- The Nicola Nordic Ski Club maintains the Kane Valley Crosscountry Ski Trails near Merritt, British Columbia.
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SPRING SKIING – I love it!!
I was a bit miffed in mid-February that I hadn’t skied once this season so I blitzed almost every day over the past two and a half weeks. Today I finished the last trail to join CLUB24 for this year. Just about every day saw 1/2″ or so of fresh snow on the trails although on the lower entrances that just barely covered the sheer ice and rocks in some spots. My absolute favourite trail this year – Lynx. I actually saw what I believe were lynx tracks (much larger than the coyote tracks and feathery around the edges) crossing Harmon Trail the next day out. This morning it was Aspen and Sundown – 3″ of fresh snow made the skiing spectacular (other than the treacherous ridges through the horse camp). Enter through the Harmon Lake campground if you want to experience a fantastic end of the season outing. Warnings – There’s an aspen tree down on Aspen trail (appropriate) not far from the campground and another one right at the bottom of Porter’s Bypass as you come around the last corner. It must have been the high wind last week that also blew down most of the “No Parking” signs (reset most today). Last week someone drove a vehicle on the Kane trail from P2 almost all the way to Skyhigh and ruined much of the ski tracking (emergency rescue or 4X4 test run?) Also last week I followed a timber cruiser walking the trail out to P5. I noticed today that red block boundary markers are hanging all along Ravine and Sundown which could mean some logging activity later this year. A big “THANK YOU” to all who have worked hard to maintain the trails, especially the trail groomers. Not much snow this year but the higher trails are still mostly good. And any ski day is a good day!!
James C
Started at p1 at 10am. Bit cool at -10 but the road was wide cleared and sanded, the sky was absolutely blue and the snow (which there seemed to be lots of) was soft and manageable. Menzies is packed and tracked. Gulch is too. Looked down over easy to see it is packed so skied down to the bypass and came back up. Someone made a perfect snow angel beside the trail and drew a heart in the snow. A great place to express happiness! Saw three happy people skiing with three big dogs by Lunchbox. Came down Ravens ridge which is also packed and tracked. Only -5 at 1pm. The snow is great. The trails are in good condition. The Kane Valley is a gem that we are lucky to call ours.
Greetings Skiers:
What a wonderland the Kane Valley was today. Crystal-clear, blue skies, perfect temperatures, and 5-6″ of new fluffy snow. The skiing and grooming conditions were optimal. Gary and Vern were able to cover almost 50 km of trail with their grooming machines, laying down track as well in many places. If the weather forecast holds up, tomorrow (Wednesday, Valentine’s Day) could be the best day for skiing the Kane Valley so far this season (which isn’t saying a lot, I know).
The icing on the cake today was the YRB grader passing through at 3 pm, not only plowing all of the Kane Valley Road but the parking lots too. Though the road is plowed, it has yet to be freshly sanded (unless they do it overnight). The hill coming up from the highway is still a grind, and a bit slippery going down. Continue to be extremely cautious at the Kane Valley Ranch curve. The SLOW and 30 KM/HR signs are there for a good reason.
If all goes according to plan, the Kane Valley ski trails will host a class of Grade 11 students from Pacific Academy tomorrow. They will base out of P2 and ski some of the trails on the south side of the road. Welcome, and good luck.
Happy trails.
Started at 10am at p2. The new 1″ of snow on the packed trails covered the tree drip zones on Menzies, Gulch and Ravens. Beautiful sun shine morning. Not fast skiing but not sticking either. Temp at noon was -4.
10minutes to 2 and 2 degrees at P2. Went up Hills Homestead on the packed trail. The snow was soft but not a hint of sticking. Use caution under the drip zone of a few big trees otherwise the snow was lovely. The new curves that go behind the upper outhouse are a welcome improvement to avoiding that steep hill. The 1 1/2 inches of new snow and the awesome packing crew have revived the trails. The glide today was amazing so the kick, pole, glide on Kane was a pleasant end to the day.
Greetings Skiers:
The month of February is upon us, and the mild temperatures continue. Is winter really over? Actually, the Kane Valley received about 1.5 inches of fresh snow Monday night. Not enough to cover all the bare patches under trees and such, but better than nothing.
The groomers (Vern and Gary) were out for five hours today (Tuesday) and enjoyed considerable success. Pulling the big grooming machine, they did all of Harmon, Aspen (including the Porter bypass), Sundown, Lower Ravine, Hill’s Homestead, and for the first time this year Tolko and Connector. They said the morning hours were the best as the snow was firm and tight, but began to get a bit mushy in the afternoon. They advised skiers to be cautious on trails where they are lots of overhanging trees , as there is very little snow, or the snow can be icy. I would expect that trails that have considerable southern exposure (like Menzies) might be sketchy, too, due to melting.
Don’t give up on your ski season yet. Mother Nature may still gift us with a dumping similar to what they got on the East Coast this past weekend. One hundred and fifty cm of snow in places! Time to move to Cape Breton (not).
Happy trails.