Skogan Pass, or Kananaskis Village & Bill Milne Trail skiing on 6-Feb

Our original plan was Skogan. But since the trail hadn't had any sort of grooming or packing this winter and the amount of snow lower down was minimal, we decided to ski the recently trackset Bill Milne / Wedge and Kananaskis Village trails. Because of ice flows, Parks hadn't groomed Bill Milne between Kovach and the Golf Course. Parks recommended parking at the Golf Course or Wedge Pond, but the Golf Course parking wasn't plowed so we parked at Wedge Pond instead. Temperature was -22C when we arrived there at about 0915, but winds were calm and the sun was starting to hit the trails. We skied Wedge Connector including the Evan-Thomas Creek viewpoint, and headed north on Bill Milne to a bit past the Golf Course where the grooming ended. We returned to the car via Bill Milne, including a short excursion onto Wedge Pond. Most of the route was trackset, but several places had twigs or even ground showing through the bottom of the trackset, especially on Bill Milne.

We then drove to Kananaskis Village to warm up and have our lunch inside at the Kananaskis Village Centre. By the end of lunch the temperature had risen to about -12C with the sun still out and winds remaining calm. We skied Terrace northbound, Aspen southbound, and back to the village via the south end of Kovach. Similar to the morning, the Village trails trackset was thin with twigs or ground showing through. Overall, we skied a bit over 20km.

Thanks to Jim, Mike (C/S), Carl, Jane

Jim, Mike and Jane at the Wedge Connector viewpoint

Jane, Carl, Jim on the Bill Milne trail bridge over Evan-Thomas Creek, "The Fortress" peak behind

Jim, Jane, Carl on Wedge Pond, Mt. Kidd behind

View of The Wedge from the Aspen trail