Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: Fortune Pkwy, #1, #24, Glide Wax: , Grip Wax: Teho Green

The web site was quite late in updating this morning (9:30) , and indicated that all the trails were either yellow (fair) or not recommended. However I had already removed yesterday’s glop from my classic skis and rewaxed, so I decided to try P10 again (marked fair). If I found they had turned it to ice, I was going to take the dog for a very long walk.

I nearly cried when I saw the trails! Beautiful grooming! The groomers had groomed at the right time, with the right equipment and evidently with a great deal of care. It was one of the best skis of the year, one of those you remember when telling people, in July, what a fantastic sport cross country skiing can be. I skied Fortune to Ridge to the Wolf Trail, took 24 and Ridge back. The Teho green worked like a charm, just enough grip to really go, and no rewaxing needed. Every trail I saw should have had a large bright green check mark.

Here is what was well groomed, from what I skied on, passed by, or heard about:
Fortune
Ridge, both directions from Gossip, to the Fire Tower (or was it McKinstry?)
Burma
#2
1B
#24 - it was beautiful
Trail 40 - wish I had more time to ski this.

To be clear, there was no ice whatsoever except an incredibly obvious small patch on Ridge near Burma. The classic tracks were sometimes icy, but certainly not a hazard. Just kind of fun and fast. I saw no ice in the skate lanes, not even on downhills.

This was certainly an excellent day! Bravo to Demsis for not giving up on us yet! If you have an unused sick day........this is an opportunity to improve your health!

I’ll be posting photos late tonight on my site.













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