Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: #51, #53, Glide Wax: violet, Grip Wax:

Skied out of P17 and did the loop of 53 out to P19, back across 51 and home again on 53. Conditions were warm and the snow - much as Karl mentioned yesterday - was a bit wet. I understand there are some waxes that can help improve glide in these situations but I had to make the choice between wax and a car in the fall... and now I have to stand by my decision! This was my first time skating this loop and it was a nice ride - lots of rolling terrain. I'll have to give the full "triangle" loop a try on skate skis in the near future.

The light today was really flat which made it at times (in the open) a bit tough to read the terrain coming up which led to a few surprise dips I couldn't see coming. With the steadily warmer weather some of the debris (sticks, leaves, pine needles) is starting to appear in the snowpack but its not too bad yet. A few short dirty patches here and there and a couple of water hazards are starting to open up on the top part of 53 but you can still ski around them for now.

Looks like some more snow coming this week which will help clean things up a bit... but not in time for Sunday's ski.













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