Calgarians bundle up against bitter cold

A cold front has pushed into the city and It's going to be a chilly weekend ahead as temperatures dip into the minus double-digits.

Friday is expected to see a high temperature of -21, which is a far cry from seasonal temperatures which are usually between -10 and +2.

The bone-chilling temperatures forced Canada Olympic Park to close and Winsport says the closure will remain in place throughout the weekend.

Officials say that the decision was based on the safety of the park's guests and staff and add that they use a benchmark of -25 to determine closures.

The sliding track will also be closed on Friday and Saturday, but officials say they will reassess the situation and see if it can be reopened for Sunday.

Updates are available on Winsport’s website.

CTV caught up with a number of Calgarians at the airport on Friday who were more than happy to escape to warmer temperatures.

Daniel Vanson is heading to Maui and is ready for the heat as soon as he steps off the plane - he's wearing his shorts underneath his pants.

"It's quite entertaining to see this cold weather and everything else that's happened," he says. "It's nice to get away. Hopefully, it's not going to be this cold when we get home."

In Airdrie, members of the fire department are fundraising by camping out on the roof of the Boston Pizza.

They planned the event months ago to support Muscular Dystrophy Canada and thought the weather would be milder.

"We're all doubled up in sleeping bags just to make sure we're extra warm. We've got electric heaters, kerosene heaters, propane heaters, CO monitors, to make sure we're not gassing ourselves out. Lots of layers, firefighter gear, toques, gloves, everything. We're trying to stay as warm as possible, it seems to be working so far," said Jeff Clark, Airdrie firefighter.

The three firefighters say they will stick it out until Saturday.

Temperatures are expected to fall deep into the -20s for the weekend, with wind chills making those all the more bitter.

For more weather information, check out our Sky Watch Weather Centre.

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  Three firefighters in Airdrie are camped out to raise money for charity and are bundled up against the cold.

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  Lots of Calgarians are escaping the persistent cold temperatures for warmer climates around the world on Friday morning.

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  The ski hills at Winsport's Canada Olympic Park will be empty on Friday and likely for much of the weekend as temperatures are only expected to reach a high of about -20.