Real Ski Report: Early season kick off for Kicking Horse and Revelstoke

Each week, CBC Calgary's Paul Karchut speaks with dozens of dedicated skiers and boarders across eastern B.C. and southern Alberta to get the real scoop on conditions at resorts, on cross-country trails and in the backcountry.

With 322 cm of snowfall already this season, Saturday is expected to be the best opening day for Revelstoke on record.

Kicking Horse also kicks off its season on Nov. 28  — a first for the B.C. hill which has never opened before December.

Kicking Horse staff say all of the lower and mid-mountain will be wide open — which is quite a difference from the start of last season when people were having to take the chair lift down because there was so little snow.

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Lake Louise

Sunny skies are in the forecast for the next week for Bow Valley hills — ideal weather for watching the World Cup races at Lake Louise this weekend. To celebrate, kids under 12 ski free at the resort this weekend.

All the lifts on the hill are now running and there continues to be solid coverage thanks to several big snow storms in the last few weeks. 

"It's kind of a blessing that everything is packed down now and that we have good coverage," said Ryan Belder, who has been shredding it recently at both Lake Louise and Sunshine Village.

"Because it was kind of bottomless. I mean, there were some good pockets but you could still hit some sharks under there for the first week or so." 

Sunshine

​With the exception of Goats Eye, all lifts on the mountain are now spinning.

• Nakiska: Open Nov. 27-29. Regular seven day a week operations start Dec. 4.
• Norquay: Open daily and Mystic Chair and Tube Park are expected to be open this weekend.
• WinSport COP: The hill should have its magic carpets running by Nov. 28 and maybe even a chair lift.
• Revelstoke: Nov. 28 is opening day. 
• Kicking Horse: Bonus weekends Nov. 28- 29 and Dec. 5-6. Regular season opens Dec. 11.
• Fernie: Dec. 4. is opening day. 
• Panorama and Castle Mountain: Both mountains open on Dec. 11.
• Kimberly: Dec. 12 is opening day.

X-Country skiing

"It's an embarrassment of riches," said Bob Truman, the man behind skierbob.ca. "We don't need any more snow. There's plenty of snow. Now it's just a matter of grooming it and having good tracks to ski on."

Truman was raving about the conditions on the Ribbon Creek Trail in Evan-Thomas provincial recreation area and Mike Norton is amazed at what he's seeing at the Canmore Nordic Centre in November.

"Probably the best conditions I've ever seen," said Norton. However, he doesn't recommend heading to Lake Louise just yet. He says the trails there are not "quite ready."

Following a bit of a warm-up over the weekend at Bragg Creek, the trails out there have had a refresh of snow and are once again in great shape. In Calgary, the Shaganappi Golf Course trails are packed and are skiable.

Backcountry skiing

The folks from Kananaskis Public Safety are very pleased with how the snowpack is coming together.

"The temperatures are forecasted to get warmer over the next week," said Mike Koppang.

"What that's going to do is that going to help squish the snowpack down and actually help it get a little bit of strength that's maybe going to persist over the entire winter and set us up with a pretty good base." 

For the latest on the snow conditions in specific regions, keep checking the updates on the Avalanche Canada website. 

​Have a photo of yourself shredding it through all that November powder? Tweet them to @CBCoutside or send an email to calgaryphotos@cbc.ca​

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