Canmore Nordic Centre

Update Dec 17 at 7:50 pm: Pocaterra Hut is closed to the public

I just received this notice from Alberta Parks:

Effective as soon as the signs are up (and they may already be), Pocaterra Hut (PHut) is closed to the public
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Dec 17, 2020: The Canmmore Nordic Centre added a considerable amount of distance to the skiable terrain on man-made snow today. I skied on excellent conditions on the Banff trail to the 3K junction and back. The natural snow trails are not skiable.

End of the tracksetting at 3K

The trail report indicates there is more distance open on the Banff Loop, but the big snowcat was working at Junction #7 and skiers were not allowed to go down there.

The 2.5K of Frozen Thunder is in excellent shape if you want a more challenging trail.

The air temperature at noon was +2°C and the snow was -2. Not knowing about the new tracksetting, I wasn’t expecting to go far so I just grabbed my skis with yesterday’s wax(VR45) and went out to take a few photos.

Luckily, after skiing about 500 metres, I ran into Roy Moe and he informed me that it was trackset all the way to the meadow.

I wasn’t getting much grip, as I expected, so I went back to the car and added a layer of VR55(0/-2) and had excellent grip all the way to the meadow.

A regular season adult pass to CNC costs $180. A day pass is $15. The daylodge is open for washrooms and pass purchase. You can also order food for takeout. The warming hut is not open. Read more about purchasing ski passes.

Canmore Nordic Centre

The CNC trail map can be overwhelming at first glance, but you can probably figure it out with a few moments of studying it.

Mt Shark grooming today

I think they’ve figured out the best way to make it snow at Ribbon Creek: take the snowcat to Mt Shark.

Natalie and Chris were enjoying the good conditions at CNC.

Ken Hewitt sent this report…

Given the lack of snow in Ribbon Creek area, Alberta Parks brought up the snowcat from Ribbon to Mt. Shark and Alex groomed Watridge Lake road to Banff Park boundary, as well as the Shark Helipad. The machine remains at Shark where it will be used later today for additional grooming to Mt. Shark trails.

Fairview at Lake Louise was trackset today.

Just a reminder, to read first-hand accounts of trail conditions, check the Trip Reports. They are informative, educational, enlightening and always entertaining.

Snow

It’s going to snow on Sunday and Monday, but the forecasts are wildly divergent as to how much and where.