Canmore

Canmore is a town in Alberta, Canada, located about 81 kilometres or 50 miles west of Calgary City close to the southeast boundary of Banff National Park. It is located within the Bow Valley in Alberta's Rockies. The town of Canmore shares a border with the Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8 towards the north and east and Kananaskis Country to the south and west.

The town of Canmore was officially named in the year 1884 by Canadian Pacific Railway director Donald A. Smith, who was later named 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal. In 1886, Queen Victoria granted a coal mining charter to the town of Canmore, and the No. 1 mine was opened during 1887.

A North-West Mounted Police barrack was installed on main street during the 1890's, until it was vacated during 1927. The building was restored during 1989 and it is under the care of the Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre.

The coal mining trade within Canmore boomed well into the 20th century. During the year 1965, with a population of 2,000, Canmore was established as a town. By the 1970s the market for coal was diminished, and during the year 1979 Canmore Mines Ltd. stopped operations. As a result of safety and reclamation policies instigated by Alberta Province, all but some mining structures were demolished in the following year; only the lamp house and some mine entrances remain these days.

The Town of Canmore initially depended on the coal mines. In the 1980s the Olympics revived the stifled economy and set the grounds for a high-end bedroom and get-away community that would depend on tourism and construction income for years to come. During 2008 the signs of the times were clearly noticeable around the town of Canmore. Development projects went into receivership and foreclosures were more and more common. The Town of Canmore had just about completed the Community Sustainability Plan when a few setbacks in the early spring of 2009 essentially put the bylaw on the shelf. In the period of 2008-2009 the local economy shriveled. New housing starts dropped by 95%.

The Canmore Nordic Centre was first constructed for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. Cross-country skiing, biathlon, blind cross-country skiing and nordic combined events were held here. The Canmore Nordic Centre offers world-class trails for use by hikers, cross-country skiers and mountain bikers. It has provincial park status and is administered by Alberta Development. It has roughly 60 kilometres or 37 miles of world-class cross-country and biathlon trail systems meant to meet international Nordic competitive standards. The trails are groomed and trackset to be able to accommodate both classic and skating techniques on the same trail. A 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) track is illuminated for nighttime skiing.

The Canmore Nordic Centre has a Day Lodge which provides a lot of services like a cafeteria, information and maps, day lockers, showers, washrooms, equipment rentals, and lessons. The centre converts in the summer season in order to house mountain biking facilities and to play host to many yearly international and national mountain bike events. The Nordic Centre likewise operates an 18 "hole" disc golf course in the summer months.