Cross Country Ski opportunities 2017

[patrick]

After reading about the conditions on the Anton Larsen Road I figured it might be worthwhile to tell about some ski opportunities closer to town. I did try the golf course on Monday and it was AWFUL - windblown ice. So for the last 2 days I have been skate skiing on lake Gertrude at Abercrombie. Short loop but pleasant. I beat in a trail along the west side of the lake. It would be good for classic skiing too. Best of all you could go there at night and not have to worry about running into anything. Very little wind - it was quite pleasant in the afternoon sunshine. The east side of the lake is windblown ice - so you need to stick to the Monashka Bay side of the lake. Patrick

[Philip]

Cool, good to know.

That other thread was raised from the dead. It was from 2012. Just proves that good spelling never dies.

[patrick]

1/21/17 Lake Gertrude was really nice XC skiing today. It may be small but it is beautiful. I skate skiied and the new snow was light enough to allow me to glide along with the ski tips under the snow. Excellent. But good classic XC too and somebody had made a loop around the lake.

Also I did go to the golf course yesterday - after the morning snow but before the evening dump. And it was not all that great. There was ice under the snow and the new snow had not adhered to it. I tried skate skiing and slipped badly on the kick. Had to use the poles pretty much alone for propulsion. Probably pretty good after the extra snow for classic though.

Patrick

[patrick]

1/22 I went to the gold course with the kids and was shocked at how little snow fell Friday night. My friday afternoon skate ski tracks had less than an inch of new snow in them. Still the classic skiing was OK with a good track set. The ice from underneath is a little too apparent in places, and the new snow has still not adhered to the ice. Patrick

[patrick]

1/23 Upper Buskin is excellent. When I went around 1:15 it was still misting and the road was not plowed past the Com Sta so I parked at the outlet and skiied across the lake. Some gas holes but pretty nice! I have gotten to do that for a few year. I skiied the alder tunnel to the meadows and then thru the meadows to the upper canyon - the meadows could use some more snow. A little lumpy and salmonberry in places. A Patrick B and Philip C-.

Dropped down into the canyon and it was awesome! I skiied up to just below the waterfall and then all the way down to the normal crossing and back on the normal trail to the meadows and alder tunnel and then on back to the outlet following my old trail.

4 inches of very wet stuff at the outlet and around 8 inches of dry stuff up in the canyon. It cleared off while I was skiing and the temps dropped below freezing. zipper crust up near the canyon and heavy crust forming by the outlet. Probably good downhill on Pmid too.

Patrick

[patrick]

1/29/17 I went up the Upper Buskin today skate skiing and it was surprisingly good! I wish I had found it earlier this weekend. I parked at the golf course and skiied along the verge and then down the trail from near the switchback (road looks awful by the way). The trail is narrow so you need to know how to double pole and marathon skate. But everything is covered and it is not glare ice. On the river there is some frozen over flow where we usually cross but not much up river. The river was awesome and I went way up into the canyon. Not bad - just don't be expecting perfect either. Classic gear would probably work too - Let's hope it does not warm up too much and destroy the ice bridges.


Patrick

[patrick]

2/3 All week I've been terrified of the road up to the pass and have been skiing the upper buskin. The snow on the river has been great cross country skiing - right up into the canyon. Only the trail to the river has been AWFUL.

But today i saw that the road was plowed - Finally! And a 2 wheel drive car could now make it to the pass. No worries. I tried skate skiing above the ski chalet and it was perfect. 2 inches or so of powder on a soft but firm base. I bet the downhill skiing would also be excellent. I was skate skiing at around 900 feet elevation. at the parking lot it was crusty and almost breakable. Patrick

[Philip]

That looks pretty good. Glad DOT scraped the ice on the road, finally.

[Michael]

I am in search of used cross country ski or down hill snowboarding equipment. Do you know of any leads?

[patrick]

2/15 With the new snow I tried the Upper Buskin Trails. The road has been plowed past the golf course - so no issues at all driving to the Upper Buskin parking spot by the uphill before the switchbacks. Only about 2 inches of new snow so there is a 'base' issue. But there is ice and old crusty stuff underneath so the skiing is OK. Watch out for the ice under the snow at the first crossing! I slipped there both coming and going.

On the river the skiing is pretty good but the occasional rock is hard to see with the new snow. There is overflow in places and I was fooled by an area of really thin ice covered by the new snow. Good thing the water is only shin deep! Many of the bridges that were good a couple of weeks ago have since collapsed. So the river skiing is OK but it does get better the further up the river you go. I went all the way to the waterfall which I have not done for a few years. So it is worth it - but there are areas where you have to negotiate rocks, open areas etc.

I'll probably do it again tomorrow.

Patrick

The trail in from the highway:



Up the canyon:



Reaching the waterfall for the first time in 3 years:

[patrick]

2/16 Extra 2-3 inches of snow made a huge difference. The skiing is pretty excellent on the Upper Buskin right now. However, parts of the trail in to the river might get icy - slush is falling from all the branches. But once on the river all is good. Golf Course looks very good too.

Patrick

[Philip]

Damn. That looks really nice.

