CSM '08
This past weekend was Canadian Ski Marathon time again. I hadn’t really planned to go in it again this year but last years experience with the “low snow, revised route” (while perfectly understandable given the snow we got last year) was not quite the experience I was looking for. Going in a big circle two days in a row was not quite the overland, cross-country tour I was hoping for… so I came back again to get a better sense of the traditional (regular snow) routing.

I didn’t really get enough long classic skis in this year to seriously plan on skiing the whole route but with ample checkpoints along the trails I opted to tour it figuring I would go out and ski what I felt like, enjoy the day and then jump on the provided bus when I felt I had enough. In the end I skied 3 sections a day for a little less than 100km on the weekend.

Saturday dawned early and shaped up to be a perfect day (albeit somewhat overcast) with –5C weather warming up to –1C and occasional light snow falling. I drove to Papineauville and then hopped on the bus for the ride back to the starting checkpoint in Buckingham. Our bus arrived first at the start line and I had 20 minutes to kill before they unleashed us. After testing the wax I got into the starting pen and somehow ended up on the front line of our wave of skiers …and before I could decide this was a bad idea (starting in front of 3-400 over eager skiers headed very quickly for just 2 sets of tracks) the count down was on. Fortunately, on “GO”, a guy two or three places over from me promptly fell over. This effectively blocked most of the herd allowing a couple of us to shoot off for the first tracks and we enjoyed the front of the pack for a few kms. I settled into a comfortable pace and started to enjoy the day.

The snow was great and the trail was in good shape although, with all the snow we’ve had in the last few weeks, the base was a little soft which meant some of the steep downhills had rutted out with the earlier waves of skiers on them. This made a few spots a little tricky. On one steep downhill with a sharp left hand curve at the bottom I skied the turn only to hear a giant Waahoooo!! coming from behind me. Looking back I saw the person behind me miss the curve and launch off into a giant cloud of powder… took him a while to dig himself out but it looked like fun. The k’s clicked along and after the 3rd section I decided, while I could probably ski another leg, it might be better to call it a day and therefore insure I could have another good ski on Sunday.

Sunday was a very different day. We got 4 or 5 cms of fresh snow overnight and the temperature stayed up near –1C. This made for some tricky waxing, too cold = no grip, too warm=clumping and icing. I started with orange (a bit slippery) and then switched to purple wax but it was no go – snow iced immediately giving me huge clumps of ice under my feet. The real savior came from a box of “correction wax” that I haphazardly threw in my pack before leaving home. My Dad bought a few blocks of this stuff at a sports store closing (a real deal!) some 30 years ago (never seen it anywhere since). We’ve used them maybe 2x’s in those 30 years… but Sunday it was pure magic allowing my purple/orange combo wax to grip but keep it (to some extent) from icing up on the climbs. In the end, after steep climbs, I still got a bit of ice build up on the bases of my skis but a quick kick of the skis cleaned off the bases and got me gliding again.

With the fresh snow it meant some trail breaking was required. I had my track skis with me and they are perhaps not the best for this condition. The result was a slower pace and made it a little tougher to pass slower skiers with (at times) only one track broken out but it was still fun. Again I skied 3 sections including the “expert” section. I wanted to see what "expert" means but Sunday it was perhaps not at its “expert” best (or maybe I was?). The fresh snow made for some fun descents which I’m told are a lot more tricky when icier conditions prevail. Again the kms clicked along and before I knew it I was heading down the last stretch. In the final few kms a cold front started to move in and the temperature started to drop. (We had –20C weather Sunday night). This drop in temperature meant my wax was finally working exactly as designed (no more icing up)… and then I was done. (drat!)

Overall this was much more the overland experience