Do not miss out on this great evening , A few places remaining, contact Catherine today
This year we are going to Alex H, see the link below for details.
The address to post your reply is posted on the Members Page, CHRISTMAS PARTY. Members have to be registered on the web site to see this information.
Christmas Party
Author: btnsc
Sun Nov 10
Well Sunday’s walk at Rigaud was cancelled due the fact it rained most of the day. So I hope you
got all those jobs done at home which you have been saving for a rainy day. Some more alert members of the club went out on Saturday before the rains came, see Hervey’s note below:
“At least 2 Beavertails hit the trails this past Saturday. We hiked the very sandy ski trail of Des Cedres. This gave Muriel an opportunity to see what she is in for this coming season. Conditions were mostly dry with the occasional muddy patch and horse souvenirs. There is no charge to use the site until the x-country season begins.”
Christine BM also was out that way with some of her friends.
Lets hope for better weather next week.
Sun Oct 27 Val David: Report by Joanna C
On a drizzly Sunday, 12 BTNSCer’s and a greyish poodle congregated in the chalet on rue Condor, Val David, to embark upon a hike of an indeterminate distance. This was not a normal hike in the traditional BTNSC sense for it was decided that two newbie leaders, (one who confuses right with left, and the other who is topographically disoriented,) would lead the group through the woods and hills of Val David, and back.
The first glance at the trail map revealed a jumbled-looking selection of differently-coloured lines and non-linear numbers. Our objective was to somewhat follow Keith’s red dots on a GPS 
plot from last year’s hike. So we identified the POI’s for the day, and tentatively sketched a route across the page and back, when the kind lady at the chalet not only indicated that our maps were somewhat outdated, but also reminded us that the chalet closed @ 4:30 p.m.
After a rocky start a mere 15 m into the hike, we reassessed the trail and finally made our way across the hills and towards Continue reading “Sun Oct 27 Val David: Report by Joanna C”
A Thanksgiving Feast at the Summit of Oka Oct 13
Tom’s report:
It has become our Thanksgiving weekend tradition to have our Sunday hike up to the summits of Oka. The turnout is usually lower than other weekends since many are busy with holiday-related activities. But the 14 of us who turned out were thankful we did. The day before the hike there was a story on the news that the employees of Sépaq (the network of provincial parks) had suddenly gone on strike. Oh no! But further along they said that the parks were still open and the picketing workers were not blocking access, so I tweeted that we were going ahead with the hike. In any case, it turned out they returned to work on Sunday morning, so there was no issue. The drive north to Oka brought us from sun to cloudy and foggy conditions. But the conditions cleared as we assembled in the parking lot and we had perfect conditions: sun and comfortably cool temperatures around 13 C.
After the requisite group photo, we set out at 10:01 am along the eastern trail towards the summit. (For those of you who ski there in the winter, this is trail 5.) Most people who come to Oka for a hike take the western trail (Sentier du Calvaire), 
so we had our trail mostly to ourselves, although we did have to keep an eye out for a few oncoming mountain bikers. This trail has some sharp ups and downs for the first 3 km, until we reach the first summit, and it is classified by Oka as a “hard” trail, on a scale of easy/intermediate/hard.
We took a pause at the summit to catch our breath and have a snack. This summit is ringed by tall trees, so there is not much of a view to be had. The next 2 km were much easier, as the trail was a gentle descent through the woods. At the 5 km mark, we turned towards the second summit and Continue reading “A Thanksgiving Feast at the Summit of Oka Oct 13”
Opening Meeting Friday Nov 1
Centennial Hall
Information Meeting
The meeting is intended for everyone. It’s for people who are new to the club and who would like to learn more about its activities, as well as for returning members who want to hear about what outings and events are planned for this season. It also gives one the chance to catch up with other members you have not seen in a while and to meet new ones.
Between 7:00 – 7:30 p.m. we will process memberships and project some photos from last season. We will also be serving Tim Hortons coffee, along with some cookies and soft drinks. At 7:30 p.m. we will start the meeting and present a Continue reading “Opening Meeting Friday Nov 1”
I Concede — The Ski Season is Over!
A note from our Pres.
Although I saw some snow pellets falling as recently as Sat evening, I am finally willing to concede that the ski season is (probably) over. I am sending this last update message of the season exactly one month later than I did last year. We just kept getting snow and it was possible to get out on skis at places like the P’tit Train du Nord right into April. I was out of town when we had our last “bonus” snowfall on Apr 12, so my apologies for not sending out an update message to rally us all to get out one more time!
