After a windy drive it was a little below freezing under cloudy skies at the start of skiing but there was good kick and glide up Tramline. Moraine and Fairview were quite good too on our way to Lake Louise. There we found a fence that blocked the breeze and the spot provided a view across the lake and we could evaluate the abilities of the skaters:

Chateau lunch: The gang at a sheltered spot

View of Mt Fairview from lunch spot

From there we went up and over Upper Telemark and then down the east segment of Lower Telemark before cutting up to start the return on Peyto trail. Barb captured action photos of our last steep ascent of the day:


herringbone time on Peyto trail: Philip, Damian, Rosanne, Ron, Phyllis and Anne

Shortly thereafter a black-backed woodpecker was spotted by our avian expert, which was the only fauna of the day other than the usual ravens and chickadees. Sled dogs were heard but not seen. The run down Tramline was very smooth, almost no poling was required. All-in-all an excellent day, there were only a few other skiers on the tracks we skied, including a pair from Ottawa we helped direct down Tramline and back towards their hotel in the village. GPS readings indicated just over 21 kilometres and one said about 300 metres vertical while the other was just over 400 metres. Dry roads made for an easy drive home, although there was still a strong chinook-like tailwind from Canmore to Calgary.

Thanks for joining me goes to a congenial group of participants: Rosanne, Philip, Barbara (photos), Phyllis, Damian, Anne from Ron Coordinator/Scribe/Photos.

Pine needles and cones report: generally minimal with a few needles on Lower Telemark and some on Peyto.

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