October 18, 2010 (Canmore, AB) – The Academy’s senior athletes are back in Canmore, AB, after a four-day camp on the Haig Glacier for their final volume training block prior to physiological testing at the end of October. After running into the camp early Tuesday morning, the team took a short rest before hiking up to the glacier for an afternoon ski. Colder temperatures along with fresh snow at higher elevations made for four great days of skiing and midwinter conditions. With the athletes training from 15-18 hours at the four-day camp, there was a heavy focus on after ski recovery.

On Friday the team awoke to fresh falling snow and high winds, making their final hike up to the glacier a mid-winter slog. Despite the blizzard, the team was able to get in a good couple hours of training before they began their return trip to Canmore.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team is in their final stages of testing, with maximal V02 testing completed Thursday and Friday in Calgary, and an uphill double pole test scheduled for today. With cooler weather in Canmore, the Nordic Centre has started blowing snow and has groomed out last year’s snow pile “Frozen Thunder”, which was stored over the summer under a sawdust insulator. The usually mild October weather combined with the early snow should make for a quick dryland to snow transition over the next few weeks.