Tom V – Page 6 – Beaver Tails Nordic Ski Club

Jan 31 A Dynamic Duo at Gai Luron

Admittedly, it was a cold start to the day last Saturday morning.　 If it was looking so cold (-20 C) outside our windows, how much colder would it be if we actually ventured north to Gai Luron?

But the sun was out and I had suggested Gai Luron as the recommended destination for our informal Sat outing.　 So off I went to Gai Luron.　 At least I had the good sense to delay the meeting time to 10:30 am.　 I arrived at the same time as Monique I.　 To our surprise, the first parking lot was already full and we had to park across the road.　 But we soon discovered why this was so.　 I don’t know if they have their own micro-climate, but the temp at Gai Luron was already down to -16 C and there was almost no wind.　 I guess the locals realized this and flocked to Gai Luron.　 The chalet was buzzing with customers, but there were no other BTers there besides the two of us.　 After waiting in vain for anyone else to show up, we set out at 11 am.

It is always something of an inspiring sight to see the array of parallel trails at the start of the Gai Luron network.　 This is all the more so when the sun is out and all the fresh snow has been immaculately groomed. 　 We decided to to go for the L trail, the longest one on offer.　 We were soon meandering through the woods, up and down short hills, with the sun filtering through the trees.　 After all these years, I still find myself taken aback at how beautiful the trails are at Gai Luron’s small and close-by center.　 The conditions were gorgeous!

After a short stop so Continue reading “Jan 31 A Dynamic Duo at Gai Luron”

Jan 25 — 13 Skiers at Mont St Bruno

After a relatively mild Sat, it was a return to the colder weather on Sun.　 As we arrived at Parc du Mont St Bruno, it was sunny and -13 C.　 The wind made it feel colder in the parking lot and other exposed areas.　 But it was quite comfortable once we got skiing.　 The sun and the shelter form the trees helped a lot.
We all assembled at the designated time of 9:30 am and prepared our skis and found our groups.　 Well most of us.　 Scott and Dan arrived early, went out for a loop and were never seen again!　 But Pam attests to the fact they were there, so they are counted as being among the 13 BTers present that day.　 The rest of us set out at 9:50 am.
There has not been much fresh snow at St Bruno so there was some question as to how good the conditions would be.　 But our past experience has been that they have excellent grooming there.　 Sure enough, the trails were in surprisingly great shape.　 The descents were a bit fast, but were no problem for most of us.
We skied between 2 and 3 hours, a couple of people even longer.　 Many commented how nice it was to be back on the trails at St Bruno after not having been here for a couple of years!

Jan 24 2015 — 33 Enjoyed Great Snow at Morin Heights Ski Clinic

It seems like most days this January have been colder than the seasonal average.　 (Is anyone else running out of green wax?)　 But last Sat we got a respite from the string of cold days, perfectly timed for our annual ski clinic.　 It was cloudy and the temp steady at about -3 C.　 Plus, there was a fresh 3-4 cm of snow from the previous night.
Several of us arrived in the morning to enjoy the great conditions.　 I did the Triangle trail with Mickey and Sue-Anne.　 It was in excellent shape, well-tracked and lots of snow on the descents.　 However, at one point I skied over a slight hollow spot and heard a “crack!” that I assumed was an underlying branch.　 It was only a while later that I realized it was my ski that had cracked open behind my heel.　 Fortunately, I was able to keep skiing on it until the end of the day, but I was going to have buy a new pair　!
At 12:30 pm we all gathered at the trailer by the second parking lot.　 There were 34 of us registered for the four classes.　 One had to cancel the day before, and one underestimated how long his pre-clinic ski would take and missed the meeting time.　 At 1 pm, the remaining 32 of us split into our four sections and spent the next two hours following the guidance of our respective instructors.　 It sometimes seemed that we are watching and listening more than skiing, but in advanced classic section, we still covered 7 km.
Everybody was very happy with how the lessons turned out.　 Well almost everybody.　 In the beginner section, towards the end of the lesson, Duane took a spill and dislocated his shoulder.　 It took a trip to the St Jerome hospital to get it fixed up.　 He reported he was feeling much better by the end of the day.　 He also expressed his gratitude for everyone’s help and concern.
Duane’s injury aside, the ski clinic was once again a great success.　 Many thanks to Glenn for doing all the organizing and making it happen!

