Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: #5 (green), #27, #15 (blue), #26, Glide Wax: Vauhti Spektra Blue, Grip Wax: Vauhti Carrot + Vauhti Tar -1..-6C

Skied in the Southern part of the park this afternoon. What a great ski day! Easy grip and great glide. Conditions on #5 were great - good solid classic tracks, very level. Great for skate or classic. Busy place with skiers, hikers and snowshoers all over since it is so accessible.

#15 was nice, but a bit abused. The downhills were bobsled runs with lots of exposed rocks. Not little ones either, fist sized or larger stones scattered liberally in the snowplow lanes. Be warned, stick to the deeper snow on the sides if you value smooth p-tex. The classic tracks were in decent shape and firm but only existed on the flats.

Parkways from Pink to Asticou were wide and level; looking great for skating. By contrast the classic tracks on the parkways headed from Pink towards Asticou were annoyingly shallow. Only 1-1.5 inches deep, about half depth, which meant your skis were constantly trying to escape parallel. The tracks going down Pink Lake were crazy! Part way down as the curve started there were at least 3 or 4 sets of tracks, very closely spaced, that intersected, crossed and disappeared. Maybe a couple of grooming passes that left extra tracks? Very shallow tracks lead skiers to create their own? Whatever the cause it was dangerous for skiers descending at speed.

Trail conditions should continue to improve this week as the groomers can finally start using bigger machines on the secondary trails.













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