Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Back in The Canadian Rockies

I am now back in the Canadian Rockies training for the first World Cups of the season in Nakiska.

I have been here for two weeks now, training out of Lake Louise, Norquay and Nakiska. Temperatures have been very mild in the mountains until today. The Chinook weather system is now long gone (a system of warm winds), and we are expecting temperatures as low as -30C this week for the race. Brilliant timing!

Nakiska is situated in the Kananaskis area of southwest Alberta, a couple of hours from the British Columbia border. The resort was home to the the 1988 Calgary Olympics, so has a great recent history associated with it. It is also the training base for the Canadian Alpine Ski Team. 

Its great to back to this area. Not only did we race a World Cup here last season, I have also spent plenty of time here back in my Alpine racing days. 

Interestingly, yesterday I took my Garmin GPS device up to the training hill. In a very short 2.5hr training session, I covered 32.6km on snow, hit a max speed of 94.82km/hour, and skied 4780m vertical. And that was a short day. Can't wait to clock up the results after a full day's skiing!

Training for the World Cup commences Wednesday. Unlike last year, this season we have back-to-back World Cups; one on Friday 6th December, and another on Saturday 7th December. So plenty of World Cup points up for grabs! It is also one of seven Olympic qualifying events, so the pressure is on!

Loving the new "Crema Mitt" by XTM... Perfect for freezing temps in Lake Louise.

Celebrating American Thanksgiving in style..

The Rocky Mountain Bagel Company's famous bagels. Definitely a favourite lunch spot in Canmore.


Some inspiration for the bathroom at home perhaps?

Marcos taking some time out of the ski room

Thanks Garmin for the multi-use GPS device! Not only useful for training sessions on the bike...