While “real” winter is taking its time to arrive in Ontario and Quebec, Nordic Centers that have invested in snow-making are making cross country skiing and racing possible.
Actually, not just possible, but providing impressive courses that can accommodate a large number of skiers.
Although snow-making was once exclusively the realm of downhill ski venues, a growing number of Nordic Centers in New England have realized the importance of investing in artificial snow. The US has over 30 cross-country ski facilities that make snow, with at least seven of those located in Vermont. Some believe that snowmaking is an essential component of cross country ski facilities.
This past weekend I once again appreciated the benefits of snow-making when I raced with the XC Ottawa racing team at the NENSA Season Opener at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Northern Vermont. In 2011 after a series of dismal snow winters, Craftsbury followed the lead of other New England nordic centers and ventured into snow-making. While snow-making may seem at odds with Craftsbury’s “green” mission, they explain their snow-making process and rationale here. Last year we attended the NENSA opener in Rikert Nordic Center in Middleburry, Vermont, also made possible by artificial snow. Boston-area skiers also benefit from artificial snow.
Canadian skiers are not as lucky . . . in the East, Foret Montmorency is a popular nordic facility with snow-making. Skiers travel from far and wide to ski at Montmorency, and the quality of the loop is improving every year.
In Western Canada, skiers in Canmore benefit greatly from Frozen Thunder at the Canmore Nordic Center. And lucky skiers in Edmonton may soon see a longer ski season thanks to a partnership between the City of Edmonton and Edmonton Nordic Ski Club (ENSC).
When you consider the number of indoor heated ice skating arenas and manmade outdoor rinks that allow so many to enjoy a winter sport, artificial snow ski loops do make sense!
Racing on the Craftsbury Artificial Snow Loop
In Craftsbury, I wondered how organizers could accommodate 500+ racers on a 650m loop. It was certainly beyond expectations! The width of the loop meant organizers could divide it into multiple lanes, and a trail through the middle made a variety of courses possible.
Checking out the course on Friday. Coach Kieran is helping Kyla with ski choice.
We were lucky enough to stay at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center along with Nakkertok Nordic. There’s nothing better than being close to a race course (we could watch the races from our room!), and the accommodations and amazing meals at Craftsbury are perfectly suited to cross country skiers.
Saturday’s schedule was a sprint event (1.3 km). Typically the top 30 men and women qualify for heats, but organizers reduced this to the fastest 16. Canada’s Quebec men were impressive, representing almost half of the racers that qualified for the heats in the competitive North American field. Friday night Craftsbury got REAL snow! This made the loop even better and the white ribbon on green effect disappeared.
Men’s Quarter Final. Photo from NENSA.
The new snow combined with artificial snow improved the track considerably. Sunday’s event was an individual start skate race (5km), with very large and competitive fields. Organizers devised a really fun figure 8 loop that racers completed 5 times. While it meant that there were a lot of skiers out on course at the same time, for the most part this worked out pretty well.
A tricky part of the weekend was the warm-up routine. Given that racers were on the loop, for most racers warm-up was either running and/or using the equipment in Craftsbury’s well-equiped gym, which is situated right beside the loop.
Here are some pictures of my XC Ottawa teammates Karl and Andre racing in the 5 km event (from NENSA).
And local Club Skinouk racer Alexis Turgeon (#302), who took the win for the day!
My races were decent for this time of year, finishing in the top third or quarter of the field both days. Frankly, I was just happy to be skiing!
Here are the full results for the weekend:
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