I blame myself.  Clearly, I waited too long to send out my e-mail about skiing on Sun at Gai Luron or the P’tit Train du Nord.  I sent it out on Sat afternoon at 3:30 pm.  It’s no wonder only two people opted in.  I’m SURE if I had sent it first thing Sat morning, dozens of you would have turned out.  I’m sure it was the late notice that dissuaded you and not the cold weather and the prospect of icy trail conditions.  Indeed, many of the people I canvassed at the EOS Party mumbled that they had already made other plans.  It seemed that most of those plans involved staying in bed as late as possible on Sun morning…

Given the fast conditions, me and the two other opt-in skiers (Mickey and Sharon, of course) decided to ski on the flatter PTdN.  I made my way up to Mont Rolland (Saint-Adèle) for 11 am DST to meet them.  We had the later than usual start since we lost an hour during the night with the change to Daylight Saving Time.  The parking lot was not very crowded, go figure.  It was -17 C (felt like -24 with the wind).  I’ve skied in much colder weather, so the temperature was not an issue.  The trail conditions were another matter.  The PTdN people are good at grooming their trail, but the thaws and lack of new snow had left the tracks hard and icy.

I had optimistically applied green wax at home, but Mickey and the guy at Espresso Sports advised me that klister was a better bet.  The universal klister I had brought with me is rated for -5 C to +10 C, but I figured Continue reading →