The Alberta XCD thread

[Lhartley]

Mustang Hills meadows from ForgetMeNot Mountain northeast summit. Kananaskis

[bwm8142]

Sundre area here! I ski on my NATOs multiple times a week on farms, nearby leases, and wider hiking trails west of town. There is a ton of great XCD around the foothills and it keeps me sane in the wintertime when I can't fly fish or hike. We are so lucky to have Norseman in Calgary for our specific niche hobby needs!

Are you skiing for turns in the Sundre area? Just curious, my family is in the Madden area some I'm out that way regularly

I am doing some skiing for turns, but a friend and I mainly ski longer distance days that are a mix of turns, route finding, exploration, etc. There are some great places to ski for turns only but I gravitate more towards skiing to a destination for the day and enjoying some turns when the opportunity presents itself. I ski on my farm a fair amount which has some decent low angle hills for some yo-yo skiing after work.

[Inspiredcapers]

Any kind of decent snow west of Calgary yet? K-Country? It’s still pretty dismal in the S.E. corner of BC and across the line to Whitefish.

[Lhartley]

We have a bit around Calgary. I've been skiing the sw slope on our acreage in the Dewinton area. It's all pasture so no rocks. I wouldn't want to ski on anything with rocks yet. I will check out Maple Ridge golf course on the way home tonight for some low angle turns. And will take a look at Mclean Creek and Sandy Mcnabb areas over the weekend likely.

[Lhartley]

Sundre area here! I ski on my NATOs multiple times a week on farms, nearby leases, and wider hiking trails west of town. There is a ton of great XCD around the foothills and it keeps me sane in the wintertime when I can't fly fish or hike. We are so lucky to have Norseman in Calgary for our specific niche hobby needs!

Are you skiing for turns in the Sundre area? Just curious, my family is in the Madden area some I'm out that way regularly

I am doing some skiing for turns, but a friend and I mainly ski longer distance days that are a mix of turns, route finding, exploration, etc. There are some great places to ski for turns only but I gravitate more towards skiing to a destination for the day and enjoying some turns when the opportunity presents itself. I ski on my farm a fair amount which has some decent low angle hills for some yo-yo skiing after work.

Right on, yeah I'm into about the same thing. I have a giant bucket list of hikes I'm after so just extend that through the winter on skis.

[DevinBartley]

I am located in Canmore. Long been into classic XC skiing on all the great groomed trails in the area, but just got my first set of BC XC skiis and boots last year so I am pretty new to this. We have our local spot we go here to "noodle around", but looking to get out an explore more of this part of Alberta this year. Any ideas for good places to go in the Kananaskis Region are welcome.

[elkhund]

A great book to help you plan trips is Ski Trails in the Canadian Rockies (5th Edition) by Chic Scott and Darren Farley. It provides information on popular trails in the National Parks (Waterton, Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay), as well as Kananaskis, Mt. Assiniboine PP and Mt. Robson PP. Lots of places to explore. You can find it at Indigo for $30.

[Lhartley]

Last season was my first getting into nordic and xcd but I can make some recommendations on some low angle stuff in the alpine. The Healey Meadows in the Sunshine backcountry are really great for low angle terrain. Taylor Lake also has some good low angle stuff. This is definitely Alpine terrain and would require avalanche gear and knowledge. These areas are covered in free guide books online

https://confessionsofaskibum.com/catego ... guidebook/

They can also be found in Chic Scott's Alpine Touring guide books.

In Kananaskis on the spray valley road low angle terrain can be found on Buller Shoulder aka Rummel creek aka bitch creek. This is a burn patch with a fire break and well spaced burned timbers. Gypsum ridge has some nice low angle glades. And Burstall Pass if youre into a longer approach. Most of that's in Chic Scott's books as well.

For a more xcd style tour I've found good turns in glades and cut blocks at West Bragg Creek nordic center, Sandy Mcnabb nordic center and The Mustang Hills. Sibbald Lake has some nice looking low angle trees but would take the right snow pack and maybe some some deadfall cleanup. Been scouting so many other spots but cant confirm snow coverage yet..There's so much more I'm sure, would love to hear from others. I

[Lhartley]

I just read about AST courses being held at Yamnuska. Which is strange to me. Having an avalanche skills training course held somewhere would imply there is skiable slopes there?

[LazyTelemarker]

I just read about AST courses being held at Yamnuska. Which is strange to me. Having an avalanche skills training course held somewhere would imply there is skiable slopes there?

You must be talking about courses from Yamnuska Mountain Adventures, a guiding company based in Canmore. My guess is that classroom sessions would be done at their Canmore offices, with field days at Bow Summit or maybe the Smith Dorrien. I can't see Yamnuska the mountain ever offering any decent, or even marginal skiing.