Albertans who have been waiting for snow so they can break out their skis and snowboards are in luck — the slopes will be open at Mount Norquay this weekend.
The ski resort is the first to open in Canada this winter, according to a news release sent out Thursday, after the hill saw 27 centimetres of snow overnight Wednesday.
“Any time we can open in early November, it’s a good start,” resort general manager Andre Quenneville said Friday.
“We can’t wait to get out there skiing, so we do our best to get people out on the slopes.”
Around 300 people took advantage of the opportunity to hit the slopes early on Friday afternoon, according to Quenneville. The group included 87-year-old Leo Berchtold, who said he’s been coming to Mount Norquay for 62 years.
“I just enjoy it,” Berchtold said. “It gets you out of the bed in the morning.”
The Cascade lift will be running from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday. Starting Saturday, Nov. 4, it will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week.
The resort is offering early pricing on lift tickets: $29 for adults, $24 for youth/senior passes and $17 for children. From Thursday until midnight on Sunday, the resort will also be honouring its fall sale prices.
The resort underwent $1.5 million worth of upgrades ahead of the 2017-18 season, including new washrooms, rental gear and chairlift upgrades.
Mount Norquay’s snow tube park is also expected to open on Friday, Dec. 1.
Nakiska also taking advantage of early snow
Nakiska Ski Area is also slated to open this weekend, with lifts running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Nakiska posted on its Fabcebook page Thursday that 24 centimetres of snow had fallen in just 24 hours atop the ski and snowboard hill.
Nakiska will be open seven days a week starting Dec. 1.
More information on which terrain and services are open, as well as Nakiska’s entire November schedule, can be found here.
With files from Global’s Joel Senick