Real Ski Report: Fresh snow expected to bring best skiing of season this weekend

Each week, CBC Calgary's Paul Karchut speaks with dozens of dedicated skiers and boarders across eastern B.C. and southern Alberta to get the real scoop on conditions at resorts, on cross-country trails and in the backcountry.

After a week of not-so-great conditions, avid skiers are waxing up their powder skis in anticipation of this weekend's snowfall.

It's been a long while since the mountains have seen a proper snowfall, but there is a big one on the way. It's a good thing as the snow has been getting pretty packed down on the ski hills.

A system coming from the West Coast is bringing snow to every hill across the board between Friday and Monday.

Quite a lot of it too.

• On the lower end of the snow scale, Norquay and Nakiska are both expecting around 20 centimetres.
• Sunshine and Lake Louise could see 30 centimetres or more.
• Kimberly and Panorama are also expecting around 30 centimetres. The two hills have been dealing with pretty low tide conditions for a while so they could really use it.
• Castle Mountain, Kicking Horse and Revelstoke are all expecting around 30 centimetres.

Fernie will likely see the most amount of snow. Ryland Nelson says the hill could see 5-10 centimetres Friday with another 10-20 centimetres overnight, followed by another 10-20 centimetres Saturday and another 20-25 Sunday.

"As soon as it starts snowing, it's going to be fantastic," he said. "It looks like it's going to be another low-density snow that's going to be great for skiing — but still, we've got high-traffic areas that are pretty scraped out. We just haven't had super dense space-building snow all year." 

The weather is expected to be on the chilly side — between –10 C and –20 C at resorts around Banff. Fernie will see temperatures between –5 C and –15 C. 

It will be a bit warmer in other parts of B.C., but all have highs below freezing, so rain turning fresh snow to ice shouldn't be a big concern.

With a big, snowy weekend ahead, it's good to keep in mind the roads could be a little problematic, so be sure to give yourself more time to get there.

Mountain events

Panorama is hosting its first ever Steep Dreams Ski Mountaineering Festival.

It's on all weekend with a ski mountaineering race, where competitors basically go backcountry skiing on a set route and are timed on how quickly they can climb up and ski down, and a free ski competition with people hucking cliffs and finding unique ways to ski the slope — this powder we're expecting could be a big help for softening those landings.

On Superbowl Sunday, Sunshine Village is offering $15 off lift tickets to anyone wearing a Patriots or Falcons jersey.

And if you want an even better lift ticket deal, next Wednesday is Norquay's monthly Toonie Day where two bucks gets you a lift pass for the day.

Cross-country 

The lack of snow and heavy winds blowing down tree debris has hurt a lot of trails.

The West Bragg Creek crews have been working hard this week, but they haven't been able to trackset because the snow depth on the trails is so thin.

But that's all going to change later today.

"Once the groomers get out, the conditions should be perfect. All that debris should be covered up, the temperatures are cold, it should be some of the best skiing of the winter," said Bob Trueman.

Find links to trail tracking systems on Trueman's website: www.skihere.ca

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Backcountry

Whenever fresh snow is falling, especially when it's coming with some wind, that's when things gets touchy.

Expect to see a big spike in avalanche risk this weekend with danger ratings going right up into the high rating in the alpine for Kananaskis on Sunday.

So while the new snow is great for some skiers, now is the time for backcountry skiers to back off a little bit, take it easy.

Check out avalanche.ca for more in-depth details.