West Bragg Creek Cross Country Ski Trails

The Government of Alberta created Kananaskis Country on October 7, 1977. Don Gardner proposed the development of trails in the West Bragg Creek (WBC) area citing the short driving distance from Calgary and the potential to develop loops of groomed XC ski trails. In those days, the concept of groomed ski trails was virtually unknown in Alberta. XC skiing was really just touring on hiking trails and fire roads.

In 1978/79 Gardner designed the initial phase of the WBC XC ski trails and the bulk of trails construction occurred in 1979. Most of the trail network was made by adding purpose built ski trail segments to pre-existing industrial roads and cut lines. The 1980 trail system included: Crystal Line, Sundog, ElbowTrail, Hostel Loop, Telephone Loop and Moose Loop.

WBC Trails c. 1980

The entire WBC XC ski trail system was designed and built as a winter use only ski trail network. There was no tread or drainage work done to make the trails sustainable for summer use. Most water crossings were meant to be used only when the streams and marshes froze over. Documentation from the time such as trail maps, guidebooks or Alberta Government policy documents refer to the West Bragg Creek trails only as XC ski trails.

Several new trails were added in 1982. Floods in the mid 1980s damaged low lying portions of multiple trails requiring construction of extensive re routes.

WBC had been a proposed venue for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. Planning was initiated to upgrade the WBC trail system to a competition level, but concerns about unreliable snow and chinook patterns and complaints from Bragg Creek residents initiated a search for alternative locations. As a result, the Olympic Nordic Centre moved to Canmore.

Cross Country Ski Trails Grooming in Bragg Creek

The XC ski trails were groomed by Alberta Parks from 1979/80 to 1992/93 on a bi-weekly basis, Dec 1 to Mar 31, weather and snow coverage permitting. Grooming was a bit more frequent mid December to the end of February and tapered off to just once or twice in March.

Cutbacks to the Alberta Parks budget between 1992 and 2005 reduced trail maintenance and ski trail grooming until it was virtually nonexistent. In response to this, WBC residents Darrell and Alison Jones in 2003 donated funds to the Friends of Kananaskis Country to have the ski trail system upgraded.

In 2006, Don Gardner used the Jones’ donation to establish a volunteer ski track setting program. In 2007, volunteer track setting was amalgamated with the Greater Bragg Creek Trails Association (aka BCT) lead by founding president Robert Sadee. A XC ski committee was established under the direction of WBC resident and Head Groomer Bruce Barker. The BCT ski committee used donated funds to purchase modern equipment and undertook the majority of the ski track setting and grooming in WBC.

Recognizing the need for a more formal relationship, Bruce Barker and Eric Lloyd helped to develop a 10 year Partnership Agreement between the Government of Alberta and BCT. This provided BCT with the certainty needed to expand donor-ship. The agreement also included a commitment to develop the West Bragg Creek All Season Trail Plan (WBCASTP).

The official groomed cross country ski trail network in 2009 totalled 43 km and in 2021 after completion of the West Bragg Creek All Seasons Trails Plan ( WBCASTP) now stands at 66 km.

Up until the fall of 2014, Barker continued to lead the ski committee and to coordinate volunteer grooming activities. In the eight years from 2006 to 2014, over $100,000 was raised by the GBCTA ski committee, from multiple sources including corporate sponsors and many individual donors.

These funds allowed the ski committee to continually upgrade the grooming equipment with the eventual purchase of two sets of 4-stroke snowmobiles, Ginzu groomers and roller packers.

In the fall of 2014, Barker turned over the BCT ski committee duties to Dr Jeff Hughes.

From 2014 to 2021 summer ski trails revitalization has seen the installation of over 60 culverts and 15 bridges to provide drainage and stream crossings enabling year – round use and environmental sustainability. To restore disturbed sites, native seed was planted and bio engineering projects completed. Parks accredited contractors were hired to widen, drain, level and regrade trails as well as to install 4 km of new cross country ski tread. Each September all ski trails are mowed and brushed to provide a flat base for grooming. Thousands of volunteer hours have been logged and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the WBC ski trail system since 2014.

Under Jeff Hughes’ guidance, BCT ski grooming has experienced an exponential revamp of it’s operational, maintenance, and safety programs. Hughes oversees the scheduling and work of volunteer groomers all of which have completed an accredited snowmobile safety course. The most experienced volunteers have been grooming in WBC since 2007. All groomers must complete pre and post grooming inspections of all equipment. Sled operators must wear CSA approved snowmobile helmets, warm snowmobile suits gloves and boots and high visibility BCT vests. Groomers carry VHF radios on all grooming runs. Volunteers operating chainsaws carry either basic chainsaw or higher-level accreditation. All ATV operators have completed ATV safety courses.

Since 2014 all grooming runs are logged on a Google Docs site. This comprehensive document logs date, time, groomers, temperature, snowfall, task description, hours on task, safety checks, and comments and repair issues for over 530 grooming related tasks. BCT’s documentation and safety program strives to provide an example for other Alberta based volunteer ski grooming operations.

The BCT inventory of grooming equipment is an impressive investment of donated dollars. BCT operates two grooming specific sleds – a 2009 Yamaha VK pro and a 2017 Arctic cat Bearcat – and a tracked 800 cc Can Am ATV. Repairs are largely carried out ‘in house’ and documented in the Google docs logs. BCT grooms with 3 roller packers and 3 Ginzu groomers all purchased from Yellowstone Tracking Systems. We also have an inventory of sundry toboggans for snow harvesting and hand tools.

In 2015/2016 BCT purchased a Japanese Kei class mini truck and retrofitted it with a durable track system that makes it an outstanding and safe grooming machine. The machine provides a warm cab for groomers. The pulling capacity of the Kei truck far exceeds that of grooming specific sleds. The truck provides on board storage for first aid kits, fire extinguishers, warming kits, tools and capacity to medevac injured patients. Numerous successful transports of injured or sick trails users have been completed with the use of this truck. A second Kei truck was placed into service for the 2017/2018 season. Repairs of trucks are done by BCT.

In 2020, thanks to an out pouring of donations lead by the Frischkorn Foundation, BCT added the amazing ‘Snow Rabbit’ snowcat to our fleet!

Hours of grooming have also increased exponentially with typically over 800 logged hours/grooming season. BCT has demonstrated a direct link between hours of ski trails grooming and user visits to WBC ski trails. There is also a demonstrable economic benefit to Bragg Creek Hamlet businesses which have tied economic redevelopment to WBC trails and their users year round.

In 2016 volunteers from the BCT ski Committee dedicated over 700 hrs retrofitting a donated 50 ft ATCO Trailer for use as a Trails Centre/Warming hut which is installed as part of the GoA’s 2.5 million dollar WBC parking lot redevelopment. The facility operates 9-5 daily while also serving as a base for our Trails Host program. Numerous sick or injured trails users have been staged in the Trails Centre while awaiting EMS transport.

Within the Trails Centre, BCT arranged the installation of an AED obtained thru the Kananaskis Improvement district KPAD project. This is available for all trails users. There is also a BCT funded Cell phone Hot Spot that can be used for 911 calls.

Dr Jeff Hughes and the BCT grooming team were awarded Cross Country Alberta’s Outstanding Ski Area Operations award for 2016/2017.