Cross-country Skiing Conditions.

Well folks, its an interesting day out there isn't it! Myself and Matthias started at Gamelin and skied up the parkway all the way up to the top of Blacks hill and on the way back we took Trail 15 coming down near Relais plein air. We headed out around 11am, in the midst of the rain and painful ice pellets. The skate skiing was super noisy (I would actually recommend ear plugs) and tricky . Meaning, it was quite crusty with sometimes a glassy cover and punchy snow conditions. When you could execute a decent push it was lighting fast. Trail 15 provided a few good thrills. Any type of trail like that be prepared to hold on and extra careful. Snowplowing is hard to do today. Any day skiing is better than no day skiing!? I would usually never say this but it might be a better day for a sport like bowling... That being said, the recent snow and some grooming later tonight could make for a very enjoyable weekend of skiing. Stay tuned for further updates!

Ron, no hard feelings. I'm a better skier for it.

This was a very early morning ski in the freezing rain with a buddy. As I was putting my boots on, fellow poster Matt Mcinnes pulled in with a buddy of his who I also know, so we all skied together.

There was fresh wet snow under a very thin layer of ice which made for very fast conditions, regardless of wax. At least for the guy in front who had fresh ice to glide on. The guys behind had broken chunks and a groove to contend with.

All in all, the ski was quite delightful as long as you did not wear/need glasses because there was quite a freezing rain drizzle going on. Our windproof jackets became almost bullet proof thanks to the ice coating.

We skied up to the top of Blacks then turned around and skied back 17min faster, but this time we had to deal with the broken ice layer we had created ourselves. It was much tougher skiing with tips catching etc, but still very fast and enjoyable.

And a bit crazy, for sure.

With a good grooming and minus 5 overnight, things should be awesome for the weekend.

In the past two days I have experienced the some of the best skating conditions in my somewhat prolonged skiing career. Beautiful finely ground granular that the skating skis just seem float in.

Yesterday I went from Asticou to #15 via the GP and back one hour after the parkway had just been re-ground - euphoria.

Today I went from P10 => FP => CP => #1 => Blanchette and back. From P10 to the water tank on #24 conditions were hard and fast but quite doable. Just before the water tank I met the tracksetter coming back from the fire tower - from there to Blanchette and back to the Champlain lookout I was floating in fast flour - it was enough to make an old guy think that he was still a great skater. From the lookout back to P10 the new tracksetting was able to scratch the surface making the rest of my run still good. Everywhere the classic tracks were in excellent shape: on the parkways they were hard and fast; on #1 the tracks were softer. Everywhere the classic tracks were granular enough to eat wax. #24, #2, #3, & #1B looked to be in good shape but hard. All the backcountry trails were not doable.

The problem with this re-ground snow is that overnight the snow seems to re-freeze turning the previous day’s ski tracks into hard, unforgiving skier-traps. This is probably why the snow that gave me such joy yesterday created such misery for Rick.

For me it was great to have new tracksetting two days in a row. For Rick I can only apologize for those hardened tracks that I left behind to ruin his day.

Skate skied from P3 to the intersection, then left up towards Kingsmere and back.

This was more a test of balance than I would have liked--very, very firm and fast with lots of ruts. Spent more time off balance than on.

Classic tracks were rock solid but icy so a binder would be necessary, unless you like to stop and re-apply grip wax.

I suspect things would be better later in the day when it has warmed up a bit, but at the time we went, it was not the most enjoyable ski of the year.

Beautiful evening ski for me. Skating seemed to be the best choice as the track was hard packed and icy with enough texture to hold an edge. Definetley would have needed a binder to keep grip wax in place. Parkways and Ridge road were in good shape. The short steep drop at Wattsfords lookout was already snowplowed down to give it a polished icy sheen(to be expected) which made my descent quite a spectacle no doubt. The rest of the drop down Penguin was fine though wih lots of "surface" to hold an edge and remain in control.

Interesting to meet a pair of mountainbikers riding halfway along Ridge road. While clearly the wrong season for this, they were doing no damage to the track as the base was bullet proof solid. Of bigger concern to me was they had their two dogs with them, unleashed and happily bounding along the trail. Bit of an obstacle for me to sneak past them in the dark without impaling a dog so I gave them a few choice words as I skied by in the dark.

Very nice day out there. A bit tricky grip waxing as some of the trails are a bit icy, others almost dry and some warm and glazed depending on the sun and also when they were groomed. Everything is groomed though and the binder and purple worked ok. Skating looked to be nice too.

Nice pre-work ski was much better than expected. Fresh grooming on the parkway and number 5 made for good and sometimes great conditions. Parkway was hard and very fast with variable icy spots. Number 5 was soft and superb. Get out there!

