Cross Country Skiing by a Full Moon
Participants: Ian Grant, Winston Latter, Julian Tejada, Adam Kwiecinski, Jimmy Quigley, Eric Tulk, Patrick LatterStart: Canmore, Alberta, Canada - 12:00am Finish: Banff, Alberta, Canada - 4:00am Distance: 18.7 km Time: 4 Hours Weather: -20.6 °C (-5 °F)
Directions
From Canmore follow the directions in town towards the 'Nordic Center'. Continue on around the reservoir and dam until you reach the 'Goat Creek' trailhead parking lot.
Gear
- Cross Country Skis
- Cross Country Boots
- Cross Country Poles
- Food
- Water
- Warm ski jacket
- Warm fleece
- Warm socks (or 2 layers of socks)
- Toque
- Thermal underwear
- Snow-pants or gaiters
- Gloves
Photographic Information
All shots were with a 24mm at F1.4 and iso 12800 handheld. The only issue become actually focusing the camera in such low light. I would get somebody to hold up a flash light and use this to focus and then turn the flash light off when I was ready to shoot. To ensure sharpness with such low shutter speeds, I would take 4 or 5 shots in rapid succession to increase the chances of getting a shot that was usable.
Story
We arrived at the Goat Creek parking lot just before midnight and began getting our freshly rented skis ready to go.
The full moon made for an eerie almost daylight like appearance to the landscape. The moon light was so bright that it was casting strong shadows across the trail.
Despite the cold temperatures, all the physical activity had us shedding layers only a few km into the trail.
Reaching the largest bridge on the trail marked the end the downhill section. From here it's mainly up hill until you reach Banff.
The further we made it in, the greater the accumulated snow fall seemed to be. There were huge clumps of snow still hanging from the low lying trees.
Adam officially won the coveted most frozen beard award.
