Canada’s Cross-Country Ski Team Returns to Snow to Begin Season »

Canada’s Cross-Country Ski Team Returns to Snow to Begin Season Following COVID Pause

—Nordiq Canada to make a major event announcement following training—

CANMORE, Alta.—For the first time in nearly seven months, many of Canada’s top Olympic, Paralympic and developing cross-country ski athletes will click into their bindings and begin their on-snow training Monday, October 19 from 9-10:15 a.m., thanks to the world-unique Frozen Thunder project at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

The athletes, including Paralympic medallists Brian McKeever, Mark Arendz and Brittany Hudak, along with Olympians Dahria Beatty, Russell Kennedy and a group of rising stars, will mark the occasion of finding happiness getting back on skis by celebrating a major Canadian event announcement that will have a postive impact on the growth of their sport and development of its next generation of athletes.

The Frozen Thunder project has provided Canada’s high-performance nordic athletes – not to mention recreational enthusiasts – with early-season trail access at the Canmore Nordic Centre. The Frozen Thunder initiative stores a large pile of snow under a thick layer of sawdust to insulate during the summer months. Each October, the snow is then restored and rolled out to form more than a one kilometre of ski trail for early-season training.

Modeled after snow preservation projects in Europe, the Canmore Nordic Centre was the first to take on the project in North America 11 years ago – and is subsequently the first to open its trails on the continent each year – providing another critical resource for Canada’s high-performance Nordic sports.

Who:   Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team

  • Brian McKeever – 17-Time Paralympic Medallist
  • Mark Arendz – 8-Time Paralympic Medallist
  • Brittany Hudak – Paralympic Medallist
  • Dahria Beatty – Olympian
  • Russell Kennedy – Olympian
  • Katherine Stewart-Jones – National Ski Team Member
  • Xavier McKeever – World Junior Medallist
  • Tom Stephen – World Junior Medallist        

When:   Monday, October 19

  • 9-10:15 a.m. – Training on Frozen Thunder
  • 10:15 a.m. – Interviews                               

Where:   Frozen Thunder Ski Loop – Near Biathlon Stadium

  • Canmore Nordic Centre

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