[patrick]

2/17 I was too busy to go to the upper Buskin today, and had only a 30-40 minute window to go skiing. So I went to Abercrombie and it was great skate skiing. Around a 1/2 inch or so of well adhered snow on the lake. Fast and uniform. Better than groomed! I bet Island Lake or Lake Genevieve would be good too. Patrick

[Shanna]

2/17: Patrick, I did your weekly spot today. It was fast and crunchy/icy in the trees. Once on the river AMAZING!! The sun softened the snow and trail and made for 3 good "laps" on the river part just to enjoy the snow. On the river I made another xc ski trail by yours to feel the great snow and then Kodi contributed some marks too.
The golf course had soft spots and was tracked out in main areas but had great snow ...it was fast! And still plenty to ski.
Shanna

[patrick]

whooo hooo Shanna, I am so glad someone got to enjoy it. It was killing me not to go back today. I also sort of figured that all the slush falling from the trees would turn to ice for the trail in to the river. But that river is worth it! Patrick

[Tim M.]

What would you suppose is the distance from where the highway trail intersects the upper buskin to the waterfall is? I've hiked that stretch a good distance in the fall when the water levels are low enough to get a few miles back. I have wondered how it is further back for hiking towards the eastern most bend of elbow creek.

[Philip]

It's 1.9 miles from the parking area to the waterfall if you take the most 'economical' route (basically skiing in the trails and then going up the river into the canyon). The pass to Sheratin Bay and Elbow Creek are another 2 miles beyond that, but you need to climb out of the canyon on the south side at the waterfall to continue, and there are some brushy and steep sections to negotiate. We have done this in big snow years, but it's not fun unless there is a lot of snow due to the salmonberries and brush involved. We did do some cutting at one point, but that was years ago and probably overgrown again.

[mrsquishy]

Yesterday and today, I skied from the pump house to the waterfall and back. The snow is very good, especially on the lake, although the older tracks are a bit icy. I ran into PG both days; apparently he saw goats at the waterfall which I missed.
Approximate distances according to my Gaia app: Pump house to mouth of Buskin (straight across lake): .8 mile; Mouth to upper intersection with trail from upper parking lot: 1.2 mile; Upper intersection to waterfall: 1.26 mile. So the total distance from the pump house to the falls comes in at about 3.26 miles.
Both classic and skate skiing are excellent on the lake at this time.
And Philip is correct that the river above the trail intersection needs some brushing.

[patrick]

2/22 It looks like the Upper Buskin ought to have survived the brief warm up! And yesterday I saw the goats at the waterfall less than 20 minutes after mrs squishy had been there. They move around slowly and I did not notice them at first. I sent a really bad photo for Philip to post.

Finally - it looks like I may have work commitments this afternoon but if I go I will bring a hand saw for the 'limbo' branches.

Patrick

[patrick]

2/22 Ski tracks are glazed but the skiing is still fine and the river is better than in the tree where it is a bit icy in spots. All the ice bridges are holding up and I even cut a few of the branches that had been annoying quishy. No goats today. Patric

[Philip]

I skied it too and concur with Patrick. The conditions are really fast. Not much kick grip in the tracks, but totally acceptable where there is room to make a new track like on the lower river or on the lake. Great double poling. I skied in the main trail, up the canyon to the waterfall (that is sporty with narrow ledges in some places and really quick snow), then all they way down the river to the lake, a lap around half the lake on the Barometer side, and then back up the river and home. Skiing on the lake is perfect. It would be amazing skate skiing. I have no idea how thick the ice is, but there were only a few, very small holes where gas bubbles were coming up. Next time I'm just going to park at the outlet and skip the forest trails entirely.

[mrsquishy]

Today 2/22 I skied from the pump house across the lake and up the river a ways, then jumped on to the military road. I took the short trail around the little hill to the Alder Tunnel. Turned south to the end of the AT, then turned around and skied the complete AT back to the military road. Then headed down the road to the Magazine area; from there I dropped back on the lake and skied it all the way around clockwise back to the pump house.
The ice in the fisherman holes at the outlet is over a foot thick. The snow on the lake is absolutely superb for both skate and traditional skiing.
The trails in the woods are icy, frozen tracks which made the steep uphills and downhills exciting.
The tracks are not softening up yet.
I'm skiing the lake tomorrow.

[patrick]

2/24 I did not ski today - too busy at work. But I did make a video of yesterday's ski and it highlights the most difficult obstacle on the way to the 'waterfall' in the Upper Buskin Canyon. The ledge by the pool. It has gotten pretty sketch, and yesterday my dog even refused to negotiate it. But if you can make it past the pool it is worth it. Patrick

[mrsquishy]

2/23 skied across lake and up river. Track in some areas are gone due to shallow snow, human post holers, and animals. 2/24. Skied two quick laps around Buskin Lake. One lap is about 2.3 miles. Superb snow for waxless and skate skis.

[patrick]

2/25 I did a quick ski this evening across the lake from the outlet and up the river to the waterfall and back. Conditions are holding up nicely. I went classic but skate skiis would work well too. And the ledge by the pool is still good! Patrick

[mrsquishy]

2/25. From the pump house around the far side of the lake and up the river. I hopped up to the military road and over to the alder tunnel. Skied several trails in the woods that had no tracks. Back on the river and straight across the lake back to the pump house. Saw a Husky mix dog wamdering around the alder tunnel area. Snow on lake continues to be excellent.

[patrick]

3/27 The Upper Buskin was AWESOME today. Not sure if I'd ski in via the trails from the road though. I skiied across buskin lake and all the way to the waterfall (I'll send pictures to Philip to post). Some rocks in the riverbed when you get off the lake, but excellent coverage from there on up. All the holes are totally frozen over and there is an inch or so of new powder. We've been skiing up the river for more than 2 months now!
Patrick