Jan 11 — Great Day for 14 BTers Despite Sticker Shock at Oka

I don’t usually go out of my way to look up the price of the ski tickets of the places we are going to. Prices of ski tickets very between centers, and if one place is a bit higher, well at least we only go there once a season. But for whatever reason I did it for Oka. Most of us were taken aback at the prospect of paying $23.50 to go to Oka, one of our traditional stand-by destinations. Oka is part of the Sépaq network of national (i.e., provincial) parks and they have been hiking their prices each year. I used their web site to compute the price, since it is a combination of the park access and a ski pass. But it turns out they also have a a daily “forfait” combining the two. So when we got to the park we charged “only” $22. That’s still on the high side and even the ticket booth attendants conceded that it’s getting expensive!

Despite the premium rates, 14 BTers made the trip to Oka. It was -10 C and overcast as we prepared to set out shortly after 9:30 am. The trail conditions were very good. We broke up into two main groups with 10 of us looking to do the full length of hilly trail 3 (15 km) and the four others doing shorter and flatter trails. Trail 3 gets harder the farther out you go on it, and its rating changes accordingly. It starts as a beginner trail, becomes an intermediate trail, and is finally an expert trail. It’s that last part where one has to go up and down a succession of fairly steep hills. It was a workout to climb up the hills since it was the first time this season we were encountering non-flat trails. The descents were a bit slick and fast, but there was still Continue reading “Jan 11 — Great Day for 14 BTers Despite Sticker Shock at Oka”

Jan 10 — 23 Skiers at Cap St Jacques

Cap St Jacques has really been the home base for the club so far this season! This has been one of those years where the regional distribution and amounts of snow fall have favoured the nearby flat trails of CSJ. It was open for skiing in December before most other ski centers north of the city. We have never been there as often and in such great numbers as this year. Last Sat was another example of this when 23 of us showed up for a splendid morning of skiing at 10 am. It was Continue reading “Jan 10 — 23 Skiers at Cap St Jacques”

2015 01 03 Walking and Eating to Celebrate the New Year

After the Christmas thaw and lack of much new snow since then, skiing was not in the cards. However, walking on the wide paths and roads was fine. Skating was also an option. The refrigerated rink was up and running, along with a sizable portion of the natural ice surface on Beaver Lake, opened just that morning for the first time this year. It was overcast and about -12 C.
We were only eight people who were at the Beaver Lake chalet at 10 am last Sat. None of us had our skates, so off on foot we went. We were soon joined by five late-comers, who had phoned us to ask where we were. The now 13 of us walked up to the main lookout where we took some tourist-style photos. We then went for a loop around the cross and then back towards Beaver Lake, for about 5 km. Along the way, we kept running into stragglers both on foot and then a couple of people on ice skates. From our initial group of eight, we ended up with a count of 19 BTers on the mountain that morning.
Then it was off to “Melrose Place”, aka Monique Isler’s home in NDG. Thirty of us ended up there, with the usual eclectic selection of food dishes. From noon to about 3 pm, we dined and noshed and feasted! There was also lots of conversation, especially about the sorry state of the ski season and the impending forecast of rain the next day! But, no matter, we drowned our sorrows in food. There was some talk that we should return to the mountain to walk off all the eating. But that was just talk. Besides, the pre-rain snow storm was getting under way…

Many thanks to Monique for hosting us her all with her usual aplomb!

2014 12 20&21 Where to Ski — CSJ or PTdN?

So far this year our skiing has been limited to going to two places, Cap St Jacques (CSJ) and the P’tit Train du Nord (PTdN).　 The weekend of Dec 6-7 we skied two days at PTdN and then on Dec 13-14 we skied both days at CSJ.　 This past weekend it was a tough call.　 We decided to make the official destination CSJ for Sat and PTdN for Sun.

Last Sat there were 12 of us at 10 am to go skiing.　 it was sunny and -7 C.　 The trails had been groomed that morning.　 The conditions were not as good as the previous weekend, but the consensus was they were still pretty good!　 We had a good ski of about 10 km (+/- 2 km).　 A couple of other members arrived late and reported they enjoyed a good outing on foot on the walking trails. Another 2 members arrived to ski as we were leaving, so there were 16 BTers that I know of at CSJ on Sat.

