It is mid-winter. The snowpack is good. The groomers have had a chance to catch up. You are starting to get into “ski” shape. The sun is out. Then you get the news you have been waiting for: the Outer Limits are groomed and perfect! This is the day to skip work. Skip dishes. Skip anything skippable. And ski.

The Outer Limits is not a single named trail on our map, but rather the connected outer trails of the Morice Mountain Ski Trail network. If you check the map, the Outer Limits form a green, blue and black blobby square made up of easy, intermediate and most difficult trails. The black sections are the hilly ones, the greens are the flats. The blue are gentle hills. And while all these trails are groomed throughout the year, when they are all freshly groomed, all the same day, it is an event worthy of a celebration.

If endorphins are your payoff, you will enjoy the Outer Limits (AKA The Three Summits). Skiers climb to the three highest summits of the trail network: K-2, Everest and Kangchenjunga, ours being one-tenth the elevation. And since what must go up, must come down, you will enjoy some fast descents on Bob Creek, Wish I Hadn’t, Sawmill Pass and Trespass. (Outhouse Blues is a seldom groomed shortcut that bypasses some good climbs and descents.) 

The three summits: Everest, View over Bob Creek from K-2 and Kangchenjunga.

Once you have committed to the route, you need to decide direction. Heading up Chute and Cruise will start you on a clockwise journey where most of the uphills are gradual and the downhills steep.

Beginning on Bow Wow, heading counter clockwise, gives you several steep climbs in the black section of Trespass, but lets you finish with some gentle, fun, outruns. Going either direction, you will enjoy great viewpoints.

With a total hilly distance of 11.8 kilometres the route is easily doable in around two hours – or less for the speedy folks. And it comes with a sweet endorphin rush to top off a great ski day.