The operative word of the night is "ice". The trail at P6 looked like an ice arena to me. My group went out for some double poling (hence the 2 stars - I personally rate it as one star-unskiable). I bailed out. Not a big fan of ice skating.
Hopefully some grooming tomorrow will fix this.

Hard packed snow, fast conditions. Great to see lots of people out despite the weather!

Similar loop to Paul and similar comments. I opted to drive up to P19 today to get away from the crowds. Was happy with my decision as I passed the long line up of cars at the Old Chelsea off ramp. Was a little concerned when I saw P17 parking overflowing onto the highway... but true to form the upper "weekend" parking lot at P19 had lots of room. Enjoyed the sumptuous grooming down 50 to the end of Lac Phillipe and then took the big climb up 54 Black. Many thanks to Paul for doing some trail breaking work... I did a little more! Good snow coverage the whole length of the trail though the last steep pitch up near Lusk Lake is always a little rough and could use a little more snow. My pole sank a lot too but with touring gear I think I would have faired better. Still, the surface was crusty and the occasional tip grab when climbing was frustrating... but the base is there, now all we need is a good powder dump and it will be perfect. No signs of anyone brave enough to ski up trail 10 (the one that doesn't exist but many people ski anyways) which will likely need some more snow.

54 Green was fun and well groomed even above the washout. Looks like their putting one classic track and a wide skating lane above the washout so skaters can still ski up to Lusk lake. Skating the narrow bypass at the washout might be a little chore but its only a few hundred feet so no big deal. From there I skied out to Taylor lake and even 55 blue was freshly groomed and a fun ride down.

Say your "skiers prayers" tonight for more snow than freezing rain and we'll see how we come out of the next weather event.

Skated from P8 along the Doldrums, across the connector, up the Fortune Parkway, then along Ridge Road to the Fire Tower and back. I'm filing this report largely to give Demsis credit when they do something right. The route had been freshly and expertly groomed last night. (Grooming during the weekend- what a concept!) The corduroy was a bit hard, which was great since it gave excellent glide in relative low temperatures. Ridge Road between McKinstry and the Tower was particularly nice- I haven't seen it in such good condition in years. There were no bare patches or rocks, and minimal snowmobile damage. I had lots of company all the way out, largely from people training for the CSM gold. I'm glad I wasn't carrying one of their packs! Let's hope the trail isn't damaged too badly by the rain and freezing rain in the forecast for tomorrow.

Another beautiful day minus the sun, started from P19=>#50 to the end of lac Phillipe=> #54 Black=>#54 green to lusk chalet=>back on #54 green=>#55=>#50=>#51=>P19.

Nice tracks on #50, #55, #51, #54 green all groomed this morning. Now we get to #54 Black all I can say Ron I had some workout. The trail as you can see in the first picture looks more like a snowshoe trail very narrow and crusty on the sides. I only met 2 skiers now I know why, the uphills were difficult to climb your poles would sink at least a foot deep, and doing the herringbone your skis would sink down also. The downhills although I only had to go down one big one were also challenging, as soon as you are out of the track your skis would sink down or lose control.

I dont think many skiers have been on that trail lately see second pic, which would of helped flatten out the trail a bit. This is were a snowmobile pass on this trail would help especially if its crusty. Still an enjoyable ski, like Ron mentioned trail #54 Green was in good shape.

Classic skiing was a bit icy in the Mont Bleu area but but otherwise easy and pleasantly fast. Trail 29 continues to be only groomed from the junction of the 27 to just behind the CEGEP but is skiable on skier made tracks from that point on to the junction of trail 5..

Perfect classic ski day in the Lac Phillipe sector. The grooming was great, the snow was nice, the sun was out and the scenery was beautiful! It reminded us that the trip out to Lac Phillipe is worth the drive.

Skate skied from P5 up Penguin to the Champlain lookout and back with a little detour to Camp Fortune and the race trails down #14 and back up #4. Rick has already reported on the outstanding conditions on Ridge. I'll just add that even after several days of snowplowing hordes Penguin and the Khyber Pass are still in good shape, with a hard base but no ice or rocks showing through. #14 and #4 were a delight, winding through the sun-dappled forest. These trails deserve more use. Tomorrow should bring another near-perfect day in the Ridge Road sector.

P9, fortune, Ridge, trail 14, racing trails, trail 4, Ridge, Lookout. It was beautiful everywhere, and for the best adjectives, read all the other reports! ("pulchritudinous" is my favorite!) As Ken also mentioned, the abrasive snow was a factor. I had lazily ignored this and ended up having to stop twice to re-wax.

Exquisite day for a ski and for the most part the fresh grooming was simply sublime. Sorry, trying to find a few superlatives that haven't been used in the last week. I thought about refering to the tracks as pulchritudinous... but I'm not sure it applies to inanimate objects. Ah well, for now it was a good day to be on skis and get some k's before Monday's weather potentially changes things.

