These photos might tell you all you need to know. Unbelievable conditions for early February, a time when we should be enjoying the best conditions of the winter.
Klister on Elk Pass’ colder snow
Top of Whiskey Jack
Skiers with waxless skis were having the best success today. I skied the Tyrwhitt loop with my zero skis and encountered everything under the sun.
Sheila and her husband(sorry, forgot your name) were happy to be on waxless skis on Whiskey Jack
The Tyrwhitt loop consists of Whiskey Jack, Tyrwhitt, Elk Pass, Fox Creek, Moraine. I skipped Fox Creek and skied the big hill instead.
The temperature at 2 pm at Boulton Creek parking was +3°C. Starting out on Whiskey Jack, the snow was wet and my skis gripped well without sticking. There has been a lot of new snow on WJ since it was last groomed.
This skier’s advice: Don’t use klister on the south trails. At the top of Whiskey Jack, he just finished removing most of the klister from his skis
As I climbed, the snow got a little colder and started to stick on my grip zone, especially in places where loose snow had been swept into the tracks. When I had a smooth, clean track to follow, my skis did okay. I siliconed the grip zone a couple times and it helped prevent sticking.
A warning to tomorrow’s skiers, unless WJ gets groomed tonight, don’t attempt to descend it early in the day. It will be treacherous.
Pocaterra at the Whiskey Jack junction
Tyrwhitt has received about 10 – 15 cm of new snow since it was groomed on Thursday night. It was slow going, even on the downhills.
Arriving at the Tyrwhitt – Elk Pass – Hydroline junction, I finally had some nice tracks. About 2 cm of new snow had fallen last night after Elk Pass was groomed, but the conditions were great for the next 5K. The big hill was a bit wet on the south facing side, but the north side was excellent.
Nice conditions on Elk Pass
At the top of Elk Pass, the snow was lovely and skiers could have been using purple wax, but as I got closer to the Fox creek junction, the tracks became icier.
South Boulton Creek, Fox Creek and Moraine had wet snow but I had no problems. There’s deadfall on Boulton, and a couple puddles in the exposed area of Moraine.
Georgina and Terice on Elk Pass
Georgina and Terice were using klister and they said it worked well when they were on wet snow on trails such as Wheeler, Meadow, Amos and Woolley. When they got a little higher on Elk Pass, the high heels appeared.
Thanks for all the trip reports today. Good to hear about the tracksetting in Lake Louise.
Hard to believe that a year ago on this weekend, I was freezing my butt off as I cheered for my son and the rest of his XC ski team at the Alberta Winter Games at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Though sunny, it was minus 25 each morning, and they had to delay all the races until the day “warmed up” to minus 17 or so. What different weather we have this year!