Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: Fortune Pkwy, #1, #9, #4, #19, #34, Glide Wax: , Grip Wax: Swix, ordinary old Extra Blue

Another patchwork of trails skied today, part 3 of my quest to become a real skier. A bit of this, a bit of that, basically Fortune to #9, past the racing trails, to #4, then #34, #19, and back home on Ridge and Fortune. I was hoping to ski Skyline as well, but simply ran out of time, and didn't want to leave my piano student wondering where I was! I also had to stop and check the map several times as I have never skied these trails before and had a strict time limit. It was really fun - I am truly hooked! The trail looked like it had seen quite a bit of traffic over the weekend - a two-foot wide trail with a covering of fresh snow, rather than a single track. It was a very relaxing ski with the bit of fresh snow.

Something odd is happening to me. When the snow is this nice I would much rather be off the boring parkways and wider trails and explore the narrower, backcountry trails. However I am frequently angered by the lack of good grooming on the so-called groomed trails. I supposed I am just beginning to realize that back country skiing and track skiing are indeed two separate sports.

Fortune was in full neglect mode today, unless you count a hasty half section of the skate lane. The tracks were pathetic and coming back down the parkway was a wiggly, slow affair in soft snow. Ridge was quite nice, still firm tracks under a layer of fresh snow. I'd have been tempted to give a 2 star rating if Fortune had been the only place I was skiing today.













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