Frozen Thunder takes shape

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A truck dumps a load of snow on Frozen Thunder

Frozen Thunder at the Canmore Nordic centre is on schedule to open tomorrow,  Saturday Oct 19. The public can access the ski trail after 12 noon. 

Frozen Thunder begins its 11th year at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Photo by Paul D’Agostino

The trucks were still dumping snow this afternoon and the snowcat was busy levelling and smoothing it out. Tomorrow there will be a nice corduroy surface for skating and if past years are any indication, there will be a classic track as well. 

Frozen Thunder – the fine print:

  • A day pass must be purchased at the Day Lodge to access Frozen Thunder. Canmore Nordic Centre season passes are not valid for access to Frozen Thunder at the start of the season. This is due to the cost to create and maintain Frozen Thunder.

  • The snowcat has started levelling the snow.

    The general public is welcome to access Frozen Thunder when the trail is not being used for training of high performance athletes. Public skiing on Frozen Thunder is permitted after 12:00 p.m. everyday.

  • Access to Frozen Thunder is limited to national and provincial level athletes everyday until 12:00 p.m. This dedicated time enables athletes to maximize their training efforts and reduces the potential for high speed collisions. For your safety and the safety of our athletes, do not attempt to access Frozen Thunder during this time.

Waxing tips for Frozen Thunder

 

With the warm temperatures, it will be difficult to get any grip on your classic skis with normal hard wax. Come prepared with waxless skis(fish-scale, skins, zeros) or the dreaded klister. You can avoid any grip problems by using skate skis.

Ski Sales

There’s a bit of snow in the forecast for Moraine Lake road at Lake Louise. The road has been closed to vehicle traffic since Tuesday. Hopefully snow will start to accumulate and allow ski grooming to begin in early November. 

Six weeks to ski season – Welcome back!

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Bill Milne trail near Ribbon Creek

I hope everyone has had a nice summer. We’ve barely had time to enjoy the fall colours and  now there’s a big snowfall in the forecast.

I’m adding a few pictures of the aspen trees in Kananaskis countrywhich were spectacular a few days ago. They hadn’t started losing their leaves but I imagine the wind and snow will soon take care of that. Continue reading

2018-2019 ski season in review

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Members of Space Dogs Ski Club heading up Blueberry Hill. Dec 22, 2018

Last year when I wrote my final update, it was “What a great ski season!” Unfortunately I can’t say that this year. The snow was late in coming, and when it did arrive, wehad that incredibly cold weather. So this winter will be remembered as one of those sports teams who win it all and end up in last place the next year, commonly known as “First to Worst.” Continue reading

Apr 21 Grooming update

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Trails groomed last night in PLPP include Elk Pass, Blueberry Hill, and Hydroline. The trail report mentions the following:

After the recent extended period of rain, most trails groomed on Saturday night are rather dirty, with some thin and icy spots throughout, some bare edges in a few places, as well as dirt or small rocks mixed in to the snow in a few places. The trackset on Elk Pass was lifted in a couple of spots due to a thin or narrow base. At the time grooming was finished, only a brief flurry had fallen at the beginning of the grooming period. Most of the new grooming will be on the firm side early in the morning, but will likely soften fairly quickly as the temperature rises. As long as everything goes according to plan, there will be one final grooming on Sunday night.

Apr 11 grooming update

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Update Apr 13: Most of the trails at MT Shark have been groomed over the past two days. 

The man-made snow trails at Canmore Nordic Centre were groomed this morning. 

PLPP grooming early this morning included Elk Pass, Hydroline, Continue reading

Sat Apr 6: Grooming update

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Canmore Nordic Centre (file photo)

Canmore Nordic Centre: Two natural snow trails were groomed(not trackset) early this morning including Rundle and Meadowview. The man-made snow on Banff trail, Centennial, and Olympic were trackset. The temperature in Continue reading