Gatineau Park
Trails Skied: Gatineau Pkwy, #5 (green), Glide Wax: , Grip Wax:
Skiing in a winter wonderland this late afternoon. By 4 pm, the on-going snowfall left no sign of prior grooming. Happy about the fresh snow, I went for classic, Swix VR50 (violet) worked well as grip wax. Only some icing up due to residue underlying klister that I hadn't been able to clean off properly in the parking. Some skaters were out, it looked OK, though probably a bit of work through the layer of fresh snow on top.
Tracks were skier mad and wiggly, no recognizable shape from prior grooming anymore. But we've got a good bit of fresh snow! Skiing up #5 was very scenic, with the wet snow sticking to trees everywhere. Definitely an enjoyable afternoon out and great to have good classic conditions back!
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.
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).
