Glenna and Diane at the Elk pass/Blueberry hill junction
Our first Groomer’s Report this morning encouraged me to head for Elk pass/Blueberry hill today.
Elk pass was trackset early today
Hopes for a sub-zero day were diminishing, however, when passing by Kananaskis villlage where it was +6°C, but the temperature dropped steadily until it was -1 at Elk pass parking lot at 1 pm. Conditions were excellent on the new tracksetting and the snow was cold enough for purple wax.
Here comes Sue and David on Elk pass
I met lots of blog readers along the trail and Glenna, meeting me for the first time, made me feel like a rock star! Wish I would have started this blog when I was 18. Oh, right, no internet back then. It worked out well, because I needed all the motivation I could get as I headed up Blueberry hill with its 160-metre elevation gain.
A skier descending a fast section of Blueberry hill
The conditions on Blueberry were perfect for a speedy but safe descent. The fast downhills are lot of fun on good snow, so I decided to forego Fox creek and take the big hill back to Elk pass parking lot. The snow must have been a bit slow today, as I could only attain a top speed of 46 KmH.
The map indicates that Blueberry hill trail is 3.2K, but my GPS indicated 3.5K. Total distance from Elk pass parking lot one-way is 8K.
The view from Blueberry hill
I stopped at Pocaterra on my way back and skied out about 100 metres and took a photo. Luckily, I ran into Mikhail who had just returned from a ski up Pocaterra and Tyrwhitt. He said conditions are sketchy on the new part of Pocaterra, but improve considerably as you start climbing after the Lynx junction. I’ve included a photo below.
The picnic table at Elk pass/Blueberry junction
Regarding the Groomer’s reports, as Jody stated, they will be less important as all the Live Grooming Reports come online. We will be able to see almost immediately where the grooming has occurred(from what I understand, there’s a slight delay on the PLPP report). What we can’t see are the conditions, and the Groomer’s reports can fill us in. As Jody mentioned, “I will try to leave a comment if skiing or weather conditions are particularly excellent or poor…”
Snow-Biking in Kananaskis
The recent photos of Fat Tire Bikes on Elk pass received a lot of clicks. I’ve been informed by K-Country that “snow biking is not permitted on groomed and trackset, cross-country ski trails, unless they were machine-made snow trails, such as at the CNC. In addition, we are highlighting the All-Season Trails in the West Bragg Creek area for this sport.”
If you use the search bar on this site and look for ‘track width’ you will find:
Track width
A frequent question: What is the maximum width of ski that can be used in the tracks made by tracksetting equipment:
This is a reply to the question by Tracksetter Jeff(Ribbon Creek):
“The bottom of most track pans is 70 mm The sidewalls flare out to 140 mm at the top of the track. If you were skiing on 65mm skis there will be times when you will get a bit of drag from the sidewalls Also understand that unless you get the first tracks in a fresh trackset the sidewalls are subject to scraping from all the other skiers who went before you.
If you are looking for performance in the track I’d go with the 59. If you are out for a nice easy ski and want good support for the hills the 65 should be fine.”
Hello,
Will it be possible to use Fischer backcountry 104-74-95 skis on this trail?
Thanks a lot,
Rahul
These backcountry skis would be a lot of work to push up to Blueberry. If you do go, please stay away from the groomed track at all times to avoid destroying the track intended for cross country skis.
Hi Rahul. Further to the info Barry provided above, the size reference of 59 vs 65mm skis refers to the maximum width of the ski. So your skis are 104mm! As Lyle says, you’ll need to stay out of the trackset the entire time, which will require extra attention to keep out of the way of descending skiers, who have the right of way. Although your skis are heavier than skinny cross-country skis, Blueberry Hill is still a worthwhile trip.