Canada’s 23-24 Ski Season Is Underway

Canada’s 23-24 season has gotten underway on both the western and eastern sides of the country.

Although conditions have been wintery for a while in the west, it was actually a ski centre in Quebec in the east that snuck in and opened first, 24 hours before Banff’s Mt Norquay as well as nearby lake Louise (above) opened their slopes on Friday.

Sommet Ste Sauveur took advantages of low temperatures to make enough snow for a ski run, despite the rest of  the countryside around still being brown and green. It’s been floodlighting the run for night skiing too.

Thanks to quick transition from fall to winter, Mt Norquay opened as planned, while the Lake Louise Ski Resort was able to bump forward a week earlier than originally scheduled. 

The first major snowfall of the season blanketed the Canadian Rockies just last week, dropping an impressive 29 cm in just 48 hours. In addition, cooler temperatures settled in, creating ideal conditions for snow-making to supplement the natural snow base.

A fourth centre, Nakiska, the closest to Calgary, has opened for a “preview weekend” this weekend and will be closed midweek (pictured below on Saturday 4 November).

However more Canadian centres are lining up to open later this work including third Banff-area resort Sunshine, Marmot Basin near Jasper to the north, and the first BC/West Coast choice, Cypress Mountain.

Mt Norquay’s opening day saw a dusting of fresh snow for opening day and a mix of locals, visitors, former Olympians and national team athletes all excited to once again be sliding on snow.  

As of 9:00am, Cascade Chair was spinning as well as the magic carpet in the Sundance Learning Area. Cascade run was groomed to perfection with cotton candy skies framing Mt. Norquay’s iconic view of Mount Rundle and the Town of Banff in postcard-like fashion.

At Lake Louise fresh snow overnight amped up the excitement for opening day. Even before the bull wheel started spinning, the energy was palpable as the eager skiers and riders lined up to score opening day commemorative T-shirts reserved for the first 200 riders on the Glacier Express Chair.

Once on-mountain, accessible terrain included Wiwaxy, Bald Eagle, and parts of Easy Street. Peels of laugher and cheers wafted skyward as groups of riders took turns stomping tricks on table top jumps, boxes and rails in the terrain park.