SkierRoger.ca

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2022-03-11 at 21:40 - comment by Helen Read

Tanya, you won't believe it but we had the privilege of meeting "fallsalot" while we were sitting in the snow, on his second up/down on the last stretch to Skogan Pass. It was he who took our photos!!! It was such a fun day and a memorable one in so many ways!!

2022-03-11 at 07:36 - comment by gh

Good for you Tanya. I was passed going up the hill towards lower Skogan loop by that single hiker. I had just had a heated discussion with him lower down. I saw that he stopped at the junction to talk to someone coming down so perhaps that was you. I noticed on my way down that he had turned around at that point. If enough people express their displeasure perhaps some of these rule breakers might find their hiking adventures sufficiently unpleasant that they stick to multiuser trails. A better solution would be fines issued by conservation officers. On weekends they could make a real killing.

2022-03-10 at 21:37 - comment by Tanya K

I was there today too. We parked in the uppermost parking lot by Bronze and snuck on to the ski trail near the maintenance sheds. Nobody saw us. I had my Nakiska ski pass with me though to prove I'd already paid for my access!!

Delightful to run in to Helen climbing up and we got to chat a bit as we leap frogged our way to up the trail.

I'm a bit ashamed to say I screamed at one poor hiker. I'm just so sick of the hikers ignoring the sign at the Hidden junction that quite clearly says the trail is for skiers only! I've had fights with a local seniors group by email too, trying to convince their coordinator that they can't hike this trail. (I was ignored.) If official groups won't listen, I'd say we have zero hope of keeping hikers off the trail.
Bright side, the hike on All Trails app has been updated to say that there is no access to Hummingbird Plume in winter without skis. (You can thank me for that update.)

New friends met on the trail

Itâ€™s quite clear that itâ€™s a ski trail

2022-03-10 at 18:47 - comment by gh

Yes that $5 fee is ridiculous. I was able to avoid it by walking behind the lodge and popping out by the ski patrol (not today, last week). I would not think that there are that many people that want to cut through there so I am not sure what "problem" they are trying to solve. In any case some people who might have wanted to park and start from there might also have wanted to spend money at the lodge for food and/or beverages. That likely is not going to happen much now. I certainly am no longer interested.

I also did Skogan plus the 2 upper loops. There were certainly a few skiers about but sadly, a lot of walkers. One made it all the way up to the lower Skogan loop junction. I encountered about a dozen of them as they slogged their way up Sunburst to the old fire outlook. They totally trashed that trail. It would be okay to go up but down would be too dangerous for me now. Otherwise conditions are pretty good. At least that walker party kept pretty much to one side below the Sunburst / Skogan junction.

Today I started from Ribbon and skied up Skogan. The lower part of that route (to the Ruthies junction) is pretty beat up from all the walkers that routinely ignore the Skier only signs.

2022-03-10 at 18:39 - comment by DEMOCRATIZE AB

I second SteveR's comment.

Nakiska is owned by the people of Alberta and is leased to the ski hill operator by our bad government. Albertans should not have to pay fees on top of fess (Kananaskis UCP entrance tax fee plus the Nakiska ski hill fee for xc skiing to access Skogan trails). If we lived in a real democracy, where the people have the legalized right to introduce and vote on government bills, all the fees would be extinguished most likely as Albertans would not tolerate fees for accessing the lands they own.

I will never downhill ski Nakiska again as long as they charge xc skiers to cut through to access trails out of the ski area boundaries. I encourage a boycott of Nakiska for their bad public relations.

2022-03-10 at 17:46 - comment by SteveR

$5 access fee to cross over Nakiska base are on what is an official public trail/route? Ridiculous! I know where I would have told them to shove it.

Super Skogan

Report Submitted by Ray Perrott
(trip) Date: Thursday Mar 10, 2022

Submitted: Thursday Mar 10, 2022 at 16:55

Participants:

R,A,M

Discussion:

Well, we picked a beautiful day to ski Skogan. Sunny, mostly calm, -12C to -4C. Starting from Ribbon Creek, we skied Hidden Trail (brand new tracks), and crossed through the Nakiska ski area (see note below) to meet the Skogan Trail at the top of Ruthies. From there it's a steady grind to the top (unlike Bob Truman yesterday, we did herringbone quite a bit). Nice to meet Helen Reid and friend Janice near the top. The return trip gave us nice speeds, occasionally requiring snow-plowing for control on the steeper lower slopes which had been well used by the time we returned. Quite a few people out today.
Note - to cross through the Nakiska ski area, we were required to purchase "Facility Access" passes for $5 each. New this year....