Gatineau Park
Trails Skied: Gatineau Pkwy , Gatineau Pkwy, Champlain Pkwy, Glide Wax: , Grip Wax:
ROUTE: P8 along the Gatineau Parkway past P5 up to the T and then a short ways up the Champlain Parkway
SKATE: Very icy but very little road open to the air. A whole lot of leaves that made going uphill difficult. It was pretty easy to glide over the leaves on the downhill. Champlain was noticeably better in terms of snow cover, grooming and less ice, probably because of less traffic. There is a bald spot under the bridge near P5 and before the turnoff to P6. Overall it was a pretty pleasant ski despite the debria/ice and unbelievable for this early in the season.
I cannot believe our luck to have grooming this early in the season. Considering the conditions on Tuesday, today was wonderful because of the grooming.
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).
