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Trip Reports – Jan 2012
Tell us about your January ski trip
This page is for readers to share information on trail conditions. If you have photos, upload them to a photo-sharing site such as Flickr or Picasa, and leave a link with your comment. Periodically, as time permits, I will feature a report and a photo on the home page.
Scroll down to the bottom of this page to leave your report
{ 134 comments… read them below or add one }
Does anyone know what the snow conditions have been like on the Snowshow Hare Loop (or around there) in West Brag Creek?
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been hiking the single track trails that were cut last summer in the WBC area. You won’t need snowshoe only icers, hardly any snow left.
Nice hiking though.
Regards
Patrick
Healy Pass is excellent! – I wanted to report that the skiing conditions at Healy Pass – and on the trail up and back – were excellent today (Thursday). It was -10 in the Sunshine parking lot, but was sunny and -5 without a breath of wind in the meadows and at the Pass. There is 15 to 30 cm of new, dry snow on a very solid base in the exposed meadows. This made for easy trail breaking and very nice telemarking. Luckily it’s still winter in the mountains. I advise all you ski touring folks to get out to Healy Pass this weekend while the snow is still good!
Sounds like a good destination for this weekend. Can somebody tell me where the trail starts? At Sunshine parking lot?
Can anyone tell me what Brewster Creek trail is like. I am considering skiing in and spending a few day at Sundance Lodge. I’m a novice/intermediate (as long as the hills aren’t too steep intermediate type) skier with classic waxless skis. Sundance Lodge advieses that they track set the trail but I see they haven’t done that yet. Any advise?
I was on the trail two days ago(see my recent post “Another Dog-friendly ski trail”). You’d probably be okay going up, but coming back would be difficult unless you had some touring skis with metal edges. It’s a long, sustained downhill and the snow is a bit crusty with snowmobile tracks/ruts. You always have the option to walk the downhill -Bob
Thanks Bob
3 great things about my ski at CNC after work:
1. I got to skate ski on a weekday,
2. bare highway roads. and
3.the best part was seeing Beckie Scott in the parking lot (I’m star struck over her).
It took me a few kms to get used to my head lamp. First time using one while skiing. Not the greatest for someone who is prone to motion sickness.
Skied to the end of the Banff Loop. Was alone for most of the ski once I got past the area that is lit at night.
I’ll do it again but I look forward to there being more snow there.
Lets have a collective prayer that this mild weather takes off to the coast where it’s supposed to be.
Rhonda, how would you rate the conditions at the CNC for classics? I’d like ski tonight (6pm Wed). I’d like to ski Goat Creek or the CNC, but would like to know if I should push further (Red Earth, Cascade) for better snow.
Thanks!
If you have time I’d push on. CNC is slick and doesn’t seem to get better the further you go. If you like slick it’s great. I don’t so much.
Pipestone Blue Loop (counterclockwise) wonderful today. Minus 4 at parking lot, minus 2 at lunch spot by river, and terrific snow. Maybe 5 cars in parking lot. Thank you tracksetters for doing the additional 0.4 down to Mud Lake. Much nicer than breaking trail down there. Now for the T-Y cookies………
We skied Boulton Creek to Elk Pass on Monday. 2-3 cm of fresh snow in
-2C temperatures. Magical day despite the warm temperatures in Calgary
It was tough going in PLPP on Sunday. At +4C I had a tough time finding a good wax combination and fell back on the poles for most of the day. The descents were fast though. Descending Pocaterra: http://youtu.be/yU8lJVaLKlA I think it’s about time I picked up a set of waxless skis.
I skied the Pocaterra trail up to Whiskey Jack junction on Sunday morning, got an early start at about 09:30 and used a warm condition wax (for -1C to +5C). This worked well until the start of the climb after the Lynx junction, then the temperature must have dropped a bit and the wax started to ice up. So scraped it off and applied a colder wax and was set for the rest of the day. On the last few km of the return (around 12:00) the colder wax did not grip at all, so mainly poled my way home. There were a number of skiers who stopped and rewaxed at about the same spot I did.
I did the Meadow/Wheeler Amos loop around the Visitor Centre and then down to the Pocaterra Hut on Monday with about 3 cm of wet new snow. It was a little ‘glitchy’ on the hills but quite fun. It took me 20+ years to buy a pair of waxless ski, but they are the greatest around 0C. Don’t hesitate to get a pair…
I am hoping to hear from anyone who has skied at the Canmore NOrdic Centre after the lodge closes. I’m planning to head out one evenign this week and haven’t been there in the evening. Are there any lights on, of course I’ll bring my head lamp, and do many people ski there in the evening?
Thanks, rhonda
see my post below from Jan 27th
Thanks RR,
Any lights on at the CNC?
Yes, there is about 6.5km that has lights. Otherwise, it’s getting pretty hard to see on the other trails by about 5:15-5:30pm right now. It’s free after 5:30pm.
Skied the 24 km “Cookie Loop” in PLPP today, despite very warm temps, +4 when we started from Pocaterra. Synthetic Start +5 to -1 wax worked fairly well until the Lynx junction. Then we iced up to varying degrees. But as long as you stayed in the usually well-polished tracks, it was OK. Later, applied some Swix VR60 (+1 to -2 old snow), which somewhat improved the by then marginal grip. So the arms got a good workout climbing Packers. The reward was a very fast Pocaterra downhill on partially glazed tracks. With overnight freezing, tracks could be very fast tomorrow morning.
It was -6 C at the Mt Shark parking lot this morning. Lots of snowshoers heading off when we pulled in. We had sun and cloud for the first third of the 15 km green route. Snow was a little moist at the beginning but became colder about 2km in. The wind kicked up and by 7 km it was snowing steadily and around -12C in exposed areas. Beautiful grooming and tracking, and fantastic downhills to the beginning of the western unmaintained loop, then a more backcountry experience on the skier tracked trail in about a foot of lovely light powder back to the Watridge Lake road. Heading east from that point there are a few short curves of the green route that have not been broken. Skied the road back to the parking lot. Overall the trails were pretty quiet. A great day of skiing with a bit of everything!
Please teach your young children to keep to the “right”
I had to decide whether to run into a tree,fall or run a young child over.The parents were oblivious to what happened at Pocaterra this afternoon.Probably they are unaware of ski etiquette.It is exactly the same as etiquette on ANY pathway or slope “KEEP RIGHT” PLEASE
My husband and I have both skied for years, and are very aware of trail etiquette. We try to pass along our knowledge to our children as best we know how. Any parent can attest that teaching and learning do not always go hand in hand, and that sometimes learning has to come through experience, often the hard way. We recently had a similar situation to yours, but were on the receiving end of some very nasty behaviour. My daughter had broke from the track going around a corner started skiing on the other side of the track. At the exact moment that I reprimanded her to get back into the right side of the track, a man came flying down the track. Even though she had moved out of the track in time, he still took it upon himself to yell and swear at her. She is seven years old. He proceeded further down, and did the same thing to my husband and other child, and then on to another family down the trail. Our youngest was terrified, and cried for the rest of the ski and does not want to go out again. Talk about crushing someone’s spirit! The kids felt terrible and definitely learned from that situation, but we certainly did not deserve to be sworn at. I agree with you that parents have a responsibility to teach their children about proper trail etiquette. However, sometimes kids will make mistakes, and that it when the true learning happens. I’m glad to hear that no one was hurt yesterday, and hopefully that family learned from their experience. Take care, and happy skiing!
