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Two weeks ago, a few friends and I made a last-minute decision to ski Mount Pakenham on their opening night of night skiing. A large storm has come through the region the day before, dumping 25cm of fresh snow-making for some amazing early season conditions! 3 runs off the Mika Chairlift were open, including a mini park. The snow conditions were packed powder, with lots of untracked fresh stuff to be found on the sides of the trails! Not a single patch of ice to be found! While the glades were open, they were still too sketchy to ski with the thin coverage! Lines were minimal, so we were able to enjoy many quick laps, making use of the many features and jumps found on the sides of the trails. IMG_2537.MOV After a wonderful first night ski spent under the stars, we packed up our things and drove home.

After 20 centimeters of fresh powder fell upon us, some friends and I decided to spend an evening night skiing at Mount Pakenham. Though the temperature was -20, the phenomenal snow conditions made for some amazing glade skiing. Due to my friends' ability to push me out of my comfort zone, I began skiing gladed runs much more frequently, and am much less terrified of the idea of zooming through and around trees. My newfound confidence can honestly be attributed to the glades at this hill! Pakenham is an interesting mountain when compared to others in the region due to it designating all off-bounds terrain as "glades". Most of the 10 marked glades are unmaintained, making for some terrain not for the faint of heart. I had always considered Pakenham to be a "beginners" or "boring" mountain, and in many ways (groomed runs for example) it can be stated that it is not the most interesting. However, the amount and variety of gladed terrain at Mount Pakenham really surprised my friends and I. With amazing snow coverage, we headed in. The following video still shots were taken on my helmet-mounted action camera, so apologies for the crooked or tilted shots: Taken seconds before disaster after he finally decided to jump off the cliff! He was ok:) The pictures will never do the glades justice, but I encourage anyone who visits Mount Pakenham after a large snowfall to reasonably explore beyond their comfort zone and ski their gladed terrain. There are mellower sections with some clearing, as well as other sections (such as to the left of Snow Rider) involving steeper drops with tighter brush. We kept skiing until nightfall, where after viewing a beautiful sunset and interestingly-lit moon, explored other glades, on the mountain, as well as enjoying the beautiful carving condition on the groomed runs. Though extremely cold, we had a blast in the glades, even taking a few friends who had never tree-skied before through the easier parts. After skiing, we headed over to one friend's place for some snacks and hot drinks. All in all, it was a Friday evening well-spent. Never in a million years would I have thought that Mount Pakenham would have such awesome (even extreme) gladed runs/terrain! Come check it out!

Last week, Ski Mount Pakenham announced that they would be open on the weekend of the 4-5 of December. The cold nighttime temperatures allowed them to make enough snow to open up one intermediate trail (The Loop to Lower Exhibition), serviced by one quad chairlift (Mika). Their magic carpet and learning area was open as well. Below is a map of the resort with the open terrain highlighted in yellow. The tickets were priced at 34$, and provided access to the mountain from 9am-4pm. On the drive there, the snow started falling. 2-4cm had been forecasted. The conditions quickly deteriorated, with visibility being low. When we finally arrived at the mountain half an hour late, the busy opening day we expected turned out to be a mere 15 cars in the parking lot! An idyllic setting, large clumps of snow were falling from the sky. The snowmaking appeared to have been successful, as the snow base was advertised to be over 30cm thick. From the chairlift, the open run was nearly empty, and for our first few run, we had the mountain practically to ourselves! The expected hard-packed run made of artificial snow now had a 3 inch layer of fluffy powder over it, making for some of the best conditions I have ever skied in. At around 11am, the snow stopped falling, but many pockets of powder still remained on the edges of the trail. Until the primary terrain park could be constructed, the mountain had built a temporary terrain park featuring two box jump features, seen below. As the day progressed, more people ended up coming, though there was never a lift line of more than 20 seconds. The sun came out and made the conditions even more perfect. There wasn't even a pocket of ice, even on the steeper slope at the end of the run. We were able to make 27 runs in 5 hours, breaks included, and had an amazing start to the 2021-22 ski season. I look forward to my next visit at Mount Pakenham, hopefully with more trails and lifts open! Happy Skiing/Snowboarding!