Kananaskis Valley (AB), Canada – Earlier today we reported that snowmaking and natural snowfall will combine to kick off the Canadian ski season this weekend at Nakiska, but we now have learned that Mt. Norquay in Banff will get the jump on Nakiska tomorrow.
Mt. Norquay will open at noon tomorrow as the first ski resort to open in Canada this season. Norquay’s opening date has been brought forward almost two weeks early due to over 30 cm of early snowfall over the last several days. It’s believed to be the earliest opening of any ski resort in Canadian history.
Norquay will also be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but details regarding lift operations and ticket prices are not yet available.
Meanwhile as announced earlier, Nakiska will open for skiing and riding at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning.
“We had an incredible winter last year, with near record snowfall and this winter has started off even bigger with more snow and an earlier opening date,” says Nakiska owner Resorts of the Canadian Rockies’ vice president of sales and marketing Matt Mosteller. “To have this much snow so early is such a great start to the ski season in the Canadian Rockies.”
Nakiska has picked up 13 cm of new snowfall in the past 24 hours.