Trail etiquette certainly needs to work both ways. For everyone’s safety it is important that people stay right and keep an eye on their children. However, is is just as important that faster skiers remember that the trails in PLPP are recreational trails and they need to be on the lookout for less skilled skiers and children, especially in busy places like the first few km of Pocaterra. As fun as it is to go flying back to the hut at top speed on Pocaterra trail, if it’s busy, you may just have to slow down. No matter what the situation, swearing at people, especially children, is always bad etiquette! Fortunately, most people do seem to follow proper etiquette – it’s too bad a few bad apples can spoil someone’s day.
Pocaterra is the #1 trail in Peter Lougheed for beginner skiers. Its also the busiest trail in the network. If you don’t have your own kids or have never tried to teach them to ski then you don’t have a clue how difficult it can be for parents and the little ones to get up and down the hills. My kids are 5 and 8 and have both been skiing since they were 2. They both learned to ski at Pocaterra. With the number of skiers on Pocaterra on weekends theres bound to be congestion especially on more difficult sections. If you lack patience and would prefer to barrel down hills in an area that you know is so busy why not ski elsewhere? Trails in the south part of Peter lougheed like Elk pass or Whiskeyjack don’t attract as many beginner skiers so your less likely to run into them. As far as people who swear at little kids or beginners that are trying their best……….stay home! We don’t need jerks like you on the trails ruining everyones day!
Not surprisingly Morraine Lake Road was in nice shape today. Recently trackset but with new snow on top and with continuing snow all afternoon it will probably continue to be slow. And slow it was today – had to double-pole most of the way down! Bummer. At -5 Swix blue should have done the trick, I think, but something wasn’t quite working as usual. Well, a couple of guys in Team Canada outfits passed us, and they had to double-pole, too. So maybe it was just the fresh snow …
Skied 1A/Great divide today. Fresh tracksetting at about 10am. Tons of snow out there. Snow was a little slow and the wind was quite a factor, especially towards the end, but it was very enjoyable .. Lower telemark side loops didn’t look to be trackset.
In case you missed this, here’s a report on Ribbon Creek from Tracksetter Jeff:
“All the trails around the Ribbon Creek and Kananaskis Village have been groomed and or track set in the last 3 days. Lots of tree debris on Wed but a bit of fresh snow managed to cover most. The only exception is the Bill Milne trail and the Wedge pond area these haven’t been groomed.”
A quick ski before dark on Friday- Crystal Line west and west, and Loggers Loop in between. Conditions range from very good to poor, with hardpacked set tracks holding up well, but lots of debris from winds- overall I’d call it “fair”. For what it’s worth I had a very enjoyable ski. Start purple worked well and did not pick up any pine needles.
A huge crowd at the Bragg Creek logging open house last night, with reps. from SRD and SLS taking a lot of heat from upset residents and recreational users.
Now is the time to keep up the pressure on SRD and our elected representatives, don’t accept regurgitated form letters as a response to your concerns about the future of the West Bragg trail system.
Pocaterra was nice today despite lack of recent grooming / track setting. Areas near the hut have some debris, but it gets better a bit further down the trail. Rocky road should be renamed to Needle Lane til the next snowfall, though…
After work Thursday evening a friend and I headed out to Canmore Nordic to try this evening ski-thing. Arrived to find approx -4C temps, quite blustery, but great snow conditions for both skate/classic. With the main lodge closed we were happy find that the bathrooms near the wax rooms are still open, until ~9pm, and heated and made for more comfortable changing. We were very impressed with the ~6km of trails that had decent lighting. Not too busy at all unlike the gongshow this past weekend – perhaps 2 dozen folks out total spread over all those trails meant few and far between passes required. Although we did observe 1 dinkus racer-dude hollaring “TRACK” as he came upon 2 obvious newbies hardly moving. Really? 3 people on a trail and someone has to yell “track”? In any case, it was a different and enjoyable experience heading out for a night ski and I would recommend trying it.
Headed out to PLPP yesterday hoping to find some fresh snow and track setting. Unfortunately there was no new track setting but a great day out nonetheless. Was around -4C when I left Pocaterra car park at 11:30am. Headed out planning to do a “quick” loop of Pocaterra, Tyrwhitt, Hydroline, Fox Creek and Whiskey Jack before lunch but the conditions got the better of me. Skier set tracks on Pocaterra were decent, but the snow started falling fairly heavily on Tyrwhitt making it pretty slow going. Arrived at Hydroline to find no tracks and lots of new snow. The track on Elk Pass improved towards the bottom and the return trip via Fox Creek, Moraine, Amos and Lynx was great with blue sky finally beating out the clouds. Ran out of time to head up Whiskey but saw a few people who had headed up that way. Noticed Blueberry appeared not to have any tracks.
Was fairly windy when I got back to the car around 4pm (temp still around -4C), but the forecast suggested it would calm down overnight.
With any luck and some new track setting should be great conditions over the weekend!
Hi Bob
Hope Cheryl is feeling better, we know knees can be a tough injury, but also know they heal very well!!!
I had a very enjoyable ski today up Red Earth Creek to the Wardens Cabin. The snow was awesome, Rode Multigrade – 3 to – 7 worked well all the way. There was new snow falling all day,with virtually no wind, and the track was lightly filled in with a couple of centimeters of new snow overnight. The ski-do servicing Shadow Lake Lodge had made a run up earlier in the morning but had stayed left of the ski track, so was not a problem at all.
Skied up Goat Creek for 9km from Banff last evening (Jan 25th). Great snow coverage, tracks were recently set, some blowing snow was accumulating in the tracks making things a bit slower. Overall, excellent conditions for a good workout and mid week ski.
Hi Bob,
I hope that Cheryl is recovering from her knee injury. I suspect that you are doing some nursing of your own and not getting out as much as you’d like. We skied at PLPP today and it was wonderful. We initially thought of doing Elk Pass and the neighboring trails but, when we arrived, the winds were ripping through the trees with such ferocity that we could barely open the car doors. Not being as hearty as some, we opted to return to the Pocaterra Hut and ski the lower trails.
