Cross Country Skiing
Trail Report Links:
Peter Lougheed Park
Banff National Park(includes Lake Louise)
Canmore Nordic Centre
Yoho National Park(includes Emerald Lake)

	March 17, 2008 1000 K Goal achieved! Thank you to everyone who offered their encouragement. Thanks especially to Cheryl and Tessa who provided wonderful companionship. It was indeed a spectacular winter.
	March 17, 2008 As I reach the bottom of this small hill, I reach my goal of skiing 1000 K. You can see Tessa going full speed to beat me there.
	March 11, 2008 This is my photographer who took such excellent photos all winter. After today's skiing, I am at 996K.
	I think I'll have a little rest while mom ties her boots!
	Feb 23, 2008 Peter Lougheed Prov Park Getting ready for my longest ski of the winter. It's the Kananaskis Ski Marathon today and I'm setting out to do 42K in my favourite place to ski. I completed the race in 3h 31 min. With today's skiing, I've got 911K in the books. Getting close! The longest ski I ever did was 65K. It was the entire Lake Louise to Banff race as an individual skier a few years back. You can tell that I'm already back to work. The facial hair is gone
	Feb 5, 2008 Skogan Pass Kananaskis Country There's a good shot of Tessa with her new boots! She's climbing that hill a lot faster than Cheryl. It's neat how that tree makes an arch over the trail.
	Feb 5, 2008 Troll Falls Kananaskis Country That's Cheryl and Tessa in front of frozen Troll Falls. This is a sight worth seeing every winter. It's a short ski of about 3K  from the Ribbon Creek parking lot. If you do this trail in March and return on Hay Meadow, there's a good chance you'll run into Peter Sherrington with his spotting scope as he documents the Eagle migration.
	Jan 27, 2007 Banff's Central Park on the frozen Bow River The finish line of the 65K race. Peter skied the final leg for our team. I'm now up to 711K.
	Jan 27, 2008 Baker Creek Banff National Park Skiing in the Lake Louise to Banff Loppett(ski race). This year I'm on a relay team of five. I did the 2nd leg from Baker Creek to Castle Lookout. I also skied with Cheryl on her leg through the Backswamp. Now that was cross country skiing at its best! We had to ski on the frozen river, and through a blizzard with howling winds, blowing snow, and barely visible tracks. Great fun!
	Dec 12, 2007 Peter Lougheed Prov Park Kananaskis Country There's no better place to ski. We've just descended Pocaterra after Climbing Whiskey Jack. Now on Lynx, the snow, the tracks, the scenery, the companionship is spectacular. I will have completed 319 K after today's ski. The first 30 days of skiing have seen some of the best early season snow since I started skiing 10 years ago.
	Dec 2007 Ribbon Creek Kananaskis Country Any guess which animal made this track? I've placed my glove beside the print to give some perspective on the size. You could not see any toenails, so I knew it wasn't a wolf or coyote. That means it was probably a cougar.
	Nov 2007 Chester Lake Parking Lot Kananaskis Country The moose were looking for some road salt to lick.
	Nov 2007 Smith Dorrien Hwy Kananaskis Country Moose along the road at sunset as we were returning from skiing on the Smith Dorrien trails
	Nov 13, 2007 Moraine lake Road Lake Louise Nice scenery!
	Nov 13, 2007 Moraine Lake Road Lake Louise I've just completed my first kilometre. Only 999 to go!
	Nov 13, 2007 Lake Louise Moraine Lake Road Been waiting for 7 long months for this day. Ski season has begun! My goal is to ski 1000 K this winter.
	Dec 7, 2006 Trail: Whiskey Jack Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country The trails in PLPP are in great shape. Here is a photo of Whiskey Jack that was just trackset today. No signs of the chinook here. The ambient temperature was -2, and the snow was -7. Couldn't be better.
	Dec 7, 2006 Trail: Whiskey Jack Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country Whiskey Jack has one of the steepest sections of trail that you'll find anywhere. Perhaps Lookout has one steeper section. Here you can see my herringbone tracks as I reach the end of this part puff! puff! Yes, that's a sharp right turn about 50 metres ahead.
	Dec 7, 2006 Trail: Whiskey Jack Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country There's the top! For an average skier who is really putting out, it takes about 35 minutes to climb this trail to the top. It's 4.3 K, and 219 m elevation gain.
	Dec 7, 2006 Trail: Junction of Whiskey Jack, Pocaterra Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country I set the camera on the picnic table and took this photo.
	Dec 7, 2006 Trail: Junction of Whiskey Jack, Pocaterra Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country Hmmmm, I have tough decision to make. Go down Pocaterra, or head off to the south on Tyrwhitt. They are both in prime condition and freshly trackset today.
	Dec 7, 2006 Trail: Pocaterra Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country I decided to enjoy the delightful run down Pocaterra. As I went flying by the Packers junction, I could see that it had just been groomed for the first time this season. I imagine it is still pretty rough in spots.
	Dec 7, 2006 Trail: Pocaterra Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country Now I know why the tracks are so good. There's Matt the groomer!
	Dec 7, 2006 Trail: Junction of Lynx, Pocaterra Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country Just finished the most enjoyable downhill in the park. From the top of Whiskey Jack, it's 6.4 K of sheer joy. On a good day, you can cover this stretch in 20 minutes. It's not dangerous, just fun. Gorgeous scenery.
	Dec 7, 2006 Trail: Lynx Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country   Fresh snowshoe hare tracks. This trail, Lynx, is named after a rarely seen cat that inhabits these parts and whose diet consists mainly of hares. I have been lucky enough to see a lynx twice out here.
