Lake Louise loppet

The Cookie Race goes this Saturday in PLPP. Registration is closed, but there are some others coming up.

Lake Louise Loppet

Will all your training pay off with a podium finish? Maybe you just enjoy the thrill of a ski race in the most spectacular setting on earth? The 40th annual Lake Louise Loppet goes on Sunday March 4. You can read more on the Calgary Ski Club’s website Lake Louise Loppet

Masters National Championships in Golden

The 2012 Canadian Masters National Championships will be held March 11 – 17 in Golden, BC. This is for skiers age 30 – 99. All the details can be viewed here Race Notice

Rocky Mountain Ski Challenge

On Sunday March 18, the Canmore Nordic Centre will be the site of the Rocky Mountain Ski Challenge. Read more Canmore Nordic Ski Club

“Moraine Lake Road was groomed to perfection today (felt like velvet) as we were skiing up.  Had been trackset yesterday but he did it again due to 10 cms new snow. Amazing what a few dozen peanut butter cookies will do as a modest thank you for the groomers.  Minus 3 at start and zero at end, with a little nip of wind now and again.  Saw maybe 8 people in total.  Perfect conditions for skate skiers also.”

With the Kananaskis Ski Marathon in PLPP this Saturday, you may prefer to ski someplace where there’s less activity. It will be impossible to park at Pocaterra.

Thanks to everyone who entered the draw for the Canmore Nordic Centre passes. Stephen Collins was the lucky winner.

I have two free adult passes(valued at $10 each) to give away to someone who would like to ski at the Canmore Nordic Centre. With recent snow and cooler weather, conditions at the CNC this weekend should be superb.

A couple rules: you must be a first-year skier, or have never skied at the nordic centre before. Send me an email, with “Free Passes” in the subject line, and I’ll pick a name from any entries I receive by 10 pm tonight. Use the  Contact Bob form to email me.

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A skier crosses the finish line in the 2011 Cookie Race

I see that SkiHere.ca readers must have reserved all the seats for the Wolverine talk in Calgary tomorrow(Thurs) night. Luckily, I’m back in Canmore and will be able to go to the talk being held here tonight. The Wolverine Way

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The Cookie Race (Kananaskis Ski Marathon) goes this Saturday in PLPP. I’m really going to miss skiing in it this year. It looks like conditions should be excellent, although the weather forecast is predicting snow for Saturday. It never hurts to have a little fresh snow in the tracks to slow down those faster skiers. Registration ends at 8pm today.

Hi Bob,

Love the blog, check it every week! I was wondering if you know of any good XC trail books for the Rockies. I have found good hiking, biking and touring skiing books but never a good XC book.

Hope your recovery is going well.

Simon

I only know of two books, which I bought fourteen years ago(the first year I skied), but the trails haven’t changed very much. I see that Chic Scott’s book has been updated since I bought it. If anyone knows of any others, leave a comment.

Ski Trails in the Canadian Rockies by Chic Scott

Kananaskis Country Ski Trails by Gillean Daffern

Both books are published by Rocky Mountain Books, but I don’t see Daffern’s book on the RMB website. Does anyone know if both books are still available at the outdoor stores?

As for my recovery, it’s going well, thanks. I was able to stand up and put my pants on today(the things we take for granted!) I’m now looking forward to the day when I can bend over to tie my shoe laces.

Thanks for all the trip reports this weekend. It was wonderful that with three days of skiing, we’ve had reasonably good conditions for all of them.

Some fresh snow and cooler weather has made for great conditions at West Bragg Creek. Tanya was there today, and tells all about it(I wonder if it looked anything like the pictures I’ve included here):

“Spent the day at West Bragg today, Monday, skiing the Sun dog loop with Elbow/Iron Springs loop.  If you are a xc purist that likes powder and hates corduroy, you need to get out there asap! 

Crystal Line at West Bragg Creek(file photo)

It was the best skiing I’ve had all year anywhere!  There is plenty of coverage with the exception of the meadow on the Iron Springs trail that has grass and rocks poking through (the rest of the trail is fine).  The trails are skier-tracked with fresh powder in abundance on all trails.  If you want the best powder, you’ll find the Elbow Trail less tracked than some of the closer trails and very fluffy.  Skiing is great for beginners in West Bragg right now too because the fresh snow is making the hills very gentle.  Hardly had to snow plow down any of them.”

“Is there snow in Waterton Lakes National Park? You bet! Skied there Saturday and it is about 3 feet deep by Cameron Lake. It was cloud covered, -5 and snowing all afternoon with only a light wind. The track is reasonably set and the snow shoers seem to respect it. It was a great day to be out skiing.

Waterton

Richard, how far does that trail go?

