October 17, 2013 (Canmore, AB) – The Canmore Nordic Centre’s “Frozen Thunder” ski trail is now open for business, making this Alberta town a prime destination for early-season Nordic ski training. Already nearly 2km in length, the track is made from last winter’s snow that was stored under sawdust to protect it from summer heat.

“Now in its fourth year, Frozen Thunder has grown each season,” former Olympic skier Drew Goldsack told SkiTrax after running on the trails nearby. “This year’s loop is already at 1.79km long and with plenty of stored snow remaining; it looks like the loop may end up stretching close to 2.5km. The depth of the spread-out snow on the trails is around 50-75cm.”

“There are some short sections that still need to be filled in, along with the biathlon range and then the loop will be complete. It looks like there will be outstanding skiing this weekend in Canmore! Not bad for October 19th. And it appears that The Canmore Nordic Centre now has the summer storage of snow down to a science,” added Goldsack.

Chandra Crawford and Andy Newell won the first edition of the “Frozen Thunder Classic,” held on October 26, 2012. This year the classic sprint is taking place on October 24 and organizers expect a good turnout of Canadian National team skiers, US National Team and most of the top development-level athletes from around Canada and the United States.

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