	Dec 7, 2006 Trail: Wheeler Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country I see the Pocaterra Moose has been out skiing again! She frequently uses the groomed trails to get around
	Dec 7, 2006 Trail: Wheeler Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country And there she is in person! The Pocaterra Moose. As you can see, it is starting to get dark. Those two shiny things are her eyes.
	Dec 7, 2006 Trail: Boulton Creek Parking Lot Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country Back to where I started. Another great day of skiing. 15 K today
	Dec 3, 2006 Trail: Cascade Fire Road Location: Banff national Park Good early season conditions here. There were a few exposed rocks on the hill as you start out.
	Dec 3, 2006 Trail: Cascade Fire Road Location: Banff national Park The bridge over the river. It's about 6 K to this point.
	Dec 3, 2006 Trail: Cascade Fire Road Location: Banff national Park You get to enjoy some spectacular scenery along the way.
	Dec 2, 2006 Trail: Junction of Whiskey Jack, Pocaterra Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country Just finished climbing Whiskey Jack.  Those are moose tracks behind me in the snow. Seems like the ungulates enjoy the ski trails, too! Now we head south for .5 K on Pocaterra and then onto Tyrwhitt.
	Dec 2, 2006 Trail: Tyrwhitt Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country One of my all-time favourite ski trails. There are the beautiful meadows at the top. During my last ski of the spring on April 12, I encountered fresh grizzly bear tracks in the snow. They were already coming out of hibernation. They should all be sound asleep for the next four months.
	These are the bear tracks from last spring. There was snow falling, and the tracks looked very fresh. Yes, we turned around and went back the way we came, frequently looking over our shoulders! The Tyrwhitt area is known for having lots of grizzly activity in the summer.
	Dec 2, 2006 Trail: Tyrwhitt Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country Beautiful scenery The temperature was about -12C with deep blue, clear skies
	Dec 2, 2006 Trail: Tyrwhitt Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country Even more beautiful scenery
	Dec 2, 2006 Trail: Elk Pass Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country Now going down Elk Pass. After finishing Tyrwhitt, we went down Hydroline, had a thrilling run down Patterson, and now the gentle downhill on Elk Pass. In total today we did 18 K. The trails through Fox Creek and Boulton Creek were not groomed, but it was pretty smooth skiing. Lots of snow and good skier set tracks.
	Nov 29, 2006 Trail: Lodgepole Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country The weather was cold(-17) but once you got moving it was pretty nice. This was the first time in years that I actually used green grip wax! I had to dig to the bottom of the wax bag for that one. The trails have just been trackset and are in good condition. I understand that there will be a number of other trails trackset by the weekend. I did a loop from the visitor centre including Lodgepole and Meadow with a side trip down Wheeler. Saw some bobcat tracks in the fresh snow.
	Nov 29, 2006 Trail: Wheeler Location: Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country You get some spectacular views as you ski along Wheeler. I've never been on this trail with machine-groomed tracks this early in the season.
	Nov 22, 2006 Elk Pass, Peter Lougheed Park, Kananaskis Country The scenery was stunning today. There was about 15 cm of fresh snow over last week's groomed trails. It was slow going, but we made it to the top of Elk Pass. This is one of my favourite spots along the trail where the valley opens up and you can see huge pillows of snow along Fox creek. Once the trails are groomed and trackset, the conditions should be fantastic. There was also lots of snow on Tyrwhitt, so I'm expecting we may be able to do the entire 18 K loop by the weekend.
	Nov 22, 2006 Elk Pass, Peter Lougheed Park Kananaskis Country Nearing the top of the pass. At the junction(top), you can go in three possible directions; Tyrwhitt, Hydroline, or return on Elk Pass. All the grooming was covered by at least 15 cm of fresh snow, so we stuck to the trail which other skiers had already been on, and returned the way we came. On a clear day, you would see mountains in the background, but it was overcast and snowing today. We met only three other skiers out here today.
	Nov 22, 2006 Wildlife sighting While driving along Hwy #40, we spotted this moose. There was a moose killed along the highway last week, and when we passed the spot where its carcass was, we saw what looked like 2 wolves in the distance. At one time there were collared wolves in Peter Lougheed Park and you could get updates on their movements. It was very interesting to learn about their travels and adventures. Did anyone else out there sponsor Nakoda?

Elk Pass, Peter Lougheed Park, Kananaskis Country   Nov 19, 2006

Wonderful snow conditions and trackset trails. This is near the junction of Elk Pass and Patterson. I met a grizzly bear exactly in this spot a couple years ago while hiking in the summer.	Scenery at the top of Elk Pass. From here, you can take Hydroline, Tyrwhitt(my all-time favourite trail), or even go into British Columbia which is about 10 metres away.
Large pillows of fluffy, soft snow adorn the Fox Creek valley along the Elk Pass trail	The trail marker at the junction of Elk Pass, Hydroline, and Tyrwhitt. That's the B.C. border in the upper right hand corner.
The first thing you encounter when skiing the Elk Pass trail is a huge hill right at the beginning. Here I have made it to the top(panting) and you can see the Lower Kananaskis Lake in the background.	Skier going down Hydroline trail.