Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: Fortune Pkwy, Champlain Pkwy, #1, #1 (green) (#2 - #24), #1 (blue), Glide Wax: CH7, Grip Wax:

Skated from P10 to the Fire Tower, outbound on Ridge Road (1A), returning via the Champlain Pkwy. About 5cm of fresh, cold, dry powder over a surprisingly hard base made for slow but pleasantly controllable skiing. In exposed sections (e.g. near lakes) the fresh snow had been blown right off the base. By the time I returned skier traffic had pretty much flattened the skate lane on the Fortune Pkwy, although further west there was still lots of fresh snow. There are large patches of pavement showing at the Champlain lookout. There were also icy sections on the hill leading to the Wolf Trail lookout (not only at the 90 degree corner just below the lookout, but also on the s-curve just below this. There are also a few large ice patches on the hills just below the Fire Tower. The icy patches were well marked with yellow warning tape in nearby trees. As of 11AM no classic skiers had been to the Fire Tower. The first classic skier through will have a bit of a slog dealing with the fresh powder in the tracks.

All in all it's a great afternoon for a Fire Tower run!













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