Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: #50, #51, #53, #54 (green), #55 (green - shared), Glide Wax: Swix LF7, Grip Wax: Swix V30 then Vauhti Carrot then Swix VF50

An interesting day: a spring skiers delight; a waxer's challenge. I tried to maintain my string of euphoric skis by combining 51/53 with the scenery of #54 and Lusk Lake.

My route was: P17 > #53 > #51 > P19 > #50 > #55 > #54 > Lusk Cabin and back.

I started about 10:00 AM to get the cold snow. From P17 to P19 I had mid-winter grip and astounding glide. At P19 the temperature had risen to the point to justify a change to Vauhti Carrot - the Carrot carried me up to Lusk Lake and kept working until I got to the sun-warmed uphills on #50 on the way back. From that point I used VF50 (predecessor of VR50). For the rest of the day it was winter snow in the shade; softening in the sun; and glaze in the areas had been sunny and were now in shade. The VF50 worked in the varying conditions. There was new grooming on all the trails I skied - it was excellent.

For the real skiers there was a well-traveled track on #54 black.

Enough of the technical bumph. I could have had no grip and sucking glide and I still would have had a great day. This is a magic time of the year when skiing is comfortable and the colours are so intense - the snow is so white; the sky so blue; the trees so green. The Lusk Lake area is an ideal place to experience this magic season. I've attached two photos to show what I'm talking about.













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