Bridges in Banff post-flooding update

Spray River bridge is 10K from Banff. Photo by Chuck. 

Intrepid skier and biker Chuck has some good news about the Spray River and Goat Creek trails:

“Today I biked from Banff to the Goat Creek trailhead (and back) to see what trail conditions might be like this winter. I was pleasantly surprised. The only remaining difficulty is the bridge across the Spray, 10 km from Banff. It appears that the plan is to swing the east end of the bridge slightly upstream where a site has been prepared to accommodate a shorter span.”

Parks provided this info to Chuck: “Parks Canada are doing all they can to get the two Spray River bridges in place for this season. The Spray Loop bridge is on track for a December 15th opening, and they are hoping to have the Spray / Goat bridge open by late January. The Cascade River bridge will not be replaced for this winter, but it will be addressed in 2014.”

Nice to see the small bridges are back in place, too.

Chuck, it’s a good thing you did the entire 71K of the Loppet last winter because it will probably be shortened to 50 – 55K this coming January….

Lake Louise to Banff Loppet update

The headline posted today is the first clue:

Welcome to the 2014 Lake Louise TOWARDS Banff Loppet and Relay!

Here is the entire text of today’s announcement:

What we know…first, the loppet date is Sunday, January 19 with an alternate date of Sunday, January 26 (due to snow conditions or cold weather), second, on-line registration will open up on Zone4.ca website at 0800h on Sunday, December 15.

What we don’t know…where will the loppet finish? Details, details! Leg 6 (Healy Creek trail from the Sunshine Road to Banff) received significant damage in the June floods. The bridge was washed out and major trail erosion occurred further along the trail paralleling the creek. It is anticipated that the trail will be repaired in Spring 2014.

The Sunshine Road overpass is not a safe location to end the loppet after Leg 5, so your organizing committee is putting on its collective thinking cap. Possible locations to end the loppet are at the end of Leg 4 (Sawback picnic area, 50 km, and previously used in low-snow years) or midway along Leg 5 in a suitable spot. An announcement of the finish location and the number of legs (important for relay teams) will be posted on our website by December 1.

Start your training taper!

http://loppet.wikidot.com/