Cross Country Canada —Nation’s top cross-country skiers hold media availability, November 3, to kick off Olympic/Paralympic year—

CANMORE, ALTA.—Canada’s top cross-country skiers will kick off the Olympic and Paralympic season by hitting the start line for the annual Winsport Frozen Thunder Classic on Friday at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

More than 115 athletes will participate in the first on-snow distance race in the world this year, thanks to the Canmore Nordic Centre’s annual snow preservation project.

All of Canada’s best Nordic women will go head-to-head in a 7.5-kilometre race starting at 9 am. Many of the nation’s best World Cup and Para-Nordic men will suit up for a 10-kilometre race of their own at 10:15 a.m.

The early season on-snow showdown will be a final tune-up for many of the top Canucks including Lenny Valjas, Jesse Cockney, Knute Johnsgaard, Brian McKeever, Mark Arendz, Emily Nishikawa, Dahria Beatty and Maya MacIsaac-Jones. This will be the final media op for Canada’s Nordic athletes before heading off to Europe for the start of the World Cup circuit. Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw will not be in attendance.

In an effort to provide Canada’s Nordic athletes with the ability to train on snow at home in October/November, the Frozen Thunder initiative annually stores enough snow to cover two kilometres of trail in a large pile under a thick layer of sawdust to insulate it over the summer months.

Who:              Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team

When:            November 3, 2017

                        9 a.m. – Women’s Race

                        10:15 a.m. – Men’s Race

Where:           Frozen Thunder Ski Loop – Near Biathlon Stadium

                        Canmore Nordic Centre

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Chris Dornan

Media and Public Relations

Cross Country Canada

T: 403-620-8731