This was posted in the Backcountry Trip Reports but is worthy of its own post. Thanks to Steve Riggs for this. Make sure you click on the link and look at all the photos. Spectacular!
Sunday was a day of perfect weather to do one of the Rockies classic spring backcountry tours- the loop around Dolomite Peak. After dropping a car 1 km or so north of Mosquito Creek (the new preferred exit point), we headed up the well beaten track in Helen Creek. Wall to wall skins were a necessity on the hardpacked, often icy skintrack- skinny skins would have been frustrating to say the least. Above the trees, the snow was generally more forgiving, and some OK turns were had on the hillside above Dolomite Pass. From there, over the high col and down to the trees above the Mosquito Creek drainage, snow conditions were quite good making for easy travel and relaxed descending.
The winds were notably almost absent, encouraging several long breaks to savor the warm sun and long April daylight. Once in the forest for the descent to the highway, a mix of crusts, icy packed tracks and heavier sun-softened snow made for some “interesting” skiing, but nonetheless, the shorter high line through the woods out to the road is much preferable to the traditional slog out along the Mosquito Creek trail. All in all, one of the better days on the Dolomite, in our many times around it. You can follow Sunday’s tour in my Picasa album, select “slideshow” at left above the thumbnail images. https://picasaweb.google.com/steveandjoriggs/DolomiteCircuitApril8
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Canmore Nordic Centre
I skied with my friend Peter at the nordic centre yesterday. I was in the classic tracks on klister and the snow was in good shape with very few soft spots. It was a beautiful day and the tracks were fast. Peter skated on a freshly groomed skating lane which was still firm at 1 pm. Good conditions for this time of year.