The official destination for Sun was the PTdN because we felt sure their conditions would be even better.　 And we were right.　 It was -12 C and snowing lightly on the freshly groomed trails at 10 am.　 The 8 of us who were there all set out north from Mont Rolland.　 During our ski, the sun came out for a spell, making for an even lovelier setting. 　 We all skied at least 10 km, including Tuuli, who was skiing for the first time in years!　 It was a great day at the PTdN.　 Meanwhile, it turned out that 12 members decided to go for a quicker and shorter at CSJ that morning.　 So we had at least 20 BTers out skiing on Sun!

All in all, it was a third December weekend in a row of great skiing.　 A great start to our ski season!

2014 12 13 What a Christmas Party!

1They said it couldn’t be done.　 “No way!　 The club members are just not up to it!　 They don’t have what it takes anymore!”　 But later in the evening of the Christmas Party, we proved them wrong.　 Boy, did we ever!
But more on that later.　 First, let’s just start out by saying that the this year’s Christmas Party was a rollicking(*) success!　 All 51 attendees had a great time.

This year’s party was at Bitoque, a Portuguese BYOB restaurant located on Notre Dame, a few blocks west of Atwater.　 The snow from the storm earlier that week was still being cleaned up.　 Notre Dame had been cleared, while parking on the side streets was still a snowy mess, but manageable.　 We began gathering at 6:30 pm, and mingled in the elegant high-ceiling room on the main floor. 　 The waiters were quick to offer us ice buckets for our bottles of white wine, or even for our bottles of Perrier!　 We chatted and discussed some of the interesting art work on the walls.　 The mood was cheerful and lively.

Soon enough, we took our seats and placed our orders.　 There were four choices from our group menu.　 Wondering how popular each dish among our group?　 Wonder no more.　 Here is what we ordered:

22 lamb shanks

17 Portuguese cod

7 chicken breasts

5 vegetarian paella

The reviews of the meals and the dessert were overwhelmingly favorable!

The evening went by quickly as we Continue reading “2014 12 13 What a Christmas Party!”

2014 12 13&14 A Record Turnout at Cap St Jacques

Usually, we get more snow up north and in the Eastern Townships than we do in the city, especially early in the season. But last week’s storm dumped about 30 cm on Montreal, while only 15 cm elsewhere. As a result, while places like Gai Luron did not have enough snow to open, the local parks were doing great. Cap St Jacques was fully groomed by Fri, while Mt Royal was lagging, so we made CSJ our destination for both Sat and Sun.

The heavy snow on Wed was followed by some light flurries on Thu and Fri. The result was perfect ski conditions at CSJ: a good thick base, but also fluffy snow clinging to the branches, making for a magical winter setting. We only knew that CSJ had groomed the trails because we stopped by the park at mid-day on Fri. Neither the Montreal Grand Parcs website nor the SkiNet website had any report that CSJ was even open. But we knew better! And boy, did we Beaver Tailers turn out out in large numbers!

On Sat morning, we had 13 members out skiing at CSJ. A smaller group, but we did get the update message out a bit late on Fri evening. It was cloudy and -6 C at 10 am. All enjoyed the ski conditions and most completed the 10 km “red rabbit” trail.

Continue reading “2014 12 13&14 A Record Turnout at Cap St Jacques”

17 Kicked Off the Ski Season at le PTdN

2014 12 07 Ski Season Kicked Off at PTdN

We did not get much snow in town last week, but up north they got just enough to open 10 km of the P’tit Train du Nord. The only other place reporting any trails opened was at Mont Tremblant XC (aka Domaine St Bernard) where they had 20 km open. But for this first ski of the season, the PTdN is just fine, so we made that our destination for both Sat and Sun. As usual, we met at Mont Rolland, at the halfway point of the 10 km stretch of opened trail.

Sat was cloudy and -3 C at 10 am for the 7 of us who turned out. There had been a chance of freezing drizzle in the weather forecast, but there was no precipitation of any kind. Most of us opted for the 5 km of trail going north from Mont Rolland. What a pleasure to be out on skis again! Special violet wax worked great. We went to the end of the 5 km and then turned back, so a nice 10 km. As always, the beauty of sharing an out Continue reading “17 Kicked Off the Ski Season at le PTdN”