We had some erratic weather this winter, as has often been the case in recent years, but we were able to get out most weekends. And the season did certainly go longer this year. Using another measure for how good the ski conditions were, we were only able to get out skiing at Mount Royal on three Wed evenings this year (plus for the Sat morning Pot Luck in Jan), but that was two more than last year!
Arthur G gets credit for being the “last skier standing” based on a photo of him at the PTdN on Apr 6. Check out the web site one last time to see the photo. And take note of the improvements to the web site that Keith has already begun making to get ready for next season!
Thank You To All the People Who Helped Out
The club counts on the involvement of many people who volunteer to take on key roles. On behalf of all members, I would like to thank the following people for their work on the executive or for the special events they organized:
AL L for being the club founder and President Emeritus
KEITH R for our top-notch web site
CHRISTINE D for being the Treasurer
BRUCE C for the membership database and the mailings
JOANNA C for organizing the Christmas Party AND the End of Season Party
MONIQUE I for the Pot Luck Lunch at “Melrose Place”
CHERYL W and HELÈNE C for the Gatineau Weekend
GLENN K for the ski clinic at Morin Heights
GWEN W(along with RICHARD Cand MONIQUE M) for the picnic at Lac Monroe / Parc du Mont Tremblant
ARTHUR G for organizing our first Orford Weekend!
Have a Great Summer
Have a great “off season”! See you in September when we resume our Wed evening walks at Lachine and our Sun hikes.
Tom V
and a note from Linda H
Volunteers give their time to organize club activities.
Most do it for the glory and praise hoping that someday they will be nominated for the Governor General’s award for outstanding community service – Right!
I really don’t know why people volunteer to organize these events. Each has their own reason to want to help the club.
I for one am grateful to all who helped this ski season. To all those Tom mentioned in his report, and those he forgot to mention, thank you for making this season possible.
Thanks as well to Tom, our president, who is always keen and enthusiastic if not a bit too optimistic regarding ski conditions for most of us mortals who are not as expert on skis as he is. Without your willingness to rally and encourage folk when they don’t want to be rallied and encouraged out of bed early on a Sunday morning we probably would not have skied at all. It can’t be easy being the only one who thinks it is still ski season.
Sorry I have to cut this short but my bike is calling me. Hope you all have a great summer and see you all in the fall for the hiking season.
Linda H
End of Season social reminder
End of Season Social March 16
Tremblant Picnic Feb 10 Glenn’s little critter
Well I do not know what it is about Richard and Gwen but they sure know how to get people to Tremblant Parc for Gwen’s picnic. The official bean counter tells me that his tally was 36 and then there was Glenn’s little critter. It was a trifle cooler than expected at the park but mercifully no wind so conditions were pretty good, even the walking wounded turned up with their sore knee, LH and twisted knee CW, yes well what more can I say. Two members set out from Montreal at 7.30am so they could maximise the skiing time, the rest left at 8am , for some that was desperately early given our more relaxed starting times this season.
So there we were, and very soon everyone scattered on the trails like leaves blowing in the wind, odd that given there was no wind. It would appear that club members were seen on every available Ski de fond trails including the new Mallard. The majority seemed to settle for the Poisson, something fishy about that don’t you think, still I personally found it
very amusing listening to the tales of sore legs following the famous long descent.
Then followed the grand portage of Gwen’s famous mountain of food and drinks to the
Refuge de la Renardière. At this point I should like to point out that no bundles of cash were stuffed in socks in awarding this contract to the carriers. Soon the refuge was filled with happy skiers enjoying the sandwiches, cheese fondue, desert and drinks all prepared by Gwen W and her helpers Richard C and Monique M who sadly could not join us. It was with great Continue reading “Tremblant Picnic Feb 10 Glenn’s little critter”
Sun Feb 10 — Mont Tremblant **Picnic** — RSVP
It’s back after a one-year hiatus — the Beaver Tails’ feast in the forest! And it’s coming up in less than two weeks, on Sun Feb 10. It’s our (indoor) picnic on the trails of Lac Monroe (Parc du Mont-Tremblant – Secteur de la Diable).
Here’s how it works — you tell us that you are coming and we provide all the food and drink. You spend the morning skiing and working up an appetite, and then you show up for lunch. Not only will there be a variety of sandwiches and desserts, but also cheese Continue reading “Sun Feb 10 — Mont Tremblant **Picnic** — RSVP”