What a lovely day it was as I set out one last time to ascend Whiskey Jack. Last night’s tracksetting looked fantastic and inviting. I enjoyed the climb with excellent grip on my zero skis, soaking it all in, knowing we have seven months to wait before doing this again.
Upper Pocaterra
I didn’t start until noon, but I had reasonably firm tracks and snow for the Whiskey Jack – Pocaterra – Packers loop. All the fast downhills still had cold snow, so I didn’t experience any of the “spastic marionette being yanked about by a sadistic puppeteer” that Chip reported.
This section of Packers will soon be taken over by edge creep.
I was tempted to head south onto Tyrwhitt but I knew that by the time I got back to WJ, the snow would be getting wet. If I had known Chip was there, I probably would have gone south anyway.
These skiers were starting out as I was finishing
Although Upper Pocaterra has a north-south aspect, and it appears to get a lot of sun, the angle of the slope as it heads downhill preserves the cold snow surprisingly well. You can feel the contrast a couple times when the trail takes a brief uphill and the snow becomes wet and soft. I thought it was quite remarkable how big a difference it makes, even on such a gentle slope.
The same phenomenon would be experienced on the north side of Lookout, so I imagine Judy Reside had a reasonably nice downhill run there today(check the trip reports for Judy’s update).
Alberta Parks was checking for collared bears who might be active in the vicinity
The temperature at Boulton Creek was +6°C and the snow-capped mountains were glistening in the bright sunshine, but it eventually clouded over.
Last night was the final time that Jody had to work the graveyard shift, as tracksetting is now finished for the season in PLPP.
Thank you to all who contributed to the blog this winter. The anticipation of November’s snows will be in my thoughts, and I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you next winter.
Please continue to post trip reports if you go skiing.
Thanks again Bob, for this tremendous website – (and for the picture of me and Jim starting out on the trail yesterday – I didn’t know that was you we ran into!! Was very thankful for the waxless skis!)