Nakiska

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Nakiska

Nakiska is a ski resort near the Kananaskis Village settlement in Kananaskis Country in the Canadian province of Alberta . It is located in the Canadian Rocky Mountains on the eastern slope of 2819  m high Mount Allan , about 80 km west of Calgary .

Emergence

The ski area was built for the 1988 Winter Olympics . Originally, the alpine competitions should have taken place at Mount Sparrowhawk and Mount Shark , which are over 150 km from Calgary. Due to the shorter distance and the expected better subsequent use of the facilities, Mount Allan was preferred. The new ski area was named "Nakiska". The word comes from the Cree language and means “meeting point”.

Planning for the ski area began in July 1983. A year later, construction work began on the slopes and three chairlifts , which were largely completed in the summer of 1986. The official opening took place on December 5, 1986. In the months that followed, a number of test competitions were carried out and in March 1987 the dress rehearsal for the Olympic Games was held with the ski world cup races for women and men. In the spring of 1987 a fourth chair lift was built. At the 1988 Winter Games, all ten alpine competitions and the demonstration competition in freestyle skiing were held here. During the games there was an additional drag lift that led to the start of the men's run at an altitude of 2,412 m. It was then dismantled again.

Ski Area

The ski area extends from 1525 m to 2260 m above sea level. The difference in altitude is 735 m. There are four chairlifts (one two-person and three four-person chairlifts) and two people movers for beginners. The maximum capacity of the lifts is 8830 people per hour. On an area of ​​around 3 km² there are 79 marked ski slopes of all levels of difficulty, more than two thirds of which are moderately difficult slopes. 75 percent of the slopes can be artificially snowed . The longest descent is 3.3 km long. The ski season runs from mid-November to mid-April.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Mount Allan in the Internet version of the English-language Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia
  2. a b XV Olympic Winter Games Official Report , pages 128-139 (English / French), PDF (39 MB)
  3. Nakiska Resort Map & Statistic , (English)

Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 35 ″  N , 115 ° 9 ′ 3 ″  W.