By 3:15 a furious band of snow was directly over the park. The skiing was fabulous! It was about minus 7 and there were 4-5 cms of new snow down. The best spot for classic was in the skate lane, as the poles would catch in the crusty snow beside the once-groomed-thawed-refrozen-and- now-snow-covered classic tracks. When I reached the intersection of the Gatineau and Champlain parkways, the falling snow changed to noisy ice pellets. These are heavenly, tiny, icy ball bearings, not to be confused with freezing rain. The snow was beautifully fast but controllable, and it was fun to skate the flats and downhills despite the classic skis. In fact it was the best skate ski of the 3 I've had this year. The only downside to the whole ski was that my boots froze to my bindings, so that I was forced to walk across gritty Meech Lake Road in my skis, and carry the skis home with boots attached. Now, just keep your fingers crossed that the precipitation does not turn to freezing rain this evening or tomorrow...