It was a great choice. Although new snow covered all trails to a depth between 5 and 10 cm, a late arrival meant that others had broken trail for us and we were able to ski in stable tracks most of the way. The route took us, in a meandering way, over to Whiskey Jack and then up, across and down Packers (a great, controlled run) and then back via Lodgepole to the hut. In total, we did about 34 km (thanks for posting the maps) in little wind, occasional glimpses of blue sky and temperatures hovering around -2. I used Toko red all day and only had a little sticking.
Wish I could go again tomorrow because I’m sure that a bit track-setting will make the day as enjoyable as today.
January 25 Norseman Ski Club skied Pipestone at Lake Louise. 10 cm of fresh powder on top of previously trackset trails. We broke trail route 21/clockwise to22/23 and came out back on 21…. saw some people heading counterclockwise up route 21 east side. so should be.fully skier set tiill groomer comes.
Our other group went happily onto Paradise second bridge
And reported good conditions. Yesterday Lower Telemark
Loops great condition, but may have some accumulated snow too.
Skied West Bragg (south end trails) today (Tuesday). Lots of debris on the trails and quite hard packed. Forced to re-wax after about 10km due to abrasive nature of the snow. Only a couple of bare (dirty) spots.
Similar conditions on the Moose Loop, late Tuesday afternoon- firmly packed, varying degrees of wind and sun affect in exposed areas, a bit of debris. Fast slick downhills! Overall I’d still rate it good, with a few short areas of fair/poor. Start purple wax worked very well for me.
Wanted to share an experience going down Packers last weekend. I was enjoying the trip down the hill after the steep climb up Pocaterra and stopped for a drink when out of the woods shot a wolverine across my path about 15 feet ahead of me! Have never seen one before and admit I did not know what it was till I saw a news clip today on some biologists working around Banff trying to find out more about the wolverine population. Just added to the great day of skiing.
Wow! That’s awesome. The wolverine is still on my want-to-see-someday list. Another good reason to be out there as often as possible.
If you’re lucky you might meet one on the Lake O’Hara road like I did. A few years ago a friend and I were skiing in and saw a short hairy creature running away from us up the road. When we got to the spot where we scared him we noticed he had dropped something. It was a chunk of meat (off a deer or elk?) that was the size (i am not kidding!) of a Christmas turkey!!! We followed his tracks back a bit and saw where he had dragged this out of the deep snow. I have read stories of how strong these creatures are and this amazing feat of strength proved it! Needless to say we decided not to keep him waiting for his meal any longer and hastily kept skiing (I didn’t feel like being dessert that day!) On our return we noticed his tracks coming back out from the trees on the roadside and the drag marks where he had taken his well earned meal away! Very impressive! My friend had previously told me a story of how he was charged many years ago by TWO wolverines near pulsatilla pass on a solo backpacking trip. Back then bearspray wasn’t around so yelling and throwing rocks and sticks was the only thing that saved him! If you ever meet one don’t forget that wolverines are fearless and will even scare grizzly bears off of a carcass to get a meal!
I just looked up wolverine on wikipedia. It turns out it’s Latin name means “glutton”. After I saw that meat boulder he was carrying that name couldn’t be better!
There is an excellent new book out about wolverine studies done in Glacier National Park in Montana, called “The Wolverine Way” by Douglas Chadwick. So little has been known about wolverines that their family life (shared custody of kits) and incredible feats of cross-mountain travel have surprised even the researchers. Link to Parks Canada study http://www.wolverinewatch.org/blog/ (they are interested in observations from the public) and http://www.wolverinenetwork.org/
Sheila – please report your sighting as soon as possible to http://wolverinewatch.org/reporting.php
Very, very lucky!!!!
Oooohhh, is it Wolverine story time?? Okay I’ll be brief – hubby and I saw two back in the 80s when we had no idea they were rare. We were backpacking in the Baker Lake – Red Deer Lakes area, and first while we were away from the campsite, they carefully extricated the butter and cheese from our packs
(another couple told us of the burglary)
They came back later when we were in our tent, having strung up the packs on a rope between two trees, spent much time trying to figure out how to get to the packs, occasionally glaring at us with the meanest eyes we had ever seen! Eventually they gave up and left. We did not feel particularly lucky at the time
If you are wondering, the trees were not big enough to protect the packs from bears……
Apologies for both the bad grammar and lack of skiing!
So awesome Sheila.
I also went to see/hear Chadwick’s story at Waterton last year. Great guy.
BTW, on the wolverine site Rick references, have a look at “other species gallery” . Some great sensor camera stills of other critters that we so rarely see. To find out what’s in the picture, hover the mouse over the photo before you click it. On the bottom left of the page the file name will show up with a reference. ie marten fisher, mink etc.
Error! Wrong site (that teach me from surfin’ Bob’s site @ work)
Try this:
http://www.albertawolverine.com/?page_id=222
Tuesday, January 24, skied Elk Pass Parking lot to Bolton Creek trail to
Moraine. Skier track only, well used but good snow texture. Temperature
at 9:30 am -9C. Had green on over something softer -good glide and adequet
climbing. Crossed the road after the Whiskey Jack junction and hit Wheeler
which was a trackset highway with good snow. Skied Wheeler to the road and then down to William Watson Lodge for lunch. After lunch, skied back to
Wheeler and Amos, then Amos to Lynx. All good including the long twisty downhill. Trackset on Pocaterra with good snow again to the hut.
Question for all you Lake Louise to Banff Loppett people: If you wanted to take advantage of all the fabulous track-setting done for last weekend’s event, what section would you ski for a nice 20 k outing this weekend? What’s the most interesting part that we don’t normally get to ski?
Leg 2 from Baker Creek to Castle Lookout gets a lot of positive reviews, Kate. Hook that up with leg 3 from Castle to the campground at Johnston Canyon, and you’ll ski 22.6km.. The terrain is mixed on both sides of the road, along power lines, in the ditch, along the rail line, with some pretty good views.
Another option is to pick up the trail at Morant’s Curve where it meets the 1A and ski the trail from there to Baker Creek and back. That would be close to 20K return, and it’s a pleasant run mainly flat to downhill along the railway with good views as well. I’m not sure where the best parking for that would be though.
We skied from Ribbon Creek to Kananaskis village and back via Terrace link, nicely groomed, quit nice snow but hard to find the proper wax!! My husband was not convinced by the wax while pulling the pulk!
We went to Lake Louise to do the Pipestone trails on Sunday around lunch time, first time there for us. Nice area, really not busy and very nice snow. No problem with wax that time, with temperature staying at -8, it is always much simpler. The tracks were in excellent shapes.
Bragg Creek was still very good on Sunday. Temps stayed below freezing all afternoon, so it should still be in great shape today.
Yesterday I skied Iron Springs, Elbow Trail, Logger’s Loop & Crystal Line to return to the crowded parking lots – lots of vehicles parked on the access road to the parking as well. Found a number of thin spots on 1st two trails but Logger’s was in great shape.
