Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: Champlain Pkwy, Champlain Pkwy, MacKenzie-King Rd , Glide Wax: Vauhti yellow, Grip Wax:

Another beautiful day for a ski. Skied from P6 up to the lookouts and think I timed things pretty well. A little icy in the shade and a little slushy in the sun so a mix of both worlds. A few patches of parkway road surface are opening up. Mostly still small pockets but most notable at he Brule lookout where a short walk (or grass ski) is required. These pockets will open up quickly with the strong sun warming the asphalt but for now the coverage was good.

Trail from MacKenzie to the "T" was quite nice - fairly flat and smooth. Noticable difference after I passed the "T". With the increase in the volume of skiers things got well chewed up and soft so a little more effort was required for that bit. Many thanks to Megan's suggestion in her report yesterday on the yellow glide wax. I had forgotten I had such a thing at the bottom of my wax box. It worked much better on the softer, slushy snow than yesterdays choice of purple.

Perhaps endulged too long enjoying the sun at the Brule lookout and things had started to soften quite a bit on my return trip. A few spots were more akin to water skiing but they were short stretches so I didn't need a boat to pull me. How long will this skiing last? Looks warm all week so we'll see what's left by next weekend. Could be some walks (long? short?) to get to the 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