There were throngs of skiers, more than I’ve ever seen, at the Canmore Nordic Centre. It’s no wonder, though, because conditions are probably the best I’ve ever seen.
Brian and Meaghan from Saskatchewan. Snow-making for Frozen Thunder is occurring in the background.
I skied at the CNC because I was meeting my nephew from Saskatchewan who was coming to spend a few days in Banff, mostly to go downhill skiing. CNC was a convenient place to meet and it has a practice grid for novice skiers.
The little boy who is teetering did eventually fall over
Brian and his girlfriend Meaghan wanted to cross-country ski while out here. They have skied a few times at the White Butte trails near Regina, so they weren’t raw beginners.
At 12 noon, the air temperature was a very pleasant -6°C, no wind, and snow temp was -9. Easy waxing with VR40(-4/-12). Brian and Meaghan had waxless skis.
Canmore Nordic Centre
Right off the bat they skied very well. I could see the only thing holding them back was the wide waxless skis they were using. When Brian swapped skis and used waxable, he left me in his dust. Brian’s dad, my older brother, excelled at every sport he tried(unlike me), so it’s no surprise.
Excellent conditions today at Canmore Nordic Centre
We’ve received about 3 cm of new snow today in Canmore, and it made the tracks at CNC better than ever. If you’ve skied there, you know how firm the man-made snow is but today, it was like skiing on natural snow.
The only thing difficult about skiing at the nordic centre right now is finding a parking spot.
When Brian first contacted me about a ski trip while he was here, I was hoping we’d have nice conditions. I needn’t have worried! I told him today that that I could take them to different trail every day for two weeks if they were here long enough. The weather and snow conditions have been about the best ever so far this ski season.
Judging from the photo which Chuck sent of Cascade valley, it looked like a great day with lots of skiers there.
Interior of the Canmore Nordic Centre warming hut
Grand Opening of Warming Hut on Tues Dec 29
Skiers are invited to meet in front of the daylodge on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. for a group ski to the warming hut, where the official opening will occur between 12 noon – 12:30 pm. From the Nordic Centre daylodge it’s a 2.6K ski to the warming hut with a net elevation gain of 35 metres.
