October 20, 2016 (Canmore, AB) – Off to a humble start, this first unassuming mound of snow is the initial dump of about 400 truckloads (my guess) which will eventually become a respectable cross-country ski trail of 2000 metres(2K).

Frozen Thunder opens for skiing at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct 22 at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

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.

Take note of the following instructions and information provided by the CNC (this is from 2015 but I expect it will be the same this year):

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 19.

Weekday mornings are reserved for ski teams, but weekends are open to anyone all day long.

Waxing tips for Frozen Thunder

With the warm temperatures, it will be difficult to get any grip on your classic skis with normal hard wax. Come prepared with waxless skis(fish-scale, skins, zeros) or the dreaded klister. You can avoid any grip problems by using skate skis.

Over the years, for classic skiing, I’ve had the best results with zero skis and skin-skis. Quite often the tracks are too icy for the fish-scales to get grip.

Early Bird Prices for Canmore Nordic Centre

Season passes for the Canmore Nordic Centre are now available online, with a 10% early-bird discount until Oct 31. Online season pass purchase here (Season passes are not valid for Frozen Thunder.)

Upcoming Ski Sales
– Fri Oct 21 – Sun Oct 23 Calgary New and Used Ski Sale here
– Sun Oct 30 Canmore Nordic Ski Swap here
– Sun Oct 30 Lifesport Performance and Race Ski Swap here

Read more of Bob’s blog here.