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Backcountry users take note:

I noticed this on Twitter on Feb 20 at 7:29 a.m. from Kananaskis Public Safety:

Kananaskis Avalanche Hazard is CONSIDERABLE in K-Country. Computer server didn’t publish our bulletin last night…stay tuned for updates.

Victor Daigle loves cross-country skiing. Strong, fit, and skilled, he excelled at it. In any race he entered, you could always find his name at or near the top of the results. Friendly, and quick with a smile, I originally met him when we were both members of the Calgary Ski Club.

Victor leads a group of ski friends around the Canmore Nordic Centre

I was privileged to be invited to make a lap around the nordic centre with him today. I’m unable to ski right now, but I was pleased to be there anyway, alongside about two dozen of his ski friends, to join him as he gathered all his strength to ski about 200 metres in front of the daylodge.

He asked me to remind everyone to live your life to the fullest every minute, and never miss a day of skiing. Victor has terminal lymphoma and took his skis off for the last time today.

Victor Daigle steps out of his skis for the last time

It was about the nicest day I’ve ever seen at the Canmore Nordic Centre with a cheery blue sky dotted with puffy clouds, a bright winter sun, and nice cold snow.

This weekend, you have a super-abundance of choices of trails to ski, and with Monday being a holiday, you have an extra day to try and fit more in. Will you be going back to a favourite trail, or trying out something new? This winter has not presented us with too many opportunities like this. By my count, there are at least 500K of trails to ski around here right now.

You’ll finally have a good selection closer to Calgary. I hope the snow is staying cold in West Bragg Creek because the parking lot will be full for three consecutive days. I’d go there just to see all the happy dogs(397 readers have clicked on the “Dog-friendly ski trails” page in the past month).

West Bragg Creek

Ribbon Creek and the Kananaskis Village trails are reported to be in good shape. I would give anything to have the ability to climb to the Kovach lookout right now, and ski down all those fun trails to the village. For those looking for a good climb, Skogan Pass(upper) was trackset today.

Mount Shark was trackset last night. Every trail in Banff National Park has been trackset within the past few days, except for Brewster Creek. You may be able to guess which one would be on top of my list.(We had a question from a reader – has anyone been on the Spray River recently?)

The Canmore Nordic Centre’s natural snow trails were all trackset this week.

The good old dependables, PLPP and Lake Louise should be as good as ever.

I’m expecting to see a lot of trip reports!

If you’re new here, or are wondering why I’m only fantasizing about skiing, read my post of Feb 11, I’m Alive!!!!!

Nipika’s cougar triplets made the front page of the local newspaper.

When you’re hot…

Canada’s Devon Kershaw won the men’s world cup sprint in Poland today. He isn’t anywhere near the lead until the very end where he does a “Petter Northug” and passes everyone with only a few metres to go. (Kershaw is #18, which means 17 skiers qualified faster.) In the video, it appears to me the Russian skier who was in the lead relaxed about a half-second too soon.

Video: Devon Kershaw claims a come-from-behind win in Poland

This reminds me of the old saying, “what goes around…” Kershaw has had more than his share of close finishes and misfortune, missing an Olympic medal by less than one second, a few fourths, breaking poles, losing a ski, etc. He persisted, and now the breaks are going his way. His recent victories must feel extra-sweet after all the hard work and frustrations.

The recent snowfall has enabled the tracksetters to get back to work. I’m sure the 7 – 12 cm that fell at West Bragg will make for a lot of happy skiers this weekend. Check the Kananaskis trail report for details on which trails were trackset.

Goat Creek was trackset yesterday(file photo)

A number of trails in Banff National Park were done yesterday including Redearth Creek, Spray River Trail West and East, Goat Creek, Sundance, and Healy Creek.

The trails in the vicinity of Kananaskis Village were trackset yesterday including Terrace, Terrace link, Kovach and Aspen.

The natural snow trails at the Canmore Nordic Centre were all trackset.

It’s about time!

Moose Loop trail at West Bragg Creek. Photo taken Feb 15, 2012 by Steve Riggs

We’ve had two recent trip reports on West Bragg reporting good conditions, most recently from Tom: “West Bragg Creek-Skied my usual loop-Sundog, Elbow,Iron Springs, and Crystal East and West on a beautiful, cloudless Wednesday afternoon.All these trails were groomed and trackset as reported by WBCTA. The side of the track was still soft and had not quite set up yet. However the skiing was still  very good. Temp. varied from -4C to -1C and Swix purple worked very well. It’s surprising how much better the snow and ski experience is in the old growth forested areas versus the open, previously clear cut areas.I think it would be criminal to allow any further clear cut logging near these trails and surrounding area.”

Also received this email from Steve Riggs:

“Excellent ski conditions on Wednesday afternoon at West Bragg. I skied Moose Loop, Loggers and Sundog along with various connecting trails, finding perfect grooming and tracksetting with only a few minor thin spots at the usual exposed locations.”