Mountain road at West Bragg Creek

It seems like we’ve gone directly from winter to summer, bypassing spring. I enjoyed a number of ski trips at West Bragg Creek this winter which I am grateful for, but it’s always sad to see the snow disappear. Thanks to Alf Skrastins for this WBC update. All the photos were taken by Alf.

Moose Loop

The temperature only went down to 0°C for an hour or so last night, then it shot up to 19C this afternoon at West Bragg Creek. With 12 hours of bright sunshine beating down on a thin snowpack, XC skiing conditions are rapidly drawing to an end. 

Moose Loop, shady side

Typically sun exposed area like the first kilometre on Mountain Road, the open areas along Moose Loop and the sunny corners on Iron Springs are already reduced to water skiing.

In more sheltered areas, the base is still intact, but tracks and hills are either icy or slushy. With each day of hot weather, the snow just tends more towards ice.  If you get the timing right, between the overnight freeze and the afternoon melt, the best conditions can be found in the core Crystal Line-Sundog trails.

Click to see all Alf’s photos. 

Chuck is managing to find colder snow near Lake Louise. He mentioned that Lake O’Hara fire road appeared to have recent tracksetting. Check his trip report for photos. 

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