Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: North Loop, Glide Wax: CH8, Grip Wax:

I did two hamster loops of the Doldrums on skate skis this morning. There had probably been about 5cm of very wet, heavy snowman snow in Chelsea overnight. This had not been groomed, but enough skaters had used the Doldrums to flatten out the snow and make for reasonable skiing. Only near P9 did I find the snow too thick- here it balled up under my heal and nearly tripped me a few times. The skied-in classic tracks were quite good. The snow was very wet, and conditions in and out of the track were anything but fast, but it was good to get out. At times there was even some pale sunshine. If you are bored running in town, it's worth the drive up to do some skiing.

I suspect that Demsis is correct not to groom at these temperatures- I think the heavy groomers would probably pull the snow right off the road (the base is still not frozen).













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