Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: Fortune Pkwy, #1, #6, #30, #4, #8, Camp Fortune Race Course, #11, #22, Glide Wax: Vauhti green, Grip Wax: Super binder covered with vauhti blue

Beautiful day to go after the backcountry trails on the fresh powder. I took off from work at lunch time and found P7 almost full when I arrived so clearly others had the same idea. Fresh grooming on Ridge road and the Forthue parkway. I also saw the parkway at P5 was groomed but the Champlain parkway as it goes past Black lake was not. There were a few other trails here and there that might be on the "secondary" list that were also ungroomed. Probably the right call to get some, but not all, of the trails groomed as the blowing snow would probably undo a full grooming effort and there would be fewer skiers mid week anyway. Besides, all the "real" skiers would be in the woods on the ungroomed tracks anyway - right?

I skied a loop of backcountry trails from 6 to 22 down into the race trails at Fortune(which were ungroomed). I then did a few bits of 11 before coming back on 8. The fresh snow made the backcountry trails a delight and there was negligible wind in the woods. I must say the big "metal" tree at the top of the Fortune ski area was "singing some strange songs in the gusty wind.

Snow was pretty cold and dry making glide a bit of a rare commodity and to be fair my grip wax was too warm for the day but I appreciated the extra "stick" on the narrow bc trails. Most of the tricky descents are in good shape now but I wouldn't say no to some more snow. The "rock" at the top of the first drop on 8 is exposed but I knew well to expect it and skied around with no difficulty. Also there is a narrow creek on the last (or first depending which way you go) little bit of 8 just near the intersection with 30. It has been well marked with yellow tape and is a definite ski breaker (or something more vital) if you take it at speed so keep your eyes open for it. As it was I was going uphill there so no problem stepping over it.













Gatineau park map


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.

Gatineau park map

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).

Gatineau park map