My friend Chip encountered some packed ski trails in Kananaskis while he was accessing a scramble to Mt Roberta today.
The higher elevations in PLPP near the top of Pocaterra and Whiskey Jack tend to get lots of early snow and it looks like some snowmobile packing has occurred.
Chip commented…
“The snow quality was pretty good. We arrived at 10 a.m. to -6 C. The track was firm and was not collapsed with our weight but for the sides. Not terribly wet, even in the upper elevations of the track. Thin at places and, of course, sticks and rocks.
Probably about 15 cm of coverage, crusted in some spots, powder in others.
By the time we ended at around 2:30, it has warmed up considerably but, despite about 15 hikers, there was still plenty of real estate for skiing.”
The best access for skiers for these high-elevation trails, until the barricade goes up on Dec 1, is approximately 9K south of the seasonal gate on Hwy #40. There’s a parking lot and a short spur trail(approx 400 metres) which puts you onto Upper Pocaterra, about 1.5K from the Whiskey Jack junction.
Thought I saw some snowmobile packing on the trails south of Pocaterra Hut on about Oct 6. I couldn’t be sure it was packing, as opposed to extra-curricular snowmobiling (which I did see around Highwood Pass). Can anyone confirm that this was an intended packing of the trails?
If it did get packed, there should at least be a a half decent base on the north end trails once we get some real snow.