November 08, 2014 – With less than three weeks left until the start of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup several resorts in the Northern hemisphere have opened on either natural or artificial snow. Below is an overview of where to cross-country ski in November.

© Destination Davos Klosters

Canada
Cross-Country Canada traditionally starts the winter in Canmore with “Frozen Thunder” events. The snow stored over the summer was distributed on a 2 km lap with the official opening on 19th October. Along with the Canadian World Cup Team, the majority of the U.S. Team was in attendance. The course is now open to the public.

Finland
There are several possibilities to ski in Finland on natural snow. On 10th October, Vuokatti opened a 1 km long course, which together with the loop in the ski tunnel was extended to 2.4 km. At the end of October, a 6 km long track was ready in Muonio. Many World Cup teams are training there before the FIS Cross-Country World Cup opener in Ruka. In Levi as well as in Saariselkä, Cross-Country skiers can already enjoy around 4 km of prepared tracks.

Norway
The traditional place to ski in Norway this early in the season is Beitostølen. Organisers stored 30.000m3 of snow to open the course on 24th October. At the Beitostølen stadium the course is 3.5 km long. An additional 5 km course has been prepared at Valdersflya. Other venues in Norway opening soon are Natrudstilen and Trysil. Sjusjøn is set to open on 15th November.

Sweden
Bruksvallarna is the traditional place where the Swedish national team spends the last week before the World Cup season. Charlotte Kalla and the rest of the national team will stay there from 10th – 19th November. The former World Cup venue Gällivare is also very well known for good snow conditions in the early season. The tracks were recently opened on the golf course in Malmberget and cover a 6 km distance.

Switzerland
On 31st October, the first Cross-Country ski tracks opened in Davos Klosters. During the summer months enough snow was preserved in the Flüelatal, which was used for the preparation of the tracks. It took two weeks to prepare the 1.5-kilometer long trail, which is not only used by World and Olympic Champion Dario Cologna and his teammates but also by the general public, free of charge.

Austria and Italy
There is also a variety of good places to ski in Austria and Italy. Besides well-known high altitude training resorts such as Ramsau am Dachstein (AUT) and Val Senales (ITA), heavy snowfalls at Tauplitzalm (AUT) made it possible to prepare approximately 8 km of courses there.