We all like to hear reports of the trail conditions. Please leave a comment or send me an email if you were skiing today.
The Banff Trail Report shows Goat Creek is now trackset.
Nayana and Kiara had already skied to the end of Ribbon Creek and were on their way back. Nov 27, 2010
It was a gorgeous day at Ribbon Creek. I skied there and can tell you the conditions are wonderful considering it’s November. I just received this email from Darcy who summed it up pretty good:
Me and three friends headed to Ribbon Creek today for our first ski of the year. Parked at Woody’s and skied the Terrace/Kovach loop to begin. Good snow with good, fresh tracks. A few twigs and branches, but nothing serious. The s-bends on Kovach are scraped and a little rough and bumpy, but not bad for so early in the season. We then did Terrace down to the Ribbon Creek lot, and the trail was a little dirty and bumpy towards the parking lot, but not terrible. Ribbon Creek was fair, but certainly skiable. Link was fine with skier-set track. Aspen was freshly groomed and fantastic.
The only issue was the usual Ribbon Creek issue: Walkers on the trails beating up the tracks.
Darcy Gullacher
4 skiers making their way up Kovach towards the Lookout. The third skier in line is Diana who has previously sent in comments to this blog. Nov 27, 2010
Kovach trail near the Lookout. Nov 27, 2010
I believe this is the first time I’ve ever skied down Kovach to the village and never had to remove my skis to get back on the trail. The tracksetter must have had to do some serious snow-shovelling to accomplish that feat.
The trail as it nears Kananaskis Village. Nov 27, 2010
When I reached the Kovach Lookout, I encountered two diehard SkiHere.ca readers who took MY picture. Thanks Steve and Karen.
Bob at Kovach Lookout. Nov 27, 2010
I also checked out the Wedge connector. It’s trackset and in nice condition, just a few pine needles from the recent wind.
Wedge connector. Nov 27, 2010
There were numerous animal tracks on the Wedge. I don’t think it was a dog, because there were no tracks until I got well out onto the trail.
- What animal made this track? There were deer tracks near these as well. Nov 27, 2010
Moraine Lake Road
My wife Karen and I were up to Lake Louise on Saturday to support the male members of Alpine Canada in their podium pursuits at the Bombardier Winterstart. But before we pulled the cow bells from the truck, we decided to ski a few clicks on Moraine Road. All the trees are laden heavy with the recent snowfall providing skiers with a truly winter wonderland! Temperature was about -12 degrees under mostly blue skies and the tracks were in very good condition. The parking lot at the trailhead was filled to capacity at 10:30 AM but you would never know it once out on the trail. This trail while rated easy does provide the backdrop for some serious aerobic exercise given the rising elevation over the entire 9 km route to the terminus. While we are devout classic skiers, encouragement to continue the grind up comes easily from the many younger skiers exhibiting their fine skating strides up the incline. Because this is an in-and-out route, the downward return is a fast, exhilarating ride. Karen and I returned to the trailhead feeling quite challenged and looking forward to the warming effect of a glass of red wine at the Chateau!!
Ben and Karen Silverberg
Meaghan sends this report from PLPP:
Darryl and I skiied from the Bolton parking lot up to Elk Pass and back (up/down Whiskey Jack – sorry, I don’t know all the trail names yet). There were lots of tracks, but nothing track set – it was tough going. Not much snow in some spots, lots of branches/shrubs sticking through on the trail.
Hello Bob, not knowing the exact size of your pole’s basket, I am going to have to agree with Nicholas though if the track was ~4″ sq (as compared to say 2.5″sq), it could possibly be a wolf.
I think those tracks are from a coyote!
We were on Cascade Fire Road on Sunday morning – beautiful sunshine, and good conditions. The outbound side had been freshly track set (we think the tracksetter had continued beyond the bridge tracksetting as we didn’t see him on the way back), and there was plenty of snow – just a couple of places where bushes were showing through but nothing that required skis off or similar.
Thanks to SkiHere! for Saturday’s Ribbon Creek reports! We had a fabulous Sunday afternoon on the hotel side trails, starting from the main parking lot beside the creek. Generally excellent conditions after 2-3 cm of snow fell overnight, which made for delightful smooth skiing. Not enough new to cover the handful of scraped down corners on Kovach, but those are easily negotiated with no damage to skis.
I don’t see claws, so almost certainly a cougar.
Thank you for the lovely family photo!
We skied the other way around Kovach, and the descent on the north side was really smooth, fast and fun 😀
Poor deer;oh well!! West Bragg creek would have been excellent if there were no pine trees. I’m sure I worked three times harder then I should have and nearly had a heart attack for my efforts.