We skied the south end of PLPP this afternoon starting from Boulton parking lot, up Whiskey Jack to Tyrwhitt to Elk Pass to Fox and Boulton Creek back to the car. All freshly trackset except for the nice skier tracks on Fox and Boulton Creek. Snow was nice and crispy with air temps ranging over the ski from -6C to -12C ’round the back on Tyrwhitt. A mix of sun, little wind and fascinating clouds made for a wonderful ski day!
Weekend of Snow
It was a mixed activity weekend but all good. On Saturday, with two hearty souls, I skied the Rummel-Chester traverse (the low route) in gray skies but beautiful snow. We tree-bashed a bit (about 2 hrs) staying out of the steeper terrain but with some good GPS data (thanks to Stan Bobrow) we made it without a hitch.
On Sunday, we did most of the Pipestone trails. It was gorgeous there with hardly anyone (except Rhonda, apparently) on the trails. I can really recommend the detail to Mud Lake. It’s only .4 km there, you can ski across the Lake and the views are wonderful. It’s a great spot for lunch.
I don’t have info for a report today, but am wondering if anyone here has skied the Lake O’Hara fire road recently. I’ll be off to Elizabeth Parker Hut later in the week, so wondering what conditions are like (apart from the official trail report). I’d imagine with the lodge opening this coming weekend the trail may be packed from them supplying the lodge (if they do it by snowmobile).
Skied Pipestone today. Freshly groomed and easy temp to wax for. I love it there because it’s sooo quiet and not busy.
Skied Ribbon Creek to Kananaskis Village via Kovach and back via Aspen/Terrace. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. I started around 9am and nobody was around, but by the end it was very busy.
The conditions were rather unforgiving. I tried several different waxes, but early in the morning the crusty, very hard-packed snow and tracks were challenging. Also, many of the trails have been walked on by hikers, dogs or snowshoers making the s-turns a bit challenging for snow plow. According to information at the Village there are 12 dedicated snowshoe trails in the area but signage could definitely be improved. The good thing was that the ski tracks themselves had not been damaged in most cases.
Skied Wedge pond yesterday. +2 degrees made for a warm ski. Not track sets and lots of snow shoes tracks. Overall a good ski.
Skied West Bragg Creek on this gorgeous Saturday afternoon.Skied Sundog,Elbow to Allen Bill Pond, and then back along Iron Springs and East and West Crystal Lines. Temp. -3C at noon, 0C when I returned. Parking lot full at Noon. About 10 to 15 cm. of powder snow on above trails which was not yet groomed or trackset.However skiing very good on skier packed and skier trackset trails. This snow covered all the rocks and icy patches. Some twigs and weeds on the Crystal line and last leg to Allen Bill had a lot of foot traffic on it. Used Swix Purple which worked OK. Skied with a heavy heart knowing these trails as they exist today may not be the same if the open cut logging gets the go ahead. Probably be a very busy place tomorrow.
I Skied at the Canmore Nordic Centre today. Temperatures warmed up to about +1 C. The Western Canadian Championships are on this weekend so it is crazy around the lodge. Nice and quiet out on the recreational trails.The conditions were great, skied Bow, Meadowview, Rundle, Banff and Silvertip. Only a few icy spots and all had been groomed and trackset recently.
Skier Doug.
My friend and I are just home from skiing Ribbon Creek today, it couldn’t have been a better day!
The warm-up arrived in Kananaskis Valley on Friday. I enjoyed some wonderful skiing on the Skogan side of the Ribbon Creek trails today. We arrived to find that the temperature was already a pleasant -11C in the morning and it steadily warmed up all day. By the time we got back to the Nakiska parking lot mid-afternoon, it was a balmy -4C. The trails were blanketed with fluffy new snow… 8cm at the Troll Falls junction to 15cm at the top of the Skogan Loop. The conditions are excellent, if you enjoy skier set trails and some light powder. Once Jeff grooms these trails, the conditions should be superb!
https://picasaweb.google.com/112757355578245802406/SkoganLoopJan202011?authkey=Gv1sRgCOuT3LvzpvTfqgE
Looks like upper Skogan will remain a powder paradise. Finally got out on the trails today around Ribbon only managed to do all the Village trails as well as the Ribbon/Link/Kovach and Terrace loop. All trails are groomed and trackset and are back to mid winter condition. Excellent snow for the most part.
We tackled Baker Creek to Castle lookout today.Broke trail on top of old grooming most of the way with 6-8 cm of fluffy light snow, and -15.Green wax worked until about 2 pm then switched to VR40 It snowed lightly all day with NO apparent wind.There was also a good solid crust underneath which will help with the double poling in Sunday.Talked with the groomer at Baker Creek and they are set to groom it later tomorrow afternoon or evening..-15 has never felt so warm.
The only tricky area was 1 K after Protection Mt campground where we encountered fresh water on top of the track. A quick detour ski down the 1A for 500 meters and then back onto the trail solved that.Lots of animal tracks that we need to learn to identify.
Late afternoon ski Friday. Stopped at Barrier and minus 20 at 1pm.
Stopped in at PLPP (cookie drop off for groomers) and only trails groomed but not tracked last night were Boulton/Fox/Moraine. Minus 5 at Boulton parking lot. Felt SO GREAT just to be out again and did that loop! Windswept on climbing the hill on Elk. Minus 2 when I got back to the car at 4 and more like minus 6 on hwy 40. Happy Loppet-ing!
Are you sure those trails weren’t trackset…?
It was crazy chilly today up near Elk Pass, K-Country, but we skied the trails into submission, anyways! Later on, we had some friendly neighbourhood moose (a cow and her chillin’) drop by for a lick of our vehicle. Some photos of the experience can be found here and here. I’ve also posted a video here.
…and I thought my deer pictures were good! -Bob
Hi Bob Love all the effort you bring to skiing .I have not had a bad ski since comming west one year ago, thanks to your blog in fact every ski has been amazing. You live in heaven out here.The groomers make it all the better.
I was unable to register for Lake Lousie Loppet would it be bad form to preski the course on saturday? It would be a chance of life time to ski through the Bow valley .Please let me know I would not want to make anyone displeased .
Thanks John
I’ve seen people pre-skiing it in previous years so it must be okay. Some of the trails are regularly groomed, such as Baker Creek to Protection Mountain Campground, and Castle lookout to Castle junction. My favourite section, which is groomed only for this race, is on Leg 2 between Protection Mountain campground and Castle Lookout. It’s spectacular(and about7K). Have fun! -Bob
“Hi Bob Love all the effort you bring to skiing .I have not had a bad ski since comming west one year ago, thanks to your blog in fact every ski has been amazing. You live in heaven out here.”
John, I think that is why they named it ‘Kanana – skis’.
Monday I prefer to snowshoe and because Healy Creek off Sunshine Rd to Sundance loop has not rec’d enough snow and therefore no tracksetting, that was my destination. It was a consistent minus 25 but a nice 11 kms. “shoe”. This trail sure needs alot more snow. Sundance Lodge is supposed to open for their winter season Jan 28th so with any luck and ALOT more snow, hopefully this lovely local ski trail with many animal tracks will soon be trackset and ready to be enjoyed.
