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Mike Rogers

Mike Rogers

Out on the slopes
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Calgary
always look forward to my trips to Kicking Horse and Lake Louise, 2 of my favorites if it works maybe we can catch a couple of runs together.
sounds like you know those hills better than me.


Let me know if you're around! I ski weekends, and I have a pass to Louise so it is kind of my default, but I like to hit up other resorts as well, particularly Kicking Horse.
 

albertanskigirl

aka Sabrina
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Mar 28, 2017
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Calgary, AB
I was at Sunshine today - and the past few storms have created amazing conditions. There has been so much snow this week - 25 cm the night before last, surprise 10 last night and probably another 10 while I was skiing today. There are some amazing spots on the mountain. We were in Paris Basin today - and a lot of it is completely untracked from the last several storms. I would say a good 50 cm in the gullies in the top half of the ridge - a friend of mine got stuck in a windrift and it was waist deep. We had to break the trail though, and there's like 40 cm on a lot of the traverse. If only snowboarders would stop postholing my beautiful ski tracks. Its beautiful out there right now - hope that the snow keeps coming!
 

albertanskigirl

aka Sabrina
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Mar 28, 2017
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319
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Calgary, AB
I don't have many photos from yesterday because I was too busy skiing, but I thought I would put in a few because what's a thread without photos? I don't have photos of some of the best conditions because it was snowing like crazy. These are from the 15 minutes that the sun came out first thing in the morning - from literally some of the least exciting stuff we skied. Although the snow in between the trees right now is phenomenal.

IMG_8255.JPG


IMG_8258.JPG
 

Pete in Idaho

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St. Maries - Northern Idaho
It got warm here again. Looking to go North and need some recommendations and snow reports. I live 50 miles south of Couer d Alene so easy way north is thru creston or over to montana and up past whitefish/fernie. I will be coming midweek. Have skied Red, Whitewater. Fernie and Panorama. Rained up on the mt. yesterday and looking for good snow. Advanced skier but old guy.
 

Pete in Idaho

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St. Maries - Northern Idaho
Lake Louise has been skiing great, lots of snow this past week (80cm in the past week.. even though website only says 10 overnight, definitely 20+ on the backside this morning)... cold today (-15Cish, -20ish with wind), but great skiing. Looks like it's supposed to warm up significantly though, so not sure what the next week will look like.

Thanks, raining here up on top even. Think I will wait till Mon or Tue and make some kind of decision.
 
Thread Starter
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Mike Rogers

Mike Rogers

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I did a lake louise and kicking horse weekend yesterday. I echo @tam comments. Lake Louise is pretty prime right now. Lots of new on a soft base on shady aspects, new snow on a custier base on the front side....but still very good there too.

Kicking horse was excellent top to bottom.

Temps were good at kicking horse. Below zero all day, but not too cold.

Lake Louise was VERY cold in the valley, but nice up top.

Vis has been rough!
 
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Thread Starter
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Mike Rogers

Mike Rogers

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I should add that I head Fernie has been hit by some warmer weather. +5 on Saturday, followed by cold temps made for some refrozen surfaces. A guy at the motel in Golden said it was +7 in Kimberly on Saturday afternoon. People in the Gondola at Kicking Horse said Revelstoke was good up top, but raining below the stoke. Also mentioned rain at the highway level in Rogers Pass.


If you are coming this way for good snow, Lake Louise, Sunshine and Kicking Horse would be better bets than Fernie and Kimberly, and depending on your expectations for full mountain skiing, Revelstoke. Castle is a bit of an unknown. They have been getting a lot of snow though, so I think it should be okay.

Best deal for tickets if you missed Mountain Collective and the discount cards would be Costco in Calgary.
 

