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BEYOND BALL PASS JUNCTION

Report Submitted by DEMOCRATIZE AB
(trip) Date: Tuesday Jan 25, 2022

Submitted: Wednesday Jan 26, 2022 at 00:51

Participants:

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Discussion:

Redearth Creek is trackset. The trail has been "needlefied" for the first few hundred meters and then afterwards there is primarily low amounts of needles on the trail. The trackset is also faint or warn for the first few hundred meters of trail as well. The further one skis up the trail the better the trackset becomes. Snow speed was fairly fast on Swix V30 -3 to -8c old snow blue wax and grip was generally excellent on the hills. Skiing out at night I likely hit speeds of 70 kph soaring down hills on my 210 2/3 metal edge skis.

I widened the trail to Shadow Lake Lodge by side stepping on the way up and knocking down "vertical bobsled" walls. Once I passed the hills there was a shallow somewhat warn trackset.

From Shadow Lake Lodge to Shadow Lake the trail is well fat skier tracked and a little sun crusted.

From the bridge at the Lake to about 1 km up Haiduk Creek, I broke trail most of the way. After the 1 km mark there was a fat skier track that I followed to near Ball Pass Junction. In the meadow below Ball Pass Junction campground there were a bunch of snow devil twisters obscuring the view with snow. The wind was intense and there were an incredible amount of twisters in the meadow. I got hit by a smaller snow devil twister and the wind chill must have dropped to -30c instantly.

The skier track went up into the bush which I thought was crazy. I continued to the Haiduk Lake Trail by Ball Pass Junction campground and skied up for about 1/2 km where I came across the fat skier tracks again. Trail breaking on the Haiduk Lake trail is generally easy with about ankle deep ski penetration. Snow speed was moderate speed.The wind was intense with tree tops swaying up to 15 feet. As I was climbing towards Haiduk Lake, I thought I heard a huge avalanche, but the wind was howling so hard I was not quite sure. When I skied up further and the wind gusts mellowed temporarily, I heard a pretty good size chunk of glacier avalanche which is always really cool to hear. With the intense wind gusting again I decided not to proceed to Haiduk Lake. I skied back as it was beginning to get a little dark.

I made it to Shadow Lake Lodge just as the first stars began to twinkle in the heavens and I viewed the last of the twilight which was nice to see. The temperature was -3c when I left at about 7:45 pm. I did a little more side stepping on some of the gnarly hills and corners on the trail below the lodge to pound down more "bobsled vertical walls". The trail is wider now. I rocketed out and back to the car in well under an hour to a very nice star show.





2 comment(s) posted

Comments:



2022-01-26 at 07:47 - comment by SkierRoger

Mr Democracy,

You certainly provide some of the more entertaining trip reports. Thanks for that.

Night skiing amongst the twinkling stars sounds inviting, although my wife disagrees.

By the way, I saw you posted this late last night just before we migrated to the new computer. Glad you were able to get it in, hopefully without interruption.





2022-01-27 at 00:02 - comment by DEMOCRATIZE AB

Howdy Roger,

The computer was a little "shaky" when I was doing the ski report but I just thought it was just caused by the usual interruption nonsense that I experience on the big brother controlled internet.

As for your wife and night skiing....
People ski at night often. Downhill ski hills have night skiing as I experienced coming off the Elk Lake trail at night and going by Mt. Norquay. I was surprised by the low light level used there compared to Canada Olympic Park.

Your wife might actually like night skiing if she used a bright headlamp when the weather is pleasant or while skiing above tree line or in open meadows to a full moon. Some people use such bright headlamps that they blind me on the trail. I have felt like a deer in a headlight beam sometimes while on skis. You can light up a nice snowy treed ski trail like daylight. With this kind of light power, xc skiing at night is just as safe as daytime.

The choice of headlamp is important. Some lights put out the wrong color of light making it difficult to see the trail. I have heard of some people having great difficulty with some types of LED lights seeing and even getting headaches. My old headlamp has 3 different lights and is adjustable. The main long distance beam is an old school light that gives me easy on the eyes light. It sucks back batteries and I only use it when I want maximum speed. If I switch to LED the batteries last up to 150 hours, according to the manufacturer, but the light is a little harsh and does not cast a long distance beam. It is suitable for up to 10 kph on non difficult trails. When I reduce the power of this LED light it is perfect on moon light nights when I need a little light in tree shadows. It does not over power the light of the moon allowing me to enjoy the natural moon light as I prance up or down the trail.

I recommend people try night skiing as long as they are confident on skis and their eyesight is good. It is a great way to get the sensory senses tingling and experience skiing like they do in the Great Canadian North during the long winter nights, particularly if the Northern Lights are blazing.



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