Great skiing on Pipestone Loops on Sat. the 14th. Seems to have become quite a popular destination. There were 2 or 3 cm of fresh snow on the tracksetting done the previous Tues. but, except around Pipestone Pond where the machine-set tracks were unclear, the glide was great! One complaint: the trail ratings seem too general when significant sections of a Moderate/Intermediate trail are Easy or parts of an Easy are Moderate/Intermediate.
Enjoyed a very good day of skiing on the Skogan side of the Ribbon Creek Trails today. Despite the dire weather forecast, conditions were good enough to warrant a full exploration of these trails. The temperature was -15 to -18C, but there was no wind and the sun was shining. 8 to 15cm of new snow blanketed the recently groomed trails. A thin layer of Swix V20 Green wax worked great.
Skiers had ski packed the main Skogan Loop, which had been packed on Wednesday. After completing the Loop, we broke trail along the High Level trail to the Lookout and then down the Sunburst trail back to the Skogan Pass trail. Lots of fun coming down the light, soft powder!
If the weather forecast for the rest of the week hold true, these trails won’t see much traffic until next weekend. I expect they will be impeccably groomed by then!
https://picasaweb.google.com/112757355578245802406/RibbonCkSkoganJan152012?authkey=Gv1sRgCOiDo_yhzproTw&gsessionid=LnoedoLLqvR_4Y0C1_DtVw#
Just back from a weekend at Nipika resort near Radium. We witnessed the transformation from an icy, rain eroded track on Friday to superb packed powder conditions today. There was about 45 cms of fresh snowfall over the weekend – the groomers were working non-stop. As a bonus – it was only -5 this afternoon.
Thanks for the report Clive, it didn’t stop snowing after you left, we now have an additional 10 more cms last night at Nipika, Steve & Lyle were on the grooming machines all day today AGAIN.
We were also part of the lucky ones that witnessed the tranformation at Nipika on the weekend. You have to appreciate the job that Steve did tacking down the fresh loose snow and completely burying the icy track underneath – great job of grooming. We drove up to Nipika skeptical at the poor conditions and left marvelling at the winter wonderland.
May not be as cold in Lake Louise Sunday, skied from the chateau Saturday with upper telemark, peyto, looped on lower telemark around back to the chateau. Not many people there at all. Snow was a little sticky but that could have been the wax operator!
I suppose the advantage of driving further up the highway is less people. My husband and I skied the Yoho Valley Road on fresh track sets covered with about 4cm of new softly falling snow. Fantastic…. With a temp of -9 to -5 our Swix blue worked great. We made it just beyond the switch backs, where the tracks ended and travel became tougher, loosing our skis and poles in the deeper snow. Will be skiing Emerald Lake today where the temperatures are still holding at around -11 to -7
Mt Shark was great on Jan 14. Fresh snow when got there and snowed while skiing. temp around -7 all day
Tyrwhitt loop today-lots of skiers out in advance of the arctic weather, which was a good thing, as at higher elevations a surprise 12 cm of new snow made for slower travel at times on Tyrwhitt and Elk Pass, which had not been recently trackset. Fox Creek and Moraine were especially beautiful, Friday’s tracksetting on these made for faster skiing as well.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/vsqQVIKwn91rbEWscA2lstMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink
Bonus loop on the trackset Wheeler and Amos trails was slow due to icing issues in the new snow.
very quiet at West Bragg today. There was just enough soft snow covering the base to make skiing enjoyable. The trails were only rolled and not trackset so I’m glad I had the touring skis on. It was a good day to be out.
Astoundingly busy at PLPP today!! The biggest challenges were finding a place to park, and getting out of the parking lot at the end of the day!
Good reason for it though – the snow was absolutely fabulous. Lots of recent grooming with a light dusting on top, perfect temperature, and nice and soft on the steep hills. It was great to see so many young people and families out – get ‘em hooked early!
Apologies for the faulty grammar
Astounding is the right word to use, Diana. Yes, it was great to see so many people out skiing – probably everyone was trying to get it in today instead of tomorrow (brrrr). Great conditions, and fresh snow falling all day, hard to beat. Pocaterra, Info Centre, and Elkwood were all overflowing midday, and were still very full mid-afternoon – can’t say that I’ve seen that before at PLPP.
Just to echo the above comments on conditions in PLPP today, the Blueberry Hill trail is skier tracked through a foot of snow. No wind at the top. The downhill was like floating….on all that champagne powder! Snow was falling the entire way and I would estimate temps around -5C. Wonderful day of skiing.
re: Kananaski Lodge & Ribbon Creek area
Got out fairly early w/ my wife for some XC’ing… expected -6 or a bit cooler which I prewaxed for. Arrived to very light flurries and -2 so had to throw a bit extra to get “stick on the kick”. Trails, overall, are in ok-to-good shape if they were trackset. Ribbon Creek was basically thinly packed lightly on top of hard icy stuff w/ skier set tracks so not great. Kovach was mostly groomed but not trackset. Unfortunately these 2 trails make up the backbone of a decent ski out there (we did ~15km overall). Overall it was a pleasant ski but we would suggest that the extra drive to PLPP would be worth the effort. We won’t go back until there is enough snow to trackset Ribbon & Kovach (and it’s not too cold).
When conditions are not good along the Ribbon Creek Valley bottom trail, I suggest driving the extra couple of minutes up to the Village. That 80 meters of elevation and the change of orientation makes a big difference to snow and trail quality. You can still make a very nice set of loops using the upper portions of Kovach, without going down to the creek.
The other alternative is to park at Nakiska and ski the Skogan side of the trail system. You do have to be prepared for more elevation gain on that side, however.
Skied cascade for the first time today. Track set, maybe a bit skippy in the tracks – but I was using waxless skis so it might have been better if I’d used grip wax.
Perfect conditions for skating though.
PLPP – Skied 22 km on Pocaterra, Lynx, Amos, Lynx, Pocaterra to Packers and back to Pocaterra Hut.
There was new tracksetting on all of these trails – they were beautiful. There was only one small spot close to the hut where the snow was a little thin-icy under the trees, but if you weren’t paying attention you wouldn’t even notice it. So from my perspective there is more than enough snow on the north end trails. Once the tracks set up, they should be fast and fun!
However, the trails intersecting this route (upper Pocaterra, Wooley, Wheeler, Packers) have a lot of snow and are just skier set. If they get set tonight, Saturday should be a fun day before the deep freeze sets in.
One complaint – the beautiful newly set track seems to attract walkers, disrupting the track considerably. I didn’t see them. But if I had … I would have just let it go. Afterall one should not argue with moose! I suspect that the big bull moose that hangs out on Pocaterra was enjoying the new tracks just as much as I did, as there were tracks all over.