Tony

tseeb
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Northern CA
Hi @Mike Rogers - Not sure if you will be around after Valentine's Day, but I and a couple of other people who are currently unable to access their PugSki accounts will be skiing in BC and AB later in Feb. Plan is to fly into Calgary around noon on 2/15 and ski Revelstoke on 2/16, which is also the day two of us go to cat skiing pickup 30 miles W of there. The person not going cat skiing will go to Sun Peaks and maybe some other places nearby. We exit cat skiing on 2/19 and stay in Golden a couple of nights with plans to ski Kicking Horse 2/20, then Lake Louse 2/21, where we will also stay for at least a night before skiing Sunshine 2/22. After that we planned to go to Castle and Fernie (I and one other person never have been, but other person highly recommends both) but will re-visit depending on conditions. When we did a similar trip 3 years ago (without the flight to Calgary), we skied Panorama, then Lost Trail (on MT/ID border) as Fernie and Whitefish has been affected by warm storms and, as much as possible, we are not traveling so far to ski groomers. We return to CA via Calgary on 2/26. Nothing has been booked past nights in Golden as we have not had problem with last minute reservations on previous trips. Should we be more concerned about reservation if we want to stay near Castle or Fernie over the weekend of 2/24-25?
 
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Mike Rogers

Mike Rogers

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BC has a long weekend on February 12 and Alberta has the 19th off. Schools usually have a break the week before or after the long weekend. Generally speaking, the weekends will be busier than weekdays, but midweek days in mid February are busier than most midweek days. I don't think you will have a problem booking a place in Banff or Pincher Creek, but you might want to keep an eye on Fernie, especially if you are watching your budget. The cheaper places can book out a bit faster. Again, I think you will be okay, but check the travel sites to make sure rooms aren't disappearing.

I will be skiing in the region while you are here, but I will be limited to weekends, unfortunately.

Let me know if you have any specific questions!
 
Thread Starter
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Mike Rogers

Mike Rogers

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It got warm here again. Looking to go North and need some recommendations and snow reports. I live 50 miles south of Couer d Alene so easy way north is thru creston or over to montana and up past whitefish/fernie. I will be coming midweek. Have skied Red, Whitewater. Fernie and Panorama. Rained up on the mt. yesterday and looking for good snow. Advanced skier but old guy.


Have you made a decision yet?

I have good news, and bad news.

The bad....driving might be tough

The good.....more snow!

https://www.google.org/publicalerts/alert?aid=647e904eb775c00c&hl=en&gl=CA&source=web
 

JayT

Tahoe Powder Junkie
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Nov 12, 2015
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Truckee & Sonoma
Hi @Mike Rogers - Not sure if you will be around after Valentine's Day, but I and a couple of other people who are currently unable to access their PugSki accounts will be skiing in BC and AB later in Feb. Plan is to fly into Calgary around noon on 2/15 and ski Revelstoke on 2/16, which is also the day two of us go to cat skiing pickup 30 miles W of there. The person not going cat skiing will go to Sun Peaks and maybe some other places nearby. We exit cat skiing on 2/19 and stay in Golden a couple of nights with plans to ski Kicking Horse 2/20, then Lake Louse 2/21, where we will also stay for at least a night before skiing Sunshine 2/22. After that we planned to go to Castle and Fernie (I and one other person never have been, but other person highly recommends both) but will re-visit depending on conditions. When we did a similar trip 3 years ago (without the flight to Calgary), we skied Panorama, then Lost Trail (on MT/ID border) as Fernie and Whitefish has been affected by warm storms and, as much as possible, we are not traveling so far to ski groomers. We return to CA via Calgary on 2/26. Nothing has been booked past nights in Golden as we have not had problem with last minute reservations on previous trips. Should we be more concerned about reservation if we want to stay near Castle or Fernie over the weekend of 2/24-25?

Okay Tony, that's funny. Both of us escaping NorCal on almost the same trip at the same time. I had to go somewhere with winter or I was going to lose it. My wife agreed. I fly into Calgary on 2/14 and drive straight to Revelstoke and will be working my way back. Revelstoke for a few days, then Kicking Horse, then Lake Louise. I'll PM you and maybe we'll overlap here or there.
 

