Canada's ski season looks set to get underway a week on Saturday as Nakiska in Alberta, the closest ski area to Calgary just 45 minutes away, has announced its earliest ever opening.
"We are very thankful to be able to open up this early. Shout out to our team who have been working around the clock to get runs open so our very passionate skiers and riders can share the tradition of celebrating ski season starts with first turns at Nakiska," said "Powder Matt" Mosteller, Senior VP, Marketing & Resort Experience for Nakiska.
Nakiska has a tradition of being one of the first resorts to open in Canada each season, usually alongside areas like Mt Norquay and Sunshine a little further west around Banff, but that's usually in the first week or two of November, and this will be Nakiska's earliest ever opening.
The resort has had several good natural snowfalls already (the picture top was taken earlier this month) and is also snowmaking to the max whenever possible.
Nakiska will open Saturday the 26th and Sunday 27th October from 10am for a 'preview weekend' before closing again midweek.
It is likely to be the first to open in Canada although areas in Quebec sometimes open in October using snowmaking.