It was also nice to see a high school group out skiing. Hopefully some of them will get hooked on skinny skis!
There are many moose that make use of the trails, but the one that hangs out on lower Pocaterra always likes to dance on the trails right after the groomer goes by.
FOUND
Found today, Friday, Jan 13/12, a pair of ladies gloves at Elkwood parking lot near restroom. You can picked them up at PLPP Visitor Center office,
thanks,
Andrew
Two of us skied up Bryant Creek from Shark Mountain ski area to the Bryant Creek Warden’s cabin and back Thursday January 12. We had excellent weather and trail conditions for the trip. Mount Shark was newly groomed as of Wednesday night. They also groomed the hill from the Watridge Lake turn-off down to the Spray River bridge, making for a safer decent. The fallen tree 100 m beyond Watridge Lake trail junction had been removed. The trail was skier track set all the way to the Warden’s cabin and had received a light snow fall Tuesday night. The rest of the trip was just a long way out and back with good glide.
Hi all, this is a request for a report on trail conditions….at COP. I’m thinking of getting the cross country pass, to get out skate skiing a couple days per week after/before university. I’d like to hear people’s thoughts on if it’s worth is- do they keep the trails in really nice shape? Is is super busy? Do they ever have to shut it down mid season due to lack of snow etc?
I’m looking for a good way to work more skiing in to my life around school, so I’m interested to hear what you think!
Hi Jill,
I haven’t heard of COP closing due to snow conditions. That said, it is not a super enjoyable place to ski. I have a pass there that I use for training to keep up my skiing during the week (I classic). Evenings are very busy with lots of lessons and kids. Great to see so many kids out skiing, but it can be a bit treacherous at times because the tracks are often very icy and fast. The course is short and consists of climbs and descents that switch-back at the base of the ski jumps. So…the answer to your question about a pass is “it depends what you want”. If you skate (which you said you do) or want to train when you can’t go to the mountains, go for it. If you are looking for a fun, leisurely ski, I would advise you to pass on a pass. There are lots of great (free) trails so close to Calgary. You should go out at the time of day you think you would be skiings, buy a day pass and check it out.
Oh, if you are thinking about it for next year – the Nordic trails did not open until about a month after the downhill this year, so something to think about.
Have fun!
Thanks for the good advice Rhonda. I definitely prefer to get out to the mountains to ski but mostly can only do that on the weekends. I think I will do what you suggest and try it out first. Luckily for me, I will be able to go in the mornings and midday so I might get to avoid some traffic. Maybe I’ll see you out there!
If you get out a couple of days a week you’ll definitely get your money’s worth out of a pass at COP. They groom daily, typically after it closes each evening. They lay down a ton of snow at the beginning of the season which lasts all season so they don’t close for lack of snow. They do, however, occasionally close when it is really cold (like right now).
Weekdays during the day there is almost no one there, except the odd school group. It certainly doesn’t feel like a ski on single track out in the mountains but it is fantastic for a workout – the only reliable place to ski in town!
It was great to be back on my afterwork ski program today at West Bragg.
Trails are groomed only, no tracksetting. 10 cm new snow has been softpacked nicely over an icy base from 3 weeks of warm weather, with generally very good coverage, expect a few thinner spots here and there. Hopefully skiers won’t snowplow the fresh off all the hills- let those skis run free!
Hi all,
Headed up Skogan Pass today for a marvelous ski in a winter wonderland! We were pretty much right behind the groomer and got to ski the freshest tracksetting I’ve ever had the pleasure to ski! At the parking lot, it was only about -5 (at ~2 p.m.) but the wind was chilly higher up. I used a -3 to -6 wax left over from skiing in Field last weekend which surprisingly worked just fine although the snow conditions could not have been more different (I’m a lazy waxer as you can tell!). Conditions were a bit thin just where you join Skogan pass at the Nakiska ski area and we were told it was very icy further down but up higher it was glorious. This is one of my favorite trails, and I love the screamin’ fast downhill, and it is rarely in such pristine condition so get out there and ski Skogan!
Bob, I know that your site really doesn’t target back-country skiers, but I wanted to let you know about the day spent at Chester Lake.
In a word…splendiferous! I may not have spelled that correctly, but you get my drift. We started at 10:30 under crystal blue skies and a brisk -18 C. Although the wind was howling on HWY 1, it was calm as “The Doldrums” at the parking lot. We broke trail for 90 minutes to get to the Lake, ventured up to Elephant Rocks and then a bit further before a small avalanche off Mt. Chester suggested a quick lunch and turnaround. The ski out was perfect. All told, we saw two people the whole day. If every day in the back-country was like this, I might trade in my track skis!
I can vividly picture some of the scenes you’re describing, but I think it’s time for you to get a camera
-Bob
Bob, of course, you’re right. I’m becoming quite superstitious in my dotage, and think that the lack of a lens will bring good weather. So far it’s worked. Then too, with all the gear for the back-country, my 45 L pack is stuffed. I’m looking for a small digital like yours.
Anyone feeling powder deprived should head out to Pocaterra- we stepped out of our car only to sink to the shins in fresh snow. Skied Pocaterra to Packers, then wound our way back to the lot via Wheeler and Meadow. All of the tracks we had were skier set, but nothing was particularly heavily trafficked, so trails got a bit soft at points. We did see the start of efforts by the groomers from Pocaterra lot by the time we returned at 5:30- whatever they smooth out will likely be brilliant tomorrow.
From Mike Newson…
Skied from Pocaterra up to Whiskey Jack intersection in about 20cm of new snow. Once trackset it should be great. We saw a groomer by Pocaterra but did not encounter any new tracks. It stopped snowing about 4 pm. The K. Highway was in better shape than the TransCanada.
Hi Bob,
Kananaskis Village area received close to 20 cm in this storm. All of the trails have been groomed around the Village, good conditions for the most part with a few icy patches until you get to Aspen. Nakiska reporting 27cm, I’ll be grooming up on Skogan Pass tomorrow I’ll let you know what I find.
Jan 10th. Parked at upper lot (turn right on St. Piran just past entrance to Deer Lodge) and skied the green #7 Peyto to Lower Telemark. At far end of Telemark we broke trail to Divide, turned back up #7 blue Peyto to junction 5 and skied to behind Chateau (avoided the last big hill down) and back to car via #7. Minus 7/8 but felt alot warmer and green (-5 to -10) worked fine but suspect blue OK too. We got alot of snow in Lac Des Arcs so assume PLPP got it too. Road to Canmore still not great.
Finally got to Cascade today. It was good to know the conditions were ok before heading out. I appreciate the previous trip reports for the conditions. Against my better judgement I decided to classic ski instead of skate. All I had with me was red and violet (V45). I took one stride forward and two back for most of the way up. Didn’t matter it was a beautiful day and so glad to be out there.
