Photos and recap of first five days in Canmore….

So far Canmore has been exciting and uneventful at the same time. Exciting because we're on snow and have already raced, and uneventful because we've done nothing but train so far. The skiing is really great for this early in the winter and we've been pretty lucky with the weather. Yesterday we had some stronger wind that made the temperature feel less comfortable than it initially seemed. Today we woke up to -6 F but it warmed up into the low teens by the time we finished our morning training session.

When the sun comes out and it's not freezing (so NOT today) the tracks warm up quickly and get pretty soft. The shot above was taken the second day we were here when temps climbed into the 30s by the end of our morning session. 

Perfect classic tracks

Pushing out more snow just below the biathlon stadium. 

Looking on out onto the biathlon race course north-west toward Banff National Park. 

The biathlon range and stadium…not much snow in the picture but it's snowed a little since so a lot of the brown spots here are looking more whitish now. 

Found a grocery store that has HUGE pomegranates and I figured out how to get them out of the shell faster so I'm in pomegranate heaven now! Soooooo good! 

Raleigh looking a little more bundled during yesterday's morning ski session. 

Making more snow in the biathlon stadium (snow gun just to the left of the hut roof). 

Me during my afternoon easy classic ski yesterday…didn't need the sunglasses by the time it was over but I was sure glad for the music. 

The meadow a little further out on the touring trails….today they rolled a lot of trails that don't have man-made snow on them. I did an easy classic ski and went all the way out to the edge of Canmore Nordic's trail where they split off out to Banff National Park. 

Not many skiers out that way but a whole lot of these guys….deer. 

Pretty mountains. 

Glad to be wearing these now instead of roller skis. By the way Atomic….I LOVE my fuzzy skis! (These classic skis have a fuzzy kick zone on them so I can still shoot standing when I'm classic skiing…normally you can't stand on the mats when your skis have sticky classic wax underfoot)

The buildings at Canmore Nordic Centre with gorgeous mountains right out back...

Group shot from yesterday evening…smiles all the way across. Happy to be here for sure! 

Tomorrow we are joined by Russell and most of us have the day off. Omar, who just got here two days ago, has an "epic" ski on his training plan. We're all interested to hear what that entails. 

Stay tuned for more pictures soon…

Russell is bringing my camera charger so I'll be back in business soon! 

Think SNOW! 

Canmore!

Last night we arrived in Canmore, Alberta. We'll call this home for the next 27 days as we enjoy the stellar conditions up at the nordic center in preparation for IBU Cup trials in Minnesota in December. We have two days (today included) left on the Frozen Thunder loop before they open up all the man-made trails they've been working on over the last two weeks.

Frozen Thunder is the name given to their loop of man-made snow that was saved from last year. When they're done making snow at the start of each winter they fill a huge pit with snow and cover it with sawdust and wood chips. This insulates it from the sun and heat of summer. The following October (around the 15th usually) they dig into the pit and spread the snow to make a skiable loop. Right now that loop is about 2.5km long and pretty nice looking. 

Today the crew was out pushing snow around from freshly-made piles. They're hoping to open up the new terrain on Friday which should more than triple the trails that are open from the looks of it. 

What's left of the saved snow pile from last winter….

Raleigh skiing on snow saved from last winter.

Looking toward the biathlon ranges and race stadiums. The mountains here are really spectacular! 

Casey and Raleigh are both going to jump into some Biathlon Canada trials races tomorrow and Friday. I'm going to hold off and focus on getting my feet under me. 

Raleigh…taking in the sun and enjoying the snow. 

Check back for more pictures soon….I'm being careful with the battery life of my ski camera right now since I forgot the charger at home. Fortunately I travel with 2 (yes TWO) cameras so if the little one (that fits in my drink belt so it can come skiing) dies, we can always fall back on the big fancier one.