November 03, 2017 (Canmore, Alta.) – Alaska’s Chelsea Holmes and Team Hardwood’s Lenny Valjas prevailed in bitter winter temperatures winning the Frozen Thunder 7.5/10km distance races as a rare November cold spell hit Canmore delaying start times by an hour.  Winter has definitely hit Canmore, at least for now.

There was lots of snow and temperatures below -10 C. for the final competition of Frozen Thunder 2017 – interval start, skate races, 5 laps for the women and 6 for the men. It may have even been possible to ski without the snowfarmed track, after a fair accumulation of snow in the last few days.

Holmes got her revenge over Whitehorse’s Dahria Beatty, reversing the order from Wednesday’s sprint race qualifier. There was a 35-second gap between them, with another Whitehorse athlete and National Team veteran, Emily Nishikawa, in 3rd. Canmore’s Annika Hicks was the 3rd Canadian. The top junior woman was India McIsaac of Foothills, followed by Kaia Andal of Caledonia and Lucie Colin of Whistler.

Valjas, followed up his classic sprint victory on Wednesday with a distance skate win over Sun Valley’s Rogan Brown. It was a tight contest, with each having strong laps, but Valjas took the win at the finish line by six seconds. Local skier Russell Kennedy was 3rd, followed by Lappe’s Andy Shields as the 3rd-best Canadian.

In the junior race Tallon Noble of Strathcona grabbed the win, ahead of Montériski’s Étienne Hébert. Tom Stephen of Foothills Nordic was 3rd.

The World Cup squad will soon depart for Gällivare, Sweden for some races Nov 17-19. The World Cup begins in Ruka, Finland on Nov. 24, with a record 34 countries participating in the event, as the nations gear up for Pyeongchang 2018.

Results HERE.