1. BC AND ALBERTA RESORTS OPENING
While many parts of the country are basking in unusual late fall warmth, winter has arrived in the western mountains. Lake Louise is already open. Nakiska, Sunshine Village and Norquay are all opening this weekend. Several B.C. resorts are well set up for an early or on schedule opening later this month.
2. MORE QUEBEC RESORTS ON INDY PASS
Camp Fortune, Massif du Sud [link to story on our website] and Mont Rigaud are now on Indy Pass, an increasingly tempting multi-area ski pass for independent resorts. They were among 30 nordic and alpine ski areas who joined Indy in October, bringing the total number of included resorts to more than 230 in Japan, Europe and North America. Apex, Mount Washington, Castle Mountain and Marmot Basin are the largest resorts among the 25 Canadian resorts participating. The pass includes two days at each destination and starts at $419 per person. There are a limited number of Indy Pass still available for this season. IndySkiPass.com
3. TOP RACERS HEAD TO WHITEHORSE
As we reported in our new newsletter, the top skiing and boarding prospects in Canada are on their way to Mt. Sima this month. The diminutive ski hill on the outskirts of Whitehorse has become the favoured pre-season training venue for provincial and club programs from across the country and beyond because it can reliably make snow in October, an increasingly rare feat. The hill’s slopes are exclusively for pre-season training throughout November before opening to the public in early December.
4. TELEMARK CHAMPION AND INNOVATOR DIES
Anyone who freed the heel and their mind in a pair of plastic telemark ski boots has Paul Parker to thank. The modern telemark pioneer died on October 28 after a battle with cancer. In the 1980s Parker pushed Scarpa to develop the Terminator, the first plastic telemark ski boot. It helped make backcountry skiing and telemark almost popular and his book Free-Heel Skiing: Telemark and Parrellel Techniques for All Conditions remains the Bible of the sport. Read an obituary of Parker care of Backcountry Magazine.
5. CANADIANS COULD DOMINATE THE FREERIDE WORLD TOUR
Olympic double medalist Justine Dufour-Lapointe headlines a solid looking Canadian team for the 2025 Freeride World Tour. Dufour-Lapointe, the FWT women’s champion in 2023, is back after missing last season with an injury. She joins a particular strong men’s squad: three of the 22 FWT men’s athletes hail from Whistler. In his first full season last year, Marcus Gagnon finished second overall. Veteran Tom Peiffer is back for another go round after podiums in the past. And this will be WeiTien Ho’s first full season. He did really well in two events last year.
6. GET JUICED UP FOR THE SEASON
Nothing better than a good ski film to get ready for the season:
