Thanks to a timely blast of northern wind and snow, the Lake Louise Ski Resort will open its lifts on Thursday (Nov. 13), followed closely by Sunshine Village (Nov. 14) and Nakiska Ski Resort (Nov. 15).
Lake Louise is the first hill to open this year, after warm temperatures and heavy rains pushed back the best-laid plans of Mount Norquay and Nakiska.
“With the Glacier Express Chair running, we’ll have 1,450 ft of vertical open on Bald Eagle, Wiwaxy and Easy Street. We’ll also have the main cafeteria in the Lodge of the Ten Peaks, the Slope Side Coffee Bar and the Powder Keg Lounge, so folks can get some great food to fuel their day and enjoy their first aprčs of the year,” said Lake Louise Ski Hill spokesman Dan Markham.
Last week, Lake Louise had lots of snow up high, but not enough to reach the base. About 30 cm of snow fell on Sunday, and with temperatures dropping to -20 C, they were able to make snow.
Since only one lift will be open, reduced price lift tickets will be available.
At press time, Sunshine Village had yet to confirm how many lifts it will run on opening day, but the hill did run the Strawberry Chair on Thursday for a special event.
“Our base is 65 centimetres and we’ve had 27 cm in the last four days,” said Sunshine Village spokeswoman Lindsay Gallagher. “The hotel and all of our food services will also be open.”
The ski out still doesn’t have enough snow to open, so visitors will need to take the gondola back and forth to the ski area.
At Norquay, early snowmaking efforts were stymied by warm weather, as rain wiped out their anticipated Oct. 31 opening date. They’ll skip this weekend, but could open on around Nov. 22, said Norquay General Manager Andre Quenneville.
“The snow has come along well and the snowmaking has come quite well. We’re holding off this weekend, and hope by next weekend we’ll be open,” Quenneville said. “For sure, by Nov. 29, we’ll have most of the lifts open and snow tubing. We’d rather wait a week to get everything running.”
Norquay will also host ski racing training, which will also take up resources.
“There’s not a lot of snow in the forecast, but the cool temps are good, so we should be able to make a lot,” Quenneville said.
In Kananaskis, Nakiska will open on Saturday, as it’s been able to make snow this week.
“This weekend, the gold chair and all of the runs off it should be open,” said spokesman Matt Mosteller. “I encourage everyone to check the snow report for updates, because things are changing quickly.”
Nakiska has a massive snowmaking operation, and is also hosting training sessions for Alpine Canada, as well as several other national ski teams. There is a chance the Olympic chair could also be open.
“We had one of the warmest falls in 10 years. It’s a credit to the mountain ops that we have snow. They’ve been working like crazy,” Mosteller said.
Mosteller said blizzard conditions have hammered Kicking Horse Resort, so the Golden resort will be ready soon.
White plumes of cold smoke billowing from the Canmore Nordic Centre, cross-country skiing will be available. Rain nearly finished off the two-kilometre Frozen Thunder loop last week, and crews were forced to shut it down on Monday (Nov. 10).
Thankfully, sub-zero temperatures allowed crews to make snow and re-open it on Tuesday (Nov. 11).
