I did a couple of skate passes of the Doldrums this morning. Chelsea had received about 5 cm of snow yesterday (powdery stuff,not slush) which covered the previous grooming on the Parkway quite well. There had been no fresh grooming overnight, but grooming would probably have been a bad idea. Coverage was good in most places, with a few strips of pavement visible where the the road is exposed to the wind and snow had been blown away. In most places my poles did NOT hit pavement. The temperature was just below freezing, creating grip wax problems for those skiing classic, but glide was quite good skating. The snow was noisily scrunching up under my skis as I travelled- snowball snow! Overall it was a good early season ski. For those who can escape work this afternoon it's worth the trip up from Ottawa. It's quite likely conditions are even better higher up on the ridge. Temperatures are rising, so I'm not sure how long the favorable conditions will last.