Gatineau Park
Trails Skied: Fortune Pkwy, North Loop, #1, #1 (green) (#2 - #24), #3, #9, #18, #20, #21, Glide Wax: Swix LF7, Grip Wax: Vauhti carrot over Start super green over tat - no klister
Yesterday: it was “Snowfall Warnings” This morning on CBC it was a warning “to stay inside - it’s probably a good day to watch a DVD.” Notwithstanding, I ignored all warnings that had my best interests in mind and had a fantastic day playing in the snow. It was everywhere - in some places in was groomed, in other places it was wind-blown, in even others it was just deep. I managed to sample just about everything - parkways, loosely groomed trails, and back country trails.
My route was:
P9 => #32 => FP => gossip corner => #1 => water tank => #24 loop
=> #1 => #18 => #21 => #20 => #9 => #3 => FP => # 32 => P9
In no place were there consistent conditions - it was real snow conditions. Burma (#3) was particularly interesting in terms of challenge.
The back country trails were getting a lot of action - all of them had good firm tracks on them. If you’ve putting off your back country tour this is the weekend to go for it. I found my visit to old friends (#18, #20, #21, #9) quite enjoyable.
It’s not a weekend for fast or performance skiing - it’s a weekend to get back to our roots.
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).
