However, due to mechanical problems with the grooming machine up on the glacier, I had to make some adjustments. Ironically enough, around the same time that I had hoped to be on snow, Canmore was hit with warmer weather than we saw in August! This was at least some consolation for not being able to ski as planned and made for an outstanding dry-land training camp in Jasper.
The camp was an intense three days with around 13 hours of training and over 180km of rollerskiing. The highlight of the mini camp for me was an unbelievable rollerski up the newly paved road to the base of Mount Edith Cavell. Having rollerskied thousands upon thousands of kilometers in my career, I am rarely enthralled with rollerski workouts, but the roll up to Mt Edith Cavell has to be the single most enjoyable rollerski workout of my career!
With great weather, beautiful scenery, no traffic and perfect pavement, it’s hard to ask for any more. The Edith Cavell road is a 20km climb which starts just outside of Jasper and climbs 650m to a modest elevation of 1,750m. A sign at the turnoff saying that motor homes and trailers are not permitted on the road is always a sure sign you’re rollerskiing in the right place!
After a very successful training camp in Jasper it was back to Canmore and another week of waiting for the grooming machine to be back up and running at The Haig. Later that week we finally got word that the groomer was back in business… it was finally time to log some hours on snow!
With some fresh snow only a few days before, we arrived to incredible ski conditions on The Haig. Though temperatures at times felt more like December than October, the cold weather made for four days of outstanding skiing on packed powder and Swix Blue Extra Hard wax.
We woke up to a full-on winter storm on our final day at the Haig but braved the knee deep snow and howling wind with the hope of being rewarded with a break in the weather. Sure enough, the gods smiled on us and the storm broke making for some great skiing on the 10+cm that fell overnight.
It always feels great to get back on snow, with the snow guns already blazing at the Canmore Nordic Centre and the stored snow spread around to make a short loop of skiing, it won’t be long before winter is here and the transition to snow is complete!
In The Tape Deck:
Artist: Cake, Album: Fashion Nugget (An old one but a good one!)
Artist: Barbara, Track: Pursuit of Happiness (Kid CuDi Cover)
Artist: Brad Paisley, Track: Online
Overheard:
‘Where was I on this expiacation?’ – NST Member Brittany Webster
On the Tube:
Check out this video here…
… and this one here.
This blog and others can also be found on www.drewgoldsack.ca