-Wonderful conditions on Cascade valley-
Cascade valley was groomed and trackset yesterday, and already had a couple cm of new overnight snow. By the time I arrived, however, the new snow had been skied-in and conditions were wonderful. The scenery along the first 6K is astounding right now.
Arriving at the new bridge at 6K
The usual concerns on this trail are the first 750 metres on the pavement, and the big hill. There’s very good snow coverage on the pavement, and the big hill was fine, especially with the new snow to slow you down a bit.
This might be a good time to remind skiers of the graph created by Ray Perrott entitled Trail Steepness. Overall, the Cascade valley is only 1.2%, but the initial hill is 6% and the graph shows how that compares with other hills and trails.
Beyond the Cascade river bridge at 6k, the trail is single trackset with a skating lane.
The air temperature was -3°C and the snow was -4. I’m still using the VR45(-2/-8) which has been on my skis for three trips now, and it performed very well with good grip up the hill.
I met Carole and Jamie on the new section of trail which was built after the floods(from 6.7 – 7.4K)
Cascade valley is an easy trail – once you get past the notorious big hill. The hill has an elevation gain of 100 metres over a distance of 1.6K. Thereafter, the trail undulates with lots of very small hills until you descend to the Cascade river at 6K. The trail is double trackset for the first 6k with a skating lane.
Melissa had been to the end of the tracksetting and was returning
I crossed the new bridge for the first time, and continued on to the warden’s cabin at 13.4K(it’s 13.2 to the junction, then 200 metres down to the cabin). From 6K to 12.3K it’s a gentle climb with the high point being a net elevation gain of 210 metres. With all the ups and downs, however, you’ll do a total ascent of 336 metres.
I always think about what life was like for the family who lived in this little house on the banks of the Cascade river 65 years ago
The warden’s cabin is not the end of the trail, but is a popular turnaround point. Regarding the old house in the photos, you can read a previous post about this house and the people who once lived there The little house in Cascade valley. A fascinating story.
Warden’s cabin at 13.4K
If you don’t choose to go to the cabin, you can continue on the trackset trail for another 1.3K to the end of the tracksetting. From there, some skiers will choose to go a bit further on ungroomed snow to Stoney creek.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear from Hugh on the trip reports that Goat creek was trackset today. The Banff trail report has been updated and confirms that information, and Spray river east and west were also done.
It appears that conditions in Yoho are pretty nice. It’s been a long time since I’ve skied the Yoho valley road on trackset conditions.
Speaking of Yoho, I’ve added 4 more photos to the Emerald Lake Lodge contest.
