Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: #50, #52, #53, #57, Glide Wax: Vhauti blue, Grip Wax: Extra blue

Skied the Wakefield triangle loop today after waiting as long as I could to let it warm up a bit. Actually it wasn't too bad in terms of cold as there was no wind to speak of so quite comfortable skiing today. Also got some nice views of sundogs as the sun was sinking in the west. Wax choice was too warm for the day so I had fantastic grip and sub par glide. My fault for not taking the time to rewax at home but it didn't detract from the skiing though.

Trail 53 had recieved some grooming today from 51 to the parking lot but it hadn't continued around the loop to Ste Cecile. Trail 52 hadn't been groomed since the last dusting of snow. In both cases that was fine as todays skiers had worked in the snow nicely so it was quite nice to ski. The base underneath the dusting of snow was quite solid and I didn't see any rocks along these stretches at all. Trail 50 - as Ron reported - had been freshly groomed likely this morning. Apart from the few short stretches (mainly along Lac Phillippe) where the groomer had pulled up some leaves and gravel in the classic track(and these were easily avoidable) the skiing was quite nice.

Tomorrow is going to be a cold one but the snow is finally providing good coverage.













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