiing! In addition to a fondness for skiing, I also have a healthy appetite for good food including lots of rich desserts. I’d like to thank Peter for the delicious cheesecake he made for my recent birthday. He has an ulterior motive, however, and that’s to slow me down so he can beat me when there’s a ski race.
The weather looks promising for the coming week, nothing too warm for the mountains. I would expect they’ll trackset one last time in Peter Lougheed Park. This may be the last opportunity we get for some good skiing. Take advantage of it if you can. We’ll have seven long months without skiing.
West Bragg Creek- March 31, 6 PM.
Sundog-Crystal Line East and West.
Unfortunately, no grooming on the 30 cm that fell over the weekend.
Conditions range from fairly dry and soft, to glazed and icy in spots, on a skier set track that was often smooth, but also rough and choppy in many areas. Waxing was a bit challenging, Rode extra red worked OK most of the time. Although there were some very enjoyable sections of trail, overall I would rate conditions as only fair.