JayT

Tahoe Powder Junkie
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Truckee & Sonoma
On another note, my travel partner fell through at the last second so I will be going solo, so if any of you locals want to show me around, go touring, or just share a beer at the end of the day, hit me up.
 

albertanskigirl

aka Sabrina
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Calgary, AB
30-35 cm overnight at Sunshine and Louise! The Sunshine access road was closed this morning because of avalanche control work being done by Parks Canada. Apparently they've cleared the debris off the road, and the access road just opened again! It's going to be a great weekend - if only it could have waited until tomorrow to snow, because I can't go until the weekend :(
 
Thread Starter
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Mike Rogers

Mike Rogers

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I live at the bottom of this hill. I missed them, but it looks like some skiers were getting some urban tracks today in Cowtown.

3rj6LJ7.jpg




In other news: my favorite Fernie Conditions report is back on line!


http://www.billhandley.com/
 

Poolskier Vinny

Red Bull Athlete Wannabe
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Sep 20, 2017
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Alberta, Canada
Hit Norquay on Wed. for toonie day...crowded but hey for 2 bucks I can't complain. Snow was great everywhere...pretty much most runs off all the chairs were skiing well. Best runs were off the north american ...they were really sking well, as was boundary bowl.

Then off for a couple of great days at Castle on Thurs and Friday. Lots of pow both days...but friday was crowded...no wind....chutes were open and skiing excellently as was north bowl, northern exposure etc. Even the runs off the blue chair were great (shot guns, lift line, showdown etc.)

Then hit LL on Sat. Crazy busy! (I figured it would be given the snowfalls). In general snow/runs were fine but it definitely was tracked out and getting skied off in places.
Spent no time on front side other than to access the platter for backside laps. Did not bother to hit Larch either.

Snow was soft but paradise bowl in the main part was getting hit pretty hard. A-D gully, Whitehorn, big 7, swedes, fencline gully, east/crow bowl were best choices for the day...with the gully's being the group fave.

Taking a few days off then hitting up Revy this long weekend to brave the Family day crowds...ugh! Hopefully the snow will be worth it!
 

albertanskigirl

aka Sabrina
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Mar 28, 2017
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319
Location
Calgary, AB
Skied Sunshine on Saturday - great conditions everywhere. Bluebird day. This last snowfall pretty much filled in all the gaps. And there is still some untracked, especially in the trees. Spent the morning lapping Divide with SO, DD and DS. Boundary Bowl/Viking Ridge/South Pocket are all skiing beautifully - nice soft bumps. Then hit up Bye Bye Bowl - the snow was so soft, chopped up already, but no bumps forming yet. That run was a bit of a struggle as the snow was quite deep and we learned that DD's DIN probably needs to be turned up to account for her added weight and aggression. But beautiful conditions.

In the afternoon, we met up with @Pumba and her SO - we wanted to hit up all three mountains with them and did just that. Warmed up on Wawa - did a couple of laps and snow on Star Trek is great. Then did some laps on Lookout - again Viking Ridge did not disappoint, and ended the day on Goat's Eye - with Wildfire and Rolling Thunder. There was basically no wind on Goat's Eye - it was the calmest I've seen it probably ever, and the snow is great.

We did the ski-out at the end of the day and it is, as should be expected, in the best condition of the season right now!

Awesome time with @Pumba - hope to meet up one more time this week!

SO and I are going to Louise on Thursday for a Valentine's day one-day getaway - there's supposedly more snow on the way Wed - Thurs:
http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Lake-Louise/6day/mid
 

albertanskigirl

aka Sabrina
Skier
Joined
Mar 28, 2017
Posts
319
Location
Calgary, AB
Not too many pics from this weekend - but thought I'd throw in a few.

Me and the kids at the top of Angel:

IMG_8315.JPG


SO got this one of me coming up the traverse from Bye Bye Bowl.
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BLUE SKIES!!!

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And the skies on the drive back to Calgary - such a gorgeous gorgeous weekend!

IMG_8311.JPG
 

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