Dropped down 15(black) and enjoyed a few tight stems on the final chute to the parkway which was pooltable smooth with lots of bite - just perfect! Carried on along 15(blue) which was equally nice until the cutoff near the bottom at trail 25. It had not been groomed since the last snowstorm... but I see it isn't on Craig's list of trails... so perhaps it doesn't exist! No matter, it was well skied in and a fun ride down to the Hydroline plateau at the bottom of Pink's. From there I skied along 5 before cutting over to the parkway. Joined the masses of skiers working their way up the parkway to Pink Lake... probably only slightly smaller crowd than on Gloppet day but still lots of room to ski at your own pace. Was pretty happy with the impeccable grooming until I started up trail 7. It had not been groomed since the last little snowstorm midweek and was a little crusty and well used. Not a big deal though as I was almost home for the day. Overall a lovely day out.

On a side note the snow itself was pretty abrasive and I should have known better and put a base binder on to hold the wax on my skis. As it was I had to stop a couple of times to rewax as the descents effectively stripped my skis of all grip. I'll fix that before I head out tomorrow.

Skate skied from P8, up Penguin, Fortune Parkway, Burma, Ridge, 1B, 24 then back on Ridge all the way out to the Fire Tower (first time this year). Met a few people I know and was dissuaded by him from going to the FT, then met another buddy who said it was awesome all the way out, so I had to find out for myself.

It was awesome. Excellent grooming everywhere. I think Buddy #1 confused his getting caught in the firm ridges of corduroy with the snowmobile tracks, as I had no issues at all with the latter, but crashed hard thanks to the former. I’m not complaining—it was groomed and I caught an edge. It happens.

From McKinstry to the FT was not freshly groomed, but it had been done recently and then covered over with about 3cm of fresh powder. Glorious skiing everywhere, even Burma where Buddy #2 did not think it was that good.
Perspective, eh?

To borrow part of Ron's phrase, it was the sort of day that...
reminds me it is a long and hard ski on not enough food and half a bottle of water, but at least it is downhill on the way back, except the uphills.

It was the sort of day that takes the Calvinism out of skiing: no pain, no discomfort, no effort - just perfect weather and great tracksetting. The sort of day to do the Wakefield triangle counter-clockwise:
P17 => #53 => #51 => P19 => #50 => #55 (shared) => Renaud => #54 green
=> #55 => #50 => #52 => P17
I must of be another of the people who Paul didn’t meet on #53. I agree with his comments - it was amazing. It would have been pleasant (as always) to meet him but if we had met we probably would have taken time from our skiing to compare superlatives.

The tracksetting was superb everywhere - well done - and with the lack of freezing rain the tracks were softer being more powder than granular. At no place did I encounter icy or hard conditions. I was impressed with how well #54 green had been done considering the problems with the trail damage.

As Paul has noted the freezing rain did not hit #51 or #53 - it’s all snow. I started to notice crust between P19 and Renaud but it was quite minor. At the end of Lac Philippe there was a noticeable crust but I don’t think it would have been a detriment to doing #54 black - particularly with back country skis.

The snow depth off track on #53 was about 80 cm - more than enough to stand up to rain predicted for Monday.

Oh yes! The Brown Lake hill was what I wished for - easy and pleasurable

Wow what an amazing day had everything nice temperature, sunny and fresh Grooming as of yesterday Did a small loop from P17=> #53=>#51 to P19 parking lot=> back on #53=>P17 about 14 km.

This area of the park seems to have escaped last week's freezing rain, as there was no crust to speak of, on the side of the trails. It was sure nice to be on trail #53 for a Green trail it has a bit of everything, a few good hills, rolling terrain, open fields and some shaded areas. Even with all the people out, its a trail that you can be on for half an hour without seeing anyone.

Great night ski with Vesta! The bit of freezing rain and colder temperature have helped the tracks set well. Trail 5 was freshly groomed and with great tracks. Found the tracks a bit wobbly and not always straight on the parkway.

Not much to add that hasn't been said beautifully by Ron and Rick. Just the best of conditions today. WOW!

Went classic: P12 => #40 => #24 => #1 blue west => Wolf Ridge => #1 east => Champlain Lookout => #1 west => green water tank => #24 => #40 => P12.

Everywhere I skied the tracksetting was excellent and inspired. The tracks were firm and fast with good grip. The skating track was even and grooved but quite hard - on the downhills with the hardness the grooves tended to grab the skis so that a bit of caution was in order - with use they should break-up and soften nicely..

