Cross-country (X-C) skiing is perhaps the most accessible way to enjoy Canada’s winter landscape on two planks. Developed over the millennia in the Nordic countries, it’s found a natural home in Canada.
The various Nordic disciplines will account for a large of number of the events during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games; the freshly developed Whistler Olympic Park in Callaghan Valley connects with the Callaghan Country trail system, making for almost 100 km (62 mi) of groomed skiing, as well as facilities for biathlon and Nordic combined.
The largest trail network in British Columbia is still the 100 Mile House network, with over 150 km (93 mi) of X-C trails. Combine access to these trails with a spa experience at The Hills Health Ranch near The Hills Snow Park.
One of the training sites for the Canadian National X-C Team will be Mt. Washington Alpine Resort on Vancouver Island, BC, which offers a long snow season, varied terrain and gorgeous scenery.
Silver Star Mountain Resort is also renowned for its Nordic skiing—and early-season snow—making it the site of choice for the Norwegian Nordic and Biathlon teams to train for the 2010 Winter Games (other teams training here include those from Finland, Russia, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand). That’s not to say that British Columbia is the only province in Canada for cross-country greatness.
Developed for the 1988 Winter Olympics, The Canmore Nordic Centre is one of our country’s top X-C ski areas and will host the Cross Country World Cup next February.
There are 500-plus X-C ski areas across Canada, with a large portion in Ontario (Hardwood Ski and Bike near Barrie, 90 minutes from Toronto) and Quebec (Mont-Sainte-Anne’s Cross-Country Ski Centre, boasting over 200 km (124 mi) of trails in the bucolic Laurentian Mountains).
Other noteworthy areas: Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise in Alberta; its 50 km (31 mi) of groomed trails link to hundreds of kilometres of backcountry trails topped with epic views of the Canadian Rockies. . And the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club in the Yukon, with over 75 km (47 mi) of trails accessible within 5 minutes of downtown.
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