Conditions Report: Silent Knights

December 15, 2022

All three trail heads are up and running this weekend as Silent will see its first groom of the season this week. There’s some great powder in the fresh areas but there’s still early season hazards in play. There’s 11 cms in the forecast but it looks like the temps are turning chilli.

Keep reading to hear more about sledding in Golden this week.

Silent Pass Dec 13, 2022

Quartz Views on Dec 14, 2022

MEMBERSHIPS ON SALE

Have you bought your trail pass club membership for the season? It’s the best bang for the buck you can get. Memberships also help us with grants applications by showing how many people are involved, so thanks for supporting.

Travel

TCH-1 Highway

Highway is OPEN east of Golden. Looks like there are no stoppages between Dec 22 and Jan 3. It’s always good to check : Kicking Horse Canyon Calendar

SNOW AND WEATHER

The jet stream still did not do us many favours this week past and we haven’t gotten a lot of new snow. There’s 11cms in the forecast. The snow can be quite good in spots where it’s fresh but the highly traffic’d areas are compacted.

Temps are plummeting by the end of the weekend, so watch for frostbite.

Avalanche

Please make sure you check Avalanche.ca everyday you ride.

“We have uncertainty around the reactivity of a buried weak layer that produced large rider-triggered avalanches last weekend. Read our latest blog for advice on how to manage a persistent slab problem.” – from Av Canada bulletin on Dec 15.

Avy conditions have increased in severity form last weekend. Please take note.

Don’t forget Av Canada is having a snowmobile raffle fundraiser.

Grooming

Grooming operations for all 3 staging areas Quartz, Gorman and Silent will be in full swing for the weekend. Grooms are scheduled as needed. The DFD mobile warming cabin has been placed in Gorman on Dec 8.

Special thanks to the grooming crew who have been working hard behind the scenes to get the cats up and running.

Trail Area Conditions Reports

Quartz Creek

Conditions: Main areas are compacted. Good early-season coverage

Grooms scheduled: Regularly / As needed. Wed/Fri/Sun

Fees: $30

Parking: At main lot - Trucks in the upper west, Trailers in the upper lots to the east.

Road: groomed

Additional notes:

Quartz is fully operational. Regular grooming to the cabin is occurring. Day tickets will be sold and passes checked 7 days a week.

There are still a lot of early season hazards but the riding can be quite good. The main traffic areas are now heavily compacted.

Quartz Views on Dec 14, 2022

Gorman Lake

Conditions: Early Season, thin and rocky

Grooms scheduled: Friday

Fees: $30

Parking: 3.5km lots

Road: Watch for ice spots

Additional notes: DFD warming cabin has been installed on Dec 8. Very thin snowpack.

Silent Pass

Conditions: Good early season coverage; good powder where it's fresh.

Grooms scheduled: Thursday/Saturday - as required

Fees: $30

Parking: 31km - leave room for large trailers to turn around.

Road: active logging on road.

Additional notes:

Yahoo! Silent is getting groomed this weekend. This will be the first time of the year and it was well needed. The sledding is pretty good in Silent.

Riding in Silent on Dec 13, 2022

logging truck on the North Fork road on Dec 6

East Quartz

Conditions: Early season but doable

Grooms scheduled: N/A

Fees: $30 as per Quartz

Parking: Main Quartz

Road: N/A

Additional notes: The road to East Quartz has not yet been groomed this season but several groups have been up there.

Old Man

Conditions: unreported

Grooms scheduled: none yet

Fees: $0

Parking: At Quartz Creek upper lot

Road: N/A

Westbench Trail

Conditions: not passable

Grooms scheduled: N/A

Fees: $0

Parking: Gorman or Quartz

Road: N/A

Additional notes: not open at this time

Grooming Map

The map below is linked to the safety InReaches we have in our groomers and we have been able to make the tracks public. How to use the map: (works on Chrome but may not work on Safari. iPhones may or may not work properly)

Press on the + next to the groomer/zone you want the latest information for.
Once the line is visible, press on the line to see the date & time the groomer was last in action.

This map only shows the most recent groom. You can inquire at any of our trailheads for additional grooming information, including number of riders since the last groom.