The only trail that was not trackset was #33 - from what I saw of it I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s quite icy and uneven

Paul has been going on a bit about the condition of the back-country trails - I totally agree with him - they should not be “recommended” as they are on the NCC web-site. Almost all that I saw were untracked and covered with the type of crust that eats ankles - fractures, bruises, and scrapes. The only one that I saw that had tracks was #9 (Western) with a broken track borded by crust - fine in the track but a challenge if you have to get out of the track such as on a downhill - not exactly the ideal back-country experience.

A great day: good conditions, a good temperature, and a warm sun - ideal for classic skiing.

What an absolutely amazing day! Fresh, firm and settled grooming everywhere except 29.

Parkway from P3 was perfect, so were 5 and 26. It does not get any better that this.

Get to your parking spaces early this weekend. I predict overflowing parking lots everywhere.

And remember to hide your valuables (unfortunately).

Beautiful skiing this morning, cold but sunny and fresh grooming everywhere! Ridge road was great. I also checked out the Fortune racing trails which had been groomed a few days ago for both classic and skate. They had a cm of fresh snow on top of the grooming which made them quite slow, but it was nice to see them groomed.

Beautiful skiing this morning, cold but sunny and fresh grooming everywhere! Ridge road was great. I also checked out the Fortune racing trails which had been groomed a few days ago for both classic and skate. They had a cm of fresh snow on top of the grooming which made them quite slow, but it was nice to see them groomed.

Beautiful evening for a ski and the warmest its been in a week. Skied out of Le Relais and skied a variety of trails and the Parkway. Can\'t remember all the trail numbers but all were in great shape with a fresh grooming underneath 1 or 2cm of freshly falling snow. A brief snow squall made it a little hard to see for a bit but the skis were locked in perfect tracks so no worries, just forge ahead. Despite a dozen cars in the lot I only met 3 people on the trails. Should be a beautiful weekend for skiing with the trauls in such good shape.

Hardly worth a report since we only skied from P10 to Keogan for dinner and back, but man was it awesome!

It had it all: fantastic conditions, temperature, visibility by the Fortune lights reflecting off the clouds.

P10 was so full people were parking down the middle like a Sunday at noon.

Yes, it was that nice.

Another nice day, my route was from P7=>#30=>#1=>#6 counterclockwise=> #22 until intersection with #34, left on #34=> back on #6=>#1=>#30=>P7.

Ridge road and trail #30 fast hard packed nice classic tracks. Although the website list all backcountry trails as 100% recommended that would of been the case on tuesday, now we have a crusty layer on top and not too many skiers have used those trails, so it makes it harder to control your skis on the downhills. To sum it up for intermediate or advanced skiers it may be ok to ski on these backcountry trails but for beginners I would not recommend it until we get more snow. Although I did not fall down it was not as enjoyable as it was a few days ago.

This is the first time we have started from Plein Air. We did an anti-clockwise loop consisting of trail 27 to 5 to 29 and back on 27 to P2. It looked rather bleak and icy starting out but once we were into the woods things improved a lot, though the tracks were still a just a tad icy. No problems snow ploughing down the long, slow slope on trail 5, however, which was in good shape. Trail 29 from 5 to 26 was very churned up. Mostly classic skiers, but a few skaters as well.
So, a nice outing but I'm disappointed we didn't get all that snow we were promised!

Nice fast day. Would have been terrible had it not been for the fresh grooming. 5 & 15 were freshly groomed and 15 is in the best shape I have seen it in yet. Skied up Penguin and then back along the parkway. Only half the parkway was groomed from P5 to the split but the grooming was complete from there to P3. Pretty nice conditions considering the storm.

Just a short run today to check out the conditions after yesterday's mix of snow, freezing rain. Started up $40=>#2=> #1 Ridge as far as the intersection with the Snowshoe trail Old trail #16 and back to #24=>#40 to P12.

Fresh Grooming today, classic tracks were great, the skating lane a little bumpy in spots with the odd track in the middle either made from a ski-doo or the Groomer.

For those wishing to try the backcountry trail I went by #21 and #38 they had little or no traffic on them, there is a thin crusty layer on top so i suspect it could be tricky on the downhills until we get more skiers on them or more snow.

Beautiful day for skiing, Freshly groomed and hard packed, a little slower in the tracks. Not as icy as I expected with the freezing rain so very good day for skiing. Enjoy

Good hard classic track on 40 & 1 towards McKinstry. A bit slow with new snow in track but hard and fast and stable on the downhills

Skate skied from P8, up Penguin to Gossip Corner, parkway to Burma (aka the mogul run), 1, 1B, 1, 24, 1 and all the way back down Penguin to P8.

Very fast and firm conditions, but Burma is a bit of a disaster right now with constant dips and doodles making it very hard to keep well balanced. I expect to be a better skier after today's trip up.

Lesson learned for today: Don Maclean's iconic tune American Pie is a great song, but does little to inspire the listener going up Penguin.