Gatineau Park
Trails Skied: #24, #40, #1 (blue), Glide Wax: Swix LF7, Grip Wax: Alternated between Swix blue V30 and Vauhti carrot
Went, classic, to the fire tower - the first time this year.
My route was P12 => #40 => #24 => #1 blue and back. The great conditions described by Gary existed on all trails from P12 to the tower. #40 was especially well done - the steep downhills were trackset quite wide giving a lot of room for control. On the way back, on the hills, the hard-pack was breaking up into a nice loose sugar-snow. The scenery was great with evergreens covered in snow in full sun - the last km to the tower was a special experience If you haven’t been to the tower yet this year I recommend that you get out there.
The news is that, although many of us have become tracksetting-addicted dilettantes, there is still, at least, one real-skier left in the park. There was one ski track on the old #10 - uphill; with the crust it must of been something of a slog.
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Gatineau Park is ski paradise! The network of ski trails offer machine groomed skate skiing and classic skiing as well as little groomed backcountry trails. Multiple access points allow skiers to access a variety of terrain and scenery.
The NCC offers season or daily pay rates.
For suggestions on where to ski, excellent trail descriptions, photos and maps checkout Michael McGoldrick`s website about recreational xc-skiing in Canada`s National Capital Region (with an emphasis on the Gatineau Park).
