X-Skiing at Confederation (Calgary, Canada)

It’s been a weird winter for skiing. First it was great: tons of snow, not too cold, and no Chinook in sight. Then January hit and we were thrown into extreme cold, and then extreme Chinook and most of December’s powder became a big slushy, crusty, icy mess.

This week we finally got a ton of great snow and this weekend I decided to try out the tracks at Confederation Park Golf Course. This is a great course for beginners: relatively flat, free to use, and has a well defined track set by the Foothills Nordic Ski Club along the perimeter. I only found one spot where you had to watch out for grass and twigs. And, even though it was a great day for skiing, the area was pretty dang quiet.

The only drawback: under this nice layer of wonderful snow are the remnants of January’s ice, which makes it hard to find stability with your poles!