For the third year in a row, the ski weekend at Ottawa/Gatineau turned out to be a great success! We had our doubts this was going to be the case when the 18 of us who had signed up for the weekend made our way to Ottawa. There had not been any new snow since the thaw a week earlier. Three of our group who arrived early to ski at Gatineau Park on Friday afternoon found fast and icy conditions. Most of the non-green trails were listed on the Gatineau website as “not recommended”. But there was supposed to be 5-10 cm snow coming on Friday night, so we had our fingers crossed.
I also arrived early on Friday, but I opted to go for a skate on the Rideau Canal. It was the first day the canal was opened to skaters, although it was limited to a 2-km section. Most of the group (13 of 18) met in the hotel lobby on Friday evening and walked around the corner to Waller St to have dinner at the Lunenburg Pub. On the short walk back to the hotel, we were greeted by the encouraging sight of big flakes of falling snow. At breakfast the next morning, it was still snowing. But we weren’t sure if we had had enough new snow to open some of the intermediate trails. The best way to find out was to get to the park and start skiing! We split into two groups. A smaller group of 3 opted to go to the P2 parking lot (although they had to divert to P1 due to a racing event). The rest of us (15 skiers) decided to go to farther into the park and start at the P9/P10 parking lots.
When we arrived, we learned that the park had received 20 cm of snow, twice the expected amount! It was -8 C when we started and was due to warm up to -2 C. We all started
along trail 1 (green) on the parkway and we knew right away that we were in for a good day of skiing. We soon reached the intersection with trail 3. At last check, this blue trail had been listed as “not recommended” and we could see that it still had not been machine-groomed. But the thick blanket of new snow made the trail very skiable, as evidenced by the tracks left by the skiers who had already ventured onto it. So most of opted to follow trail 3. It was an intermediate, single-track, up-and-down trail through the woods that went for 4.5 km, before it rejoined trail 1. We soon encountered the trio of girls who had stayed on trail 1, and then continued to meet them again as we took slightly different routes to the Western hut. After a short break there, we more or less retraced our respective routes. Most of us were out for 4 hours and covered about 20 km. Many of the group declared it had been their best ski outing of the season!
One thing we got to see first-hand were the lingering effects of the snowstorm of Dec 21. It was a weird storm in that it produced a large amount of unusually heavy snow that bent a lot of the smaller trees over into wet snow that subsequently froze, trapping the trees in place. As we already saw at Gai Luron, the same storm also affected many of the ski centres in the Laurentians. At Gatineau, they had to cut a lot of branches to clear the trails, which we could see piled alongside. But on some of the smaller trails, they had not been able to yet clear the way. One trail we took ended abruptly where they had stopped clearing. It was difficult to even make out where the trail was supposed to go. The photo of David and Karen at that dead end shows David pointing to where the trail used to be.
After the ski, most of us made the traditional stop at the Chelsea Pub for a mid-afternoon meal and/or beverage. Then it was back to the hotel, a hot shower, and maybe a nap. The group supper was in the stylish hotel dining room at 7 pm. They had a new chef this year and everyone agreed the quality of the meal was greatly improved over the previous year. The only discouraging note during dinner was the sight from the window of rain mixed with snow falling outside.
The next morning it was hovering above freezing, but high winds followed by a cold front were on the way. Twelve of us decided to go to P2 and try to ski. By the time we got there, the winds were at 40 km/h and the wet snow had begun turning to ice. We all decided it was not worth going skiing. Six of the group decided to return home with the hope they might ski in the Montreal area that afternoon. The remaining six of us decided to go snowshoeing. We all had snow shoes stashed in our cars for just such an occasion. We took snowshoe trail 64 and then trail 65. As we set out, a bit of snow began falling. Our snowshoe trail intersected the ski trails a few times and we could see that the conditions for the skiers had improved quickly. And by the time we finished a couple of hours later, the skies had cleared and the sun was out. We had had a surprisingly enjoyable time tramping through the woods and we were glad we had come to the park!
By the time we returned to the P2 chalet at 1:30 pm, the winds were now both strong and frigid. This created unexpectedly difficult conditions for the drive back to Montreal. The sudden drop in temperature left road surfaces icy and the winds caused whiteouts on unsheltered parts of the 417. It was a long and slow drive. During one whiteout while on a highway approach ramp, Bob L drove towards the dim taillights ahead of him. Unfortunately, they were the taillights of nearby snowmobiles and he drove off the road! But the snowmobilers stopped and helped get him back on the road within 10 minutes. There were many other cars off the road on the highway, and they ended up closing long sections of the 417 later in the afternoon. But everyone made it back unscathed.
All in all, it was another great Gatineau Weekend! And it could not have happened without the hard work of our trip organizers, Cheryl and Helene. Many thanks, girls!
Check out the photos on the web site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/btnsc/sets/72157632569431937/