2000 Saukko Ski Club Haig Glacier Camp

For the last six year the Saukko Ski Club has held a camp in the Canadian Rockies to ski on snow for a week during the beginning of August. In order to keep the cost down each year we have driven up private vehicles, camped two nights in northern Montana, and two in Canmore. Canmore is just 1 hour west of Calgary, Alberta.

Upon arriving in Canmore we take an easy hike along the 1988 Olympic trails, followed by a swim at the local abandoned quarry, complete with cliff jumping! Then the camp begins in full earnest. The next day we check in to make sure that the weather is good enough for the helicopter to fly our gear in, drop our gear off at the helicopter sight, and go to our park orientation.

The people at the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park/Wilderness Area aren't very found of the camp. One can understand a little why when there are three buildings built in the middle of pristine wilderness area. So during the orientation the go over the usual items, what to do in case you see or are attacked by a grizzly, and at the end the tell about the environmental impact the camp has on the area.

Here is a little background on the facilities at the Haig Glacier. It is run by CODA (Calgary Olympic Development Association). As a result of the location (7000ft) in a wilderness area, the three buildings at the base of the glacier are completely off the "grid." They're powered by solar, wind, propane, and have lovely smelling incinerator toilets. One of the buildings is a bunk house, one serves as a kitchen, dining room, lounge, and the last as a stretching, workout, massage area. There is also a sauna, and if it is warm enough a "pool." All the "brown water" goes through a 5 stage filter system. So the only real impact is the presence of the buildings and the occasional pee when some can't make it to the Wilderness Comfort Stations (the official name of the incinerator toilets).

The hike/jog up to the camp is 18 km and for us sea level folks takes approximately 3.5 hrs. Each day we hike for an hour from the camp up to the glacier to ski. The 4-5 km loop is groomed each night or morning with a piston bully by the camp manager for either classic or skating. We ski anywhere from 1-4hrs depending on the day and athlete in the morning, hike down, eat lunch, nap, do an afternoon workout, eat dinner, go to bed, wake up and do it all over again. The athletes get in anywhere from 18-25 hrs of training for the week.

One last note: This year all of the athletes saw a grizzly eating a marmot, and some were even lucky enough to see the bear kill the marmot in the stream that flows off the Haig Glacier.

Notes on the snow conditions:
The skiing is standard western late season corn snow, freeze at night thaw during the day. In past years we've had great crust skiing as the result of relatively new snow, one year it snowed or rained everyday we were there. The temp. ranges from just below 0 C in the morning to as high as 20 C in the afternoon. We only ski in the morning because the conditions in the afternoon would be way too soft on most days.

Haig Glacier - Details on the Haig Glacier Program