Gatineau Park
Trails Skied: #24, #40, #1 (blue), Glide Wax: Swix LF6 over graphite, Grip Wax: Start super green over tar - added Vauhti carrot - still no klister
I wanted to be a real skier today skiing ungroomed tracks on real snow from P12 to the fire tower via #40, #24. & #1 blue - instead the tracksetting crew ruined my intentions by putting down perfect grooming on all of the aforementioned trails. Regardless, swallowing my disappointment, I was able to satisfy my ambition as a grooming-addicted-dilettante - I had a truly great run to the tower and back. The tracks were great with a reasonable glide and consistent grip. It was an interesting experience coming down #40 with effortless control. Half way out the Start super started to back-slip so I applied some Vauhti carrot which took me to the tower and back. The skating track looked quite good but with the new snow was a bit on the soft side. #38 had firm tracks on it. The old #10 has a firm wide trench on it made by a number of snowshoers.
The quality of the tracksetting was truly exceptional - one aspect that really impressed me was that the wilder turns have been banked - a bit of grooming art. Un gros merçi à André et l’équipe sur les dameuses!
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).
