Tomorrow (Sat, Dec 5) is the first official day of volunteer parking lot monitors who will be on duty in PLPP this weekend – with spot checks happening at Mt. Shark. Buy your Kananaskis parking pass.
Stadium area at Canmore Nordic Centre. File photo
Dec 4 at 6 pm: We haven’t had any new snow in the past week but temperatures in the mountains have been cool enough to retain the small amount of snow which we already have. I’m basing my assessments of the trails on first-hand reports from skiers, so thank you to all who have submitted Trip Reports.
Lake Louise, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Canmore Nordic Centre, and Yoho are the only venues with trackset snow for this weekend.
Canmore Nordic Centre
Half of the terrain at the stadium is open with a 6-lane practice grid. This would be suitable for a beginner skier to practice on. The 2.5K Frozen Thunder track at CNC is available but it’s not suitable for beginners.
The Great Divide. File photo
Beginner Skiers
If you’re a beginner or novice skier, and want an actual trail, you are limited to skiing the easier trails at Lake Louise. That includes the first 6K of the Great Divide, Upper Tramline(1.6K) and the first 2.6K of Moraine Lake road. The Bow River loop is reasonably easy but is a very narrow trail. The wide Campground Loop is better for beginners.
Tyrwhitt on Nov 27, 2020
PLPP
I expect Elk Pass and Blueberry Hill will be trackset tonight. Hydroline, Tyrwhitt, and Lookout were trackset last night. The upper third of Whiskey Jack was also trackset. Most reports are indicating the lower part of Whiskey Jack is in marginal condition. The trail report says “The downhills in this section are likely scraped very firm.” Attempting the steep S-turns on skis would be high-risk behavior. Ascending Whiskey Jack would be safer than descending.
MaSid’s living room in West Elk Pass meadows. Photo by Steve Riggs
The single track trails through the trees in PLPP are in rough shape. That includes Boulton Creek, Moraine, and Fox Creek. Normand said “Boulton Creek is not good at all.”
Mt Shark
Trails have been groomed. Check the Mt Shark trail report for details on each trail.
Fairview on Dec 1, 2020
Lake Louise
Jezebel skied the entire Great Divide today and gave it a thumbs-up “Gorgeous day and snow, tracks are in good shape.”
We don’t have a report today(yet), but Moraine Lake road and Tramline should be in good shape, although the downhill on MLR could be getting sketchy if it’s not groomed.
Bow River loop on Dec 1, 2020
Chris and Karl enjoyed good conditions on Fairview today.
Jen had this to say about the Bow River Loop and Campground Loop “Trails in decent shape. But lots of pine needles and twigs in the tracks on the campground side. Lots of foot traffic beside and around the tracks.” MK added these remarks “Gorgeous ! Beautiful trackset. Pine needles and debris were not inhibitive.”
Marjory skied the Pipestone trails and remarked “Expect some exposed rock, thin snow and exposed dirt. Coming down the 1.9 km run … to the parking lot was difficult due to the number of exposed dirt piles.” The trails have been roller-packed but coverage is thin.
Yoho
Kicking Horse report from JR “Grooming is holding up nicely, with just a few areas of minor tree debris.”
Last we heard, the Yoho Valley road still had ungroomed snow.
There is significant snow in the forecast for Yoho and Lake Louise beginning on Monday with lesser amounts in PLPP.
