Outdoor Video Magazine

Palisade Lookout - Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
Nordic Skiing with snow shoeing OR ski touring
Length: 22km
Time: 6-9 hours
Book: Ski Trails in the Canadian Rockies (by Chic Scott)
Elevation Gain: 890m
Effort: High
Rating: 6/10 - Good hard work but not spectacular scenery.
Map: NTS D/16 Jasper, GemTrek 1: Jasper-Maligne Lake
Date: Feb. 19th 2007
Note: Can be ridden on mountain bike in summer.

Well, me and my friend Mark found ourselves in Jasper with cross-country skiing gear and snow-shoeing gear and a day to spare. We had to find a trail close to Jasper, and we wanted it to be LONG. So we happened upon the Palisade Lookout trail that starts from the Pyramid Lakes parking lot, 7km from Jasper. It is actually a road the whole way, so don’t expect an interesting trail, but then we are talking cross-country skiing in the mountains so it’s to be expected.

Unsure of the snow conditions, but knowing there was a lot of up (890m) we decided to take snow-shoes with us, and start off on skis. The first 6/7km of the trail were actually groomed/packed by snowmobile. I THINK this is done every year, but just not very regularly. It would be good to check with the Parks people, because you don’t want to be snowshoeing all 22km. So anyway, the first 6/7km were a good uphill slog on an OK trail. The gradient is such that with some sticky wax there is no herringbone-ing needed. There is not much in the way of views, just a few glimpses of Pyramid Mountain.

Just before the junction to the Pyramid Mountain trail…the groomed trail stopped and we were left with untouched powder. After struggling manfully for all of 5mins we gave up sinking and switched the cross-country ski gear for snow-shoes. The trail seemed to steepen at this point, and it was pretty hard going to finish the last 4km to the viewpoint. But we were going fairly fast. I think it took us two hours on skis to do the first 7km, then around another 2 hours of snowshoeing to the top. That includes all breaks and lunch.

It was fairly dull and cloudy on top…but I have a feeling the view isn’t THAT spectacular anyway. Nice…but not amazing. So then we quickly headed of downhill…with a couple of faceplants as we tried to run/make shortcuts. In no time we were back at our skis (moral learnt: snowshoeing downhill on broken trail = fun. Snowshoeing uphill in fresh snow = hard).

After hopping back on our skis it was a fast, fun easy descent for Mark and a terror filled hour of concentration for me as we made our way backdown. Competent cross-country skiers will have no problems…but I am far from competent and found the downhill difficult in places because of the packed snow (couldn’t snowplough). I had a couple of impressive wipeouts…but anyone above total beginner standard will certainly manage the way down for the most part.

It took us 6 hours all told…which left us another hour and a half before we would be picked up. So under pressure from our intense sugar craving we managed to hitch a ride into Jasper where we happily pigged out at the Bear Paw Bakery (highly recommended, and they didn’t give us free cookies to say that I promise!).

This can be done as a mountain bike ride (in summer obviously). Check out this site for a review from a mountain bikers perspective.

This book, Ski Trails in the Canadian Rockies, is an excellent purchase for cross-country skiers and ski tourers who want to get out in the Rockies. It has trails from beginner level Nordic skis to expert 10 day ski tours involving glacier travel and mountaineering experience.

There is some excellent skiing to be had right within the city limits, and some amazing skiing to be had a short drive outside. Trail reports for in and around Edmonton can be found here.

In the City
Goldbar
Location: Off 101st Ave, 0.5km east of 50th Street.
Goldbar is the best place to go in Edmonton in my opinion. It has a good network of 12km of trails, ranging from easy to hard. There are some long, steep climbs and some gentle climbs and some flat. All trails are skating and classical.

Hawrelak Park & River Valley
Location: By Groat Road over the river.
There are two loops within the park itself, the perimeter loop (2.6km) and the inner loop (2km). Both are easy, the outer is classic only and the interior is both skate and classic. From Hawrelak Park is possible to take some nice groomed classic trails along the river valley. You can go 1.5km east to Emily Murphy Park (nice and easy). Or you can go 3.5km along a harder, more interesting trail to Whitemud, where it is possible to take another trail along Whitemud Creek right to Snow Valley ski hill. This trail has some steep hills in the section along the river valley section.

Kinsmen
Location Kinsmen Sports Centre underneath highlevel bridge on 109th Street.
This area is more for training than recreational skiing as there is just a 2km intermediate loop (classic) and a 1.5km beginner loop (skating and classic).

Terwillegar Park
Location: Riverbend at the base of Rabbit Hill Road.
There is a 4.6km beginner loop for classic and skating along with a more difficult area of hill trails in the southern end of the park that are for classical only.

This page has more information along with maps for some of the areas mentioned above.

Outside the City

Elk Island National Park
Location: 35km East of Edmonton on the Yellowhead.
Hayburger, Simmons, Shirley Lake, Moss Lake, Beaver Pond, Tawayik, and Wood Bison trails may be groomed for Cross-country skiing. Although in my experience this doesn’t happen often. The trails are suitable for ungroomed skiing though. The terrain is similar to Blackfoot with nice rolling hills, aspen forests and lakes. Look out for the bison though. Moose are also more common here than Blackfoot, and cougars have apparently recently moved into the park.

Strathcona Wilderness Centre
Location: About 25km East of Edmonton on the Yellowhead, then take Range Road 212 south.
If you are a beginner skier, then SWC may be a good choice for a place to go outside of Edmonton. However, for anyone else driving the distance you would be better driving an extra 10-15mins and going to Elk Island or Blackfoot instead. SWC is a little bit too plain and is not quite in the same wilderness setting. There are 12km of groomed cross-country ski trails. Rentals also available.

Blackfoot/Cooking Lake
Location: 40km east of Edmonton. Head 30km east of Sherwood Park on Highway 16 then go south on Range Rd 210 where 3 access points are signed.
Trail report: 922-4676 (tape)
This is by far the best cross-country skiing area within easy driving of Edmonton. Many people consider it’s skiing to be among the best in CANADA in terms of terrain. The scenery does not compare to the Rockies in my mind, and I would prefer lower-quality skiing and better views personally. Having said that, Blackfoot it still very pretty, with rolling Aspen hills and many small lakes. The trails themselves are perfect. A huge network of trails makes for seemingly infinite possibilities of loops of any length without backtracking. The undulating terrain means no long, herringbone ascents (nothing longer than a minute) but also no flat, monotonous areas. There are 65km of groomed cross-country trails including 32km of skating along with 35km of backcountry trails. Be warned, the access roads are never plowed so can be pretty nasty after a dump of snow. Take a shovel and some strong friends to push you out.