Terrace & Bill Milne X-C Ski January 2, 2020

For the past few Januaries I stated "I am going to focus on X-C Skiing" but it never happened!  Here we have another January and once again I have decided to focus on X-C Skiing this winter.  I got a good kick-off in December on my skis and for my first outing in 2020, I went for X-C Skiing rather than snowshoeing.  There were a few options thrown out there and I opted to go for a track I have not been on before and that is the Terrace Trail that eventually meets up with the Bill Milne which I have frequented before.

We started from Kananaskis Village.

No train ride for us today!  

 There were a couple of intersections along the way.

After skiing along the ridge for a couple of kilometres, it was time for the winding, longish downhill portion which turned out being quite enjoyable.  The conditions for snowplowing were ideal and there was no uphill traffic to watch out for.  We arrived at the bottom and waited a few minutes to regroup before finding our way through the Ribbon Creek Parking Lot to the next portion of the groomed trail.  We were surrounded by beauty!

The Bill Milne trail was wide open to the wild winds.  The focus was to just force moving forward when at times I lost out on that and was uncontrollably sliding backwards in the track.  By the time we reached the Kananaskis Golf Course we checked in with each other and there was a consensus it was time to eat.  We skied through the open gate and found sunshine and shelter on the backside of an equipment building.

 view from our dining spot

The track was not in good shape past the Golf Course so we went no further.  

On the way back was when I secured a ski shot.

 the view along Bill Milne

 walked on that bridge to get back here on the other side of the Bow River

Once again we regrouped at the intersection before the Ribbon Creek Parking Lot.  Time was on our side so we went for the uphill route back up to Kananaskis Village.  I thought uphill near the end of the ski day is not my most favourite thing.  As it turned out it was not bad and the scenery was a great distraction from all the herring boning.

 The last few kilometers were straight forward back to The Village.

 With still a bit on time on our side, I sat inside by the fire sipping the last of my tea.

This was a most enjoyable day of X-C Skiing expect for loosing ground when that wicked wind blew me backwards in the track.  It was nice to discover my level of experience and pace was quite similar with the few others I choose to share the day with.  I will declare today was a success with focusing on X-C Skiing this winter!