On the way back I saw cougar tracks in the snow on the pond (not sure if it’s a pond but I know there is water there in the fall) that looked about a day old. I looked behind me a few times skiing out. I regularly see cougar tracks there.
Maybe if everyone who reads this prays for snow it will start falling.
Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one.
I Skied 43.3km at Lake Louise yesterday, Saturday January the 7th.
It was my first time skiing over 40km, and when I finally hit that magic number I was just about ready to call it a day, but I still had the big Telemark climb ahead of me. It took quite a bit of willpower, but I made it back to the parking lot just before twilight.
I started the day going down the Tramline to Moraine Lake road. The conditions were excellent – much better than the previous weekend when the Tramline trail had been trampled on by foot traffic.
MLR itself was in as good a shape as it’s been all season. With adrenalin rushing through my veins, I couldn’t help myself and I sprinted back and forth a few times. It was gorgeous and the snow felt fast for the cold conditions.
The air temperature was -16 in the morning, and Swix green V20 wax was working great.
The view at the end of the MLR trail was breathtaking. The sky was the clearest I had ever seen it there, and the mountains were in full view.
After returning to the MLR parking lot, I continued back up Moraine Lake road for a second helping. Well, not really. At the Fairview junction I turned right. The trail was in OK skier set shape. My legs felt like they were starting to slow down a bit, but I still managed to reach the parking lot in 3 hours of ski time, having covered 30km.
At this point, I continued up to Lake Louise by myself. My ski buddies all decided they had enough for one day, but I had my heart set on a full marathon.
The trail on Lake Louise itself was in very poor shape. I skied to the end of the lake and back, just to get a bit of a break on flat grounds, but it was not very enjoyable. Last weekend, the same trail was in OK shape with only a few cruddy and icy patches, but on Saturday, a good half of the trail was pretty much destroyed.
After skiing the lake, I took a lunch break by the skating rink to contemplate the rest of the route.
For the grand finale I decided to go up the Upper Telemark trail to Peyto, connecting to 1A, then up 1A to the Lower Telemark trails and finally back up the Upper Telemark to the lake, around the skating rink and back to the parking lot.
The air temperature had reached about -6ish by the afternoon and I decided to put some Swix blue V40 wax on my skis for the Telemark climb, but it was way to grippy on the downhill portions, so I stopped and covered it up with green wax again, which worked wonderfully for me.
The trails on Upper Telemark and Peyto had lots of snow coverage and it looked like a winter wonderland in those trees, but the ungroomed, steep, narrow, twisty and windy snow plowing sections were on the borderline of too much for my tired legs.
Luckily, 1A was just about perfect. It was only my second time on there and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was fun to watch the dog sleigh rides go by, and it was good to be back on a trackset trail.
To my great surprise, the Lower Telemark trails were also very nicely trackset. This section was perhaps the best part of my day. It was here that I hit the 40km mark, and although I had pretty much cratered, and was moving only slightly faster than a zombie, I found the snow and the scenery to be perfect. I would highly recommend the Lower Telemark trails as a side loop to anyone skiing the 1A.
On the way back up Upper Telemark, up to the lake, I was paying heavily for my earlier sprinting. I laboured back at a snails pace, but I made it to the car triumphantly in 5 hours of ski time.. An epic 7 hours of total time with lunch and water breaks.
In retrospect, I wouldn’t ski the trails in this order. I found the Telemark trails to be way too hard for my tired legs. It took me an hour and a half of ski time to get from 30k to 40k and I seriously started to question my decision to not bring my shiny new headlamp. But, luckily, I didn’t need it in the end.
If I had to do it again, I would probably do Telemark first, then Fairview, then Moraine Lake road, finishing up on the lake at Lake Louise.
Doesn’t matter though, it was a wonderful day of skiing.
http://instagr.am/p/fs0gq/
Now onto the next milestone, 50km.
Wow good for you!
Good job Risto! We were thinking about you trucking away as we drove home all warm and cozy.
Drove up to Lake Louise to avoid the chinook, and the conditions were perfect. Great snow and fresh set tracks.
I would also like to apologize for the very large divot on the fairview hill where I caught an edge and augured in. Need to work on my snow plow some more.
Snowshoeing at the far end of Lake Louise was also pretty good, though there was a thick crust that I was randomly breaking through, below was sugar snow about 3 feet deep so I was sinking to my waist. Saw some big avalanches at the west end of the valley too, fun to watch.. from a distance.
Headed out to ski at PLP today (Jan 8), we got well past Kananaskis Village and realized the road was still wet and there was standing water in the ditch. We decided to turn around and head to Lake Louise. As we headed out of the upper parking lot on Fair View (red swix wax) the groomer arrived, turned around and laid a fresh track for us!!
Skied Fair View and Moraine Lake Road and had a blast.
Skied Lake Louise, Morraine Lake road and around hotel trails yesterday. Lots of great new snow and excellent conditions.
Skied Redearth creek today with my family. The old track had about a centimeter of fresh snow at the start but got deeper the the further we went. We cleaned up the snowman we had built back on November 27. We were surprised he hadn’t melted away since then! Skied to the campground and then headed back. Conditions were great except for all the footprints on the last downhills which made things a little rough!
Happy trails!
Skied Cascade Fire Road to just beyond the bridge over the river today. Overall, conditions were better than I had expected considering they had rain out there a couple of days ago.
The first part along the Minnewanka road is thin and crusty. Once you turn off the road and ski for a few 100 metres up the incline, the conditions improve considerably with decent snow cover and pretty good track. They could definitely use some new snow, but it was beautiful with the sun this morning and snow on the trees. I would think it should still be pretty good tomorrow too. Lots of people out there today.
I skied Cascade fire road today as well, right to the end. After the bridge the conditions gradually improve although even at the start it is totally skiable.
Thanks so much for leaving those positive comments about Cascade- indeed once you were no more than a km from the parking lot, conditions were fine, just a few points of sparse tracks early on. When we finished up though, the first 1/2 km or so from the start was pretty much ice – not sure if the trace snow from the morning had just blown away w/today’s strong wind gusts or if it melted in the warm temps. So be cautious (but optimistic!) for the first 5-10 mins on Cascade until the next snowfall.
Skied into Chester Lake today. What amazing snow! One of the best skis in/out of Chester ever. A little chilly (-10) at the lake for lunch, but what a great ski out!
Skied Mt. Shark today after the post of the new snow. Oh, there is a lot of it that was maybe skier track set yesterday but there certainly was fresh snow today as well. Some places you were unable to see the old tracks. I made the mistake of taking the 15km loop…..bad idea…..didn’t have my backcountry skis on and there were a lot of moments when I thought I was actually alpine skiing, route finding without the aide of skins…..Windblown sections totally obscured the trail. However, made it out alive and clocked a good 3 hour ski.
