Last weekend I spent time training on the trails at Silver Star Resort and Sovereign Lake Nordic Club (host of the recent World Cup races). The skiing was excellent, snow conditions were great and the weather was much more cooperative than it was in Alberta. The trails are fun to ski, despite the fact that they are all either a lot of work for the lungs (winding their way up the mountain) or the legs (screaming downhills). Watching the races was great. It was interesting to see how all the top racers ski in comparison to the Canadians.

After reading several NSXC.ca articles on skiing out west, I decided that we needed some sort of report from out east… OK, from the Ottawa area which is technically east of North Bay. I can’t compete with the sheer size and almost overwhelming beauty of the Rockies, but the Gatineaus do have a breath-taking beauty of their own. It is early December and conditions continue to tease us. After three or four fairly good days of skiing late in November on the packed and groomed parkway (after just 7 cm of snow!), we received what must have been record amounts of rain and one day of a record high of + 17^oC. In other words, within a couple of days we went from ski conditions of just a few blades a grass and little pavement showing to conditions of puddles you could water ski in. READ MORE (click below...)

After a lot of snowmaking the trails at the Canmore Nordic Center are open for skiing. It's still pretty cold here though! Expected high tomorrow is -16, overnight it is supposed to drop to -23. I spent the afternoon doing some pre-skiing and trying not to freeze to death! I'll evaluate the racing situation based on the weather tomorrow. Should be fun to watch the sprint race tomorrow - see which Canadians are making it to the upcoming world cup races. Click on Read More below to see the ski conditions. From Canmore AB,  A.Rees