Snow has made an appearance at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Frozen Thunder will be groomed and ready for skiing on Fri Oct 23. It remains to be seen how much distance we’ll have this year, as last year’s warm winter didn’t allow for the usual amount of snowmaking, and the storage pit was only about 2/3 full.
When the trucks are finished dumping snow, I’ll be out there with my GPS to get a final distance. When Frozen Thunder started out in 2009, we only had 400 metres. I’m confident we’ll have at least 1K this year.
The snow in the photo looks too rough for skiing, but the snow cat will smooth it out and create a corduroy surface for skating and classic skiing, and if the nights are cold enough, it will be trackset as well. Fortunately, the forecast is calling for a bit cooler temperatures by the weekend.
Take note of the following instructions and information provided by the CNC:
Frozen Thunder will be open for public use after 12:00 noon on weekdays and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. A day pass or “Early Season Pass” is required to ski Frozen Thunder prior to November 14.
UPDATE: Due to unseasonably mild temperatures last winter, the Canmore Nordic Centre anticipates Frozen Thunder to be shorter than last year.
New trail maps are available at the CNC daylodge
Weekday mornings are reserved for ski teams, but weekends are open to anyone all day long.
New, convenient maps
While at the nordic centre today, I noticed they have a new trail map and it’s small enough to fit in your pocket but folds out to an easily readable size.
Early Bird Prices
New this year, season passes for the Canmore Nordic Centre are now available online, with a 10% early-bird discount until Oct 31. Purchase now by clicking on one of these links:
Coming back from Louise yesterday, saw several trucks hauling snow east and exiting at Canmore. Not sure where they were coming from but seems they are importing additional white stuff and perhaps making frozen thunder longer.