Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: Fortune Pkwy, #1, #4, #14, Glide Wax: , Grip Wax: Universal Klister

I had mentally "packed it in" for the season until I read Karl's report this morning. Thanks, Karl! I'm so glad I skied today.
P10 was surprisingly full at 9:30, with 2/3 of the parking spots filled (no center row though). Numerous small groups of male skiers were blasting their way down the parkway, perhaps the last unofficial competition of the season? It was a bit icy ascending the parkway, and I considered going back home for my skate skis but plugged away with the klister-skis.
I decided to check out Ridge Road and headed toward Penguin. The first bit was icy, bumpy and rather unpleasant, but it improved after Keogan. A pileated woodpecker, chipmunks, squirrels and 3 unidentified woodpeckers with black heads kept me company, and the klister started to work like a charm in the softer snow. Now for the best surprise of the day! Trail 14 was fabulous! I intended to turn back at the first bare patch, but there were none. It was deep, firm snow, no debris, no bare spots, no ice. I returned to Ridge via #4 and continued as far as the open swamp, at which point a portage would have been necessary.
Heading back, the big hill before trail 14 was getting pretty bare, but going up it wasn't a problem (going down would have been!). Fortune was granular by 11:30 and the bare patches were growing. However I was able to keep my skis on for the entire outing. Now it looks like one more ski day is in order....













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