What a difference a couple of days makes

Friday the snow was pretty good – nice even consistency and good coverage pretty much everywhere I skied - with just a few little openings in the snowpack here and there. Saturday and Sunday those little openings started to grow and while I still managed to ski most everywhere without taking my skis off, it won’t be long before portaging from one block of snow to another becomes necessary (like as soon as tomorrow?). Saturday I skied up Burma which was still pretty nice. Made a detour up to the Ramparts which was a bit of an exercise. The backcountry trail doesn’t get the same compaction from the groomers that the main trails get so the snow was soft… or gone all together. A few spots had snow coverage but deep water (okay only a few inches deep) lurking underneath so extra care was needed. Managed to escape getting soaked but had to make the last little climb up to the lookout sans skis as the snow had melted through. Still, it was worth the effort to check out the view for the first time this year (how did I not get up here sooner?).

A nice view but it was slow progress to get up here
Sunday I stuck to the parkway and had a pretty good ski. Interesting that the trail up from P10 (last of the daily groomed trails) was well churned and soft with the masses of skiers trying to get in one last ski before the season ends. Closer to my starting point at MacKenzie King (where there’s been no grooming for a while) the snow was smooth and fast. As an added bonus there were small clouds of bugs floating over the trail at various points on my ski. That must surely be a sign of spring! Not sure what they were on about but I did swallow a few inadvertently as I skied along (extra protein?) and they didn't seem to be in a hurry to get out of my way.

Patches of asphalt opening up
The groomers are now done for the season – barring a late season snowstorm - and I for one want to thank them for their hard work on what has probably been one of the tougher years in my memory. First the big ice storm at Christmas time and then not much snow to work with… and yet the trails were still in pretty good shape throughout the year - or what there was of it. Many thanks indeed.

Sunset on the ski season?
Still a few more days to ski but I fear those days are dwindling. As the portages open up each skier must make the call as to what ratio of walking to skiing is still worthwhile to them. Time to start cleaning up the ski fleet and packing a few pairs away… but I’ll keep a couple of pairs handy for a few more days yet.