Love the blog, its great to know where the snow is
Has anyone skied Cascade in the past few days? The trail report says fair but I’d like to go there tomorrow anyway and wonder what it’s like for skating…
Thanks, Rhonda
If Rhonda or anyone else has made it to Cascade, can you please post some specifics on the conditions? Thanks!
Oops – my post above from 6:26pm on Jan 5 above should have said I was responding to Sophie.
I should also clarify my statement “I suggest skiing elsewhere.” I should have written “I suggest skiing somewhere else & not at Bragg Creek at this time.” Sorry about that!
Shark Mountain is buried in a foot of fresh snow!
We went out to skate ski Shark this afternoon, knowing full well that the trails wouldn’t be groomed. But, what we didn’t expect was for Mount Shark Road (turn off of Smith Dorrien Trail) to be covered with a foot of snow. This made it very hard for us to drive our little hatchback up the hill, about two hundred metres past the bridge, or anywhere on the road for that matter. So we parked our car along the side of Mount Shark Road and skied to Mount Shark Picnic/Parking area. Once we arrived, I poked around the start of all the ski trails to see what shape they were in. Covered in fluffy white stuff, the trails were in awesome shape, but have not been groomed or track set. For those with touring skis I would suggest making your way out there.
Word of caution: if you don’t have a four wheel drive or an all-wheel drive vehicle, wait till Mount Shark Road is plowed before attempting to drive it.
The ski to Shark parking was an adventure, more suitable to touring/classic skis today. We made the best of it and I can’t wait to get out again, once the road is clear and the trails are groomed to my liking.
I’ve added the photos to the bottom of this post http://skierbob.ca/2012/01/saved-by-snow-and-cool-weather/ -Bob
Great news re. actual great snow at Shark but just noticed tomorrow they will close Spray Lakes Rd from Grassi to Goat starting at ten am for avalanche work for approx 1 hr.
Thanks Helen for noting the closure. Yes, Spray Lakes will be closed from 10am – 11am for avalanche control this morning.
Hello All,
I would like to take my children cross country skiing at West Bragg Creek on Jan. 5 or 6 and was wondering if anyone has skied there lately and if it is ok to go. Worried about the conditions as it has been so mild…Do not want to drive far with the kids so that is why I would like Bragg Creek.
Thanks!
Sophie
Hi Sophie, I skied there on Dec 23 – conditions were marginal (very worn and icy track) then. I haven’t been there since, but I don’t imagine its worth skiing – theres been no new snow and it was 12 degrees in Bragg Creek today. I’m sure there are many of us disappointed with this strange weather – I love the closeness of Bragg Creek too, however listening to the talk around the office today I think we’re in the minority.!
Hi Sophie,
Everything is melting in Bragg Creek, and with the additional high winds the trails are full of debris, so I would highly advise against skiing there. You’ll have to wait until we get a fresh dump of snow!
We spend today out at Canmore Nordic. A steady light drizzle from ~1130am until I got off the snow at 330pm, with occasional heavy rains. Constant temps between +5.5 and +8 depending on elevation. At least it was warm and hardly windy at all, but trails by 3pm were slushy. We had our kids (5&8) on waxless from ~1130-1pm’ish and they did ok but were a little frustrated. Waxless was better than bubble-gum +5C Klister (all I had). I skated from 130-3pm and was glad I chose that over classic – I did Banff to Bow Trail then full Meadowview. Lower trails (ie below Banff trail) had a lot of debris on them – my wife’s klister was the grossest-dirty-needle-filled mess I have ever seen after her 12km ski (Banff, Bow, Banff trail back from huts). Upper trails (Meadowview) had some debris by ~25% of the lower trails, and weren’t as slushy and tracks were in better shape. After today Canmore will desperately need some fresh snow coverage.
For weather reports I suggest looking at Environment Canada reports for Banff, Canmore, and Kananaskis (Nakiska ridgetop) plus the Nakiska snow reports. The following Bragg Creek site has current and last 24hrs highs/lows along the left margin, and other trends along the top margin: http://www.braggcreek.ca/weather/index.htm
I suggest skiing elsewhere at this time.
This afternoon I went trail running in West Bragg Creek (a short part of Telephone Loop, a few of the nearby new mountain bike trails, and a short part of the snowshoe loop). All of these trails were spring-like: a mix of ice, packed snow, mud, and dirt sections. I used Kahtoola microspikes for maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of my run. The parking lot was *quite* icy and so I was glad to have my Microspikes there also. Although I didn’t run on the groomed cross-country ski trails, I can’t imagine the conditions would be very good judging from what I saw where I went.
Has anyone ski’d Goat Creek trail in the last couple of days? Would like to know how the conditions are. Skate Ski’d Mount Shark yesterday. Lots of snow and perfect blue sky but trails appeared not to have been groomed in a while. Classic would have been a better choice.
Skied Kicking Horse Trail (there was no sign of tour buses or further elephants) but the “I love you Bob” sign was still clearly in the snow written to Skier Bob by someone special! Was minus 6 at 11 am (VR 45 worked great) and minus 3 at start of Alluvial Fan Trail. Saw three people on Fan trail and did it clockwise for a change, then skied around the perimeter of the lake back to the store for some “retail time”.
Glad to hear the temperature is staying cool, and nice that you noticed the messages in the snow. -Bob
Skied the south end of PLPP today (Whiskey Jack, Tyrwitt, Elk Pass, Fox Creek). The snow is gorgeous but the skier set tracks are beginning to fade and with today’s winds, there were pine cones accumulating on the trails. We need Jody!
We skied Chester-Sawmill yesterday. Amazing snow and blue sky. Apparently these trails are now snowshoe trails but having broken trail on some of these sections in the past, it wasn’t bad to have them nicely trampled down by snow shoes. Some great runs, but slower than usual due to the newish snow. Beautiful day. So nice not to get cold at lunch!
Regarding the ornament, I saw it last year on Cascade and took some great shots of it (that is if it is the same one). It was a delightful discovery.
Skied at the south end of Peter Lougheed Park…up to Lookout via Moraine, Fox, Elk Pass returning via north Lookout trail and Whiskey Jack. All are skier-tracked and Elk Pass is trackset. Hydroline is quite blown in and south Lookout trail is pretty chopped up, so better going up. Descent was very fast. Not a cloud in the sky and amazing 360 view from Lookout. Here’s to more great skiing in 2012!
In response to Lynn (December 31), a couple of us skied Cascade on December 23rd and going to the warden’s cabin in the morning there were no ornaments. On our return trip we saw a family heading to the campground by the bridge with their young kids (what a way of getting them hooked on the outdoors
), as well as ornaments between the bridge and about 3km from the start, so I’d suspect they may have something to do with it. I thought it might be a tactic to get the kids to ski back – look for an ornament every km.
Ski conditions on Cascade Fire Rd. were excellent yesterday. The snow received the day before had been freshly groomed & trackset. Who hung the Christmas tree ornament to a tree about halfway out to the Cascade Bridge?