Bundle up and hit the slopes
Hey, it’s a little cold out there. OK, it’s really, really cold — but you can see almost all of the best young up-and-coming cross-country skiers in North America at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre in the North Okanagan this weekend.
Racers at the combined Nor Am/SuperTour event, which wraps up today are battling for series points and the chance to represent their country on the world stage. At least four racers will race in the Pyeong Chang 2018 Olympics. Every one of the Canadians who competed in Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 raced at Sovereign Lake on their way.
A few athletes are representing more exotic countries like Togo, the Czech Republic, Australia and Brazil, said club spokesman Gerry Furseth. “The 165 BC athletes will be joined by 271 visiting racers, including 124 from the U.S. More than 300 racers are entered in three age categories.”
Entry to the spectator zones is free. Racing will start at 9 a.m. today when the Upper World Cup loop will be closed for four hours. Details on the combined NorAm/SuperTour event are available at: https://www.sovereignlake.com/event/2016-haywood-norambuff-sprints/
The burst of cold weather is keeping local skiers at home, said Furseth, but the -15C in the sunshine on fresh snow Wednesday was bringing out the smiles on visitors from Alaska, New Hampshire and Thunder Bay. “The visiting racers were training on the five kilometres of race trails, leaving about 25 kilometres of peaceful trails for the rest of us.”
The cold weather does bring an upside for snowshoers, he added. “The last open creeks and swamps are freezing which should allow the snowshoe trails to open Monday, fingers crossed.”
You can find more info on Twitter at: #WinterLivesHere #MySovereign
*** At downhill resorts and other cross-country areas in the Okanagan: On Thursday, Big White Ski Resort was -19C, with no wind, high overcast skies, variable visibility, no new snow, 34 centimetres of new snow during the past seven days, a 114-cm base, and eight lifts and 45 runs open (22 groomed).
Apex Mountain Resort was scheduled to open its Quickdraw high-speed quad chair on Friday along with the T-Bar and the Magic Carpet 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. On Thursday, the temperature was -15C with one cm of new snow and a 91-cm base.
Kelowna Nordic Ski Club reports it has “a reasonable amount of snow, especially at the higher elevations. We anticipate grooming this weekend. In the meantime, you may make your own tracks or go snowshoeing. If you go skiing, be aware that logging trucks may be on Log Cabin/Meadow/Old Cedar until the middle of the week. The Kallis Car Park is not open. Some snowshoe trails may be better walked in snow boots. Be very careful of any wet areas as the ice has not formed yet. We will update further after expected snowfalls Thursday through Saturday.”
In the South Okanagan, Nickel Plate Nordic Centre had -18C on Thursday with a high forecast of -12C and no new snow for a base of 63 cm. Lower trails were groomed out to Panorama just below the lookout. Eagles Nest, Vindicator, Last Chance, Cannonball and Miners Alley were all still in good condition.
Seasons passes can be picked up in the ticket office. Caution: watch for the groomer as groundwater and creeks are freezing up now so more trails were packed daily. Also watch for the logging trucks hauling Monday to Friday. The snowshoe group has begun early-season tromping, cutting deadfall, and flagging and signing trails. Their hard work, along with snowcat operators, are the reason the club has such great trails. All five snowshoe routes are signed and marked with green flagging only at regular intervals.
FYI: when looking at webcams, clicking refresh in the upper bar (semi-circle arrow icon) usually brings up the current image. Wifi signal in this remote location is wireless and a relay off a local mountain that can cut out occasionally. Fortunately, in day hours, staff are able to reboot the system in the ticket office and get the webcam back online quickly.
Today is Welcome to Nickel Plate Day with free lessons and rentals, and great food.
Telemark Nordic Club west of West Kelowna was manually grooming Telemark and the inner trails with snowmobiles (Telemark with the small groomer as well) on Thursday. Grooming started late so they were all not finished. There weren’t any rocks showing and the conditions were rated as good. On Wednesday, a women snowshoed Pine Forest Trail and reported that it was great. Thursday’s temperature was -12C with a 33-cm base at the lodge, 32 cms at Panorama, 50 cms at Crystal and no new snow.
Last season on Dec. 5, 2015, Telemark had sold 825 memberships. As of this week, the club had 1,022, an increase of 24 per cent.
“We must be doing something right,” says director/general manager Ron Earle.