Maple Ridge golf course. Photo by Rhonda W
I don’t believe I’ve ever posted a photo of Maple Ridge golf course before, so thanks to Rhonda W for sending it. This is her report: “Skied the Maple Ridge Golf Course today. Absolutely beautiful and I was happily surprised by how big the loop around the outside is. I skied for just over an hour on one loop without backtracking….in the bright sun and blue sky.”
“Troll Falls before the carnage starts. A rare sight indeed.” Photo and caption by tracksetter Jeff.
If you checked the Live Grooming Reports today, you’ll see that tracksetter Jeff has done an epic grooming session including Skogan Pass, Skogan Loop, Sunburst, High Level, Ruthie’s, Hidden, Hay Meadow, and Troll Falls.
Jeff sent me the photo of Troll Falls in pristine condition because it’s so unusual to see it with unblemished tracks. It’ll be a mess by Saturday afternoon.
What the heck is going on here?
I’ll be interested to hear how the Lower Skogan ice flow is. With all this grooming, there are three other ways to access Upper Skogan without actually skiing on Lower Skogan. My choice would be to park at Stoney trailhead and take Troll Falls or Hay Meadow, then Ruthie’s. Hidden is another option if you don’t mind skiing right through Nakiska.
Nice to see the Maple Ridge pic! I took a couple of pics last time I was there… just sad photos of the bare areas. Not worth showing. 🙂
I skied at Maple Ridge golf course late this afternoon too. I also really enjoyed it, and also was surprised at how long the loop was. It was so nice to be able to fit in an hour of skiing on groomed trails so close to home.
Courtney
Great to meet you on the trail today, Bob! Thanks again for this wonderful blog and website, not only because it’s our #1 resource for xc ski information, but also because it brings together the xc skiing community.
Hi Bob, your photo looks like n Bill Mine trail – the last photo with the two skiers having fun in the snow seem to be at the junction of Wedge connector and Evan Thomas fire road. I skied there today from Ribbon Creek parking lot counter clock wise and was surprised to see the end of the groomed trail just after the small bridge. On the trail info grooming report the Evan Thomas fire road is flagged as groomed, the only grooming was the one left by many snowshoers, it’s a bit misleading and it would be nice if Jeff would correct the status.
It sounds like you didn’t continue up the Evan-Thomas trail after the bridge. The tracksetting resumes in about 150 metres. The floods of 2013 have changed the landscape here. Jeff used to be able to continue with the snowcat over the old, wider bridge onto the Evan-Thomas but the trail was washed away. I believe this situation is a temporary compromise until more trail building is done.