It’s about time! That was a bitter cold spell with no skiing for four days. Today was actually quite pleasant with the sun shining and no wind. Toe warmers were a required part of the gear, however.
My car themometer read -22 when I pulled up to the Canmore Nordic Centre this afternoon. I’m pretty sure the snow was even colder. I applied two thin layers of Swix Polar(-15/-30)and had all the grip I needed for almost two hours of skiing. On such cold snow, you don’t normally move very fast, but I had hot waxed a pair of skis with green glide wax and was pleasantly surprised at how fast they were.
Canmore Nordic Centre
I skied a number of natural snow trails including a lot of the lesser-used such as Bruin, Silvertip, Grey Wolf, Flying Squirrel, and King of Sweden. That was in addition to Banff trail, Bow trail, and Meadowview. All in good condition, with Bow trail having a few thin spots, and lots of deer.
I ran into Don Gardner, the man who designed a lot of the trails on which we ski around here and in Kananaskis. You can read about Don’s input for the CNC trails in this excerpt from Powder Pioneers by Chic Scott. I could have stayed and talked with him a lot longer, but it was too cold to stand around for more than five minutes.
Under 18 ski free
The Western Canadian Championship ski races are on this weekend at the nordic centre, but they will be occurring on the competition trails above the daylodge. 90% of the trails will still be open to the public with easy access. In honor of FIS World Snow Day, children and youth under 18 ski free on Sunday.
Cascade Valley in Banff was trackset today.
