Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: Fortune Pkwy, Champlain Pkwy, #3, #28, Glide Wax: , Grip Wax: waxless

Took the afternoon off to enjoy the sun and see how the snow pack was doing. Found a spot in a mostly full P10 although it appeared most people were finishing up as the snow softened and the faster conditions of the morning had ended.

Skied up the Fortune parkway on reasonably good snow but it quickly changed to grey icy snow as I topped out at the lake. Spotted the dreaded yellow line through the ice in a few spots which is bad news. Turned up Burma which had been flagged as closed but uphill progress was fine. Top of the first steep hill was mostly gravel but I could step around it. As I progressed along 3 there were a few other patches of gravel here and there... but not a big problem. Decided to venture up 28 to the Ramparts which was getting thin but manageable. Had to walk up the last climb to the lookout but it was a nice spot to enjoy the sun.

Skied the rest of Burma to Huron and found a few more gravelly patches which had to be navigated (or walked). Skied down the parkway and back to P10. Slow, slushy going as the temperature had risen to +17C! Again - more signs of grey, watery, ice here and there and some patches of asphalt starting to show.

More warm(hot?) weather ahead and tomorrow is the last day of official grooming so one last chance to enjoy fast, fresh snow tomorrow morning if you're after that. From there on it may become more of a chore to find ski-able snow.













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