Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: Fortune Pkwy, #1, #1 (green) (#2 - #24), #1 (blue), Glide Wax: , Grip Wax: VR40, V40

One of the best classic skis this year! P10 was only half full at 9:45 and it was still about minus 14 and sunny. The cold snow and beautiful grooming made for a "relatively" easy trip, classic tracks were firm without being icy, and the wax was charmed from start to finish. The Fire Tower was also in beautiful shape, and by the time I made it back to McKinstry there were quite a few skiers enjoying the fire. The return trip called for stickier wax as the sun was doing it's magic on the tracks.
One observation, and it is not a new one: There are many fewer classic tracks than 10 years ago. Many gentle downhills and uphills alike are often missing the tracks. This was noted on the stretch between MCKinstry and the Fire Tower, as well as on some areas of Ridge between the Wolf Trail and McKinstry, and even the stretch between Huron and Western. I have also noticed it on many other trails, such as trail 50, on the last downhill leading to Herridge from P16, for example. Why is this? One of the joys of skiing is riding the tracks and it is also a great deal easier when classic skiing to ski all but the steepest uphills in the track than on hard corduroy. The NCC has encouraged us to note places that are missing tracks, but there are too many to note and I don't usually carry pen and paper while skiing.
End of rant - it was a fabulous ski, missing tracks notwithstanding.
p.s Garry skated the same route and reports excellent skate conditions.













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