Fast tracks at Mt Shark
Trip date: Friday Jan 14, 2022
Submitted by Bob Truman
Particpants:
Discussion:
If you're looking for a ski trail with spectacular scenery, head for Mt Shark. You can even take your dog along.
I will agree with Ken's assessment of the Mt Shark conditions as superb with one caveat. Watridge Lake road is in great shape to 3.6K but has a lot of tree debris for the final 2K to the Spray river. That section is heavily forested.
The steep hill down to the river was a challenge on the firm corduroy and I appreciated the ascending skiers giving me lots of room for my all-out snowplow.
Hercules(formerly the green loop) was in excellent shape.
With the weather warming up considerably by mid-afternoon to +1, the tracks were ultra-fast. I had to cover my VR40(-4/-12) with VR50(0/-4) to get grip.
The Smith-Dorrien was in excellent winter driving condition - very smooth with hard-packed snow. The exception was the 7K stretch between Sawmill and Chester which was washboard rough(like in the summer). Puzzling. Took the north route through Canmore on the way home and it was fine.