Only a week after Colin and David returned from Mammoth Lakes California, Team Black Jack hit the road again, this time for early season skiing on Frozen Thunder. As they have for the past 4 years, the Canmore Nordic Centre jumped started the season by rolling out a 2.3km loop of stored snow. With the best conditions yet, this year’s Frozen Thunder camp was a success. Although it had only been two months since our last stint on snow, it was great to get skis back on our feet and focus on improving our technique and putting in a solid chunk of training.

The camp both began and finished with racing. Only 14 hours after arriving, the team took part in the Winsport Frozen Thunder Sprint presented by Buff. Featuring two laps of a 800m course, the race was short and sweet. Chisa lead the team with the 14th fastest women’s qualifying time, moving up to 13th in the heats. While none of the guys made the heats, Julien posted the top result finishing 17th overall (only 0.3 out) as the 9th Canadian. David managed to squeeze in front of Colin, placing 41st and 42nd, respectively.

Nine days later came the unofficial Frozen Thunder Time Trial. Featuring most of the country’s top cross country and biathletes, Team Black Jack was up against a stacked field. Again, Chisa posted the top result with 6th in the Open Women’s category. David lead charge for the guys as the 5th fastest U23 with a 20th place finish overall. Colin finished 30th. More images of the race can be found at julienlocke.com.

Next up, early winter skiing at Black Jack.