Elbow Loop Trail conditions ???

[Wally in Calgary]

Hey Bob roughly what was the round trip distance...down powderface and around the loop..??

Did you stage at dawson ?

Not surprising the low snow conditions.....when I think of the Sibbald area wind always comes to mind

I still want to try it though


Troy

If I remember right it's just under 100 kms. You need a good heavy snowfall to have decent conditions on Powderface. The Loop seems to hold it a little longer.

 

[Boblikesfun]

Hey Bob roughly what was the round trip distance...down powderface and around the loop..??

Did you stage at dawson ?

Not surprising the low snow conditions.....when I think of the Sibbald area wind always comes to mind

I still want to try it though


Troy

Yes we staged from Dawson. From there to the start of the loop my odometer clocked 33KM along the Powderface. The loop itself was 38KM and of course 33 KM back. My wife and I left fairly late at about 2PM and got back about 9PM. We stopped very little and didn't "play around" much. We did travel fairly slowly and enjoyed the scenery which is great. If you put the hammer down you could do it in 3-4 hours.The only way to see that area is walking, mountain biking, on a horse or sledding Jan-March. I did feel lucky to be able to ride the area in spite of the lack of snow.

 

[Bunn]

My wife,two girls and myself went out and staged from Dawson today.Went 17km up Powderface trail and stopped for lunch at the war memorial.Enjoyed the beautiful view then headed back.Found a fun hill to togogan on,raced back to the truck,picked up tobogans and back to hill.Wife got a chance to lay on the sled basking in the sun while i drove the kids up the hill on the snowmobile and they slid down.Trail is snow covered but not for long.In fact in the 4hrs we were out there,several spots almost melted right off.If we geat the warm tempuratures we are suppose to get this week,it will be bare in several spots.Road out was really muddy too....I liked the scenery and the fact it's only 1/2hrs from our house,enough for our 6 and 11 year olds to enjoy.

 

[cedric]

Does anybody know the current conditions for Powderface and Elbow Loop? I'm guessing they are not good, but some real info would be good to know.

 

[Volksnutt]

Hello Everyone,

The conditions are very poor. The snow is wind blown and hard packed. Its a great Base starting!!!

The Powderface road has been plowed south of the Dawson stagging area about 15km with a temporary stagging area built. If you use this staging area park your trucks out of the way and dont block the road. The reason for the temporary stagging area is because Spray Lake Sawmills is logging at km 14 this is km 14 with their km markers. The Gate is open so if you go dont unload at Dawson. During the week the logging trucks are hauling, but on the weekend it should be easy access with no trucks.

Hope this helps.

 

[peters]

I've been debating trying to get back there to set up a backcountry ski base for a few days. What type of snow depth do you get at the pass and in the mountains to the west of tombstone lakes like tombstone mountain? Would there be many possibilities for ski lines near the loop or is everything too dry? I know that a lot of people ski the Rae Glacier when you can access it from HWY 40 during the early season before the road closes. Would there be skiable lines near Rae lake or tombstone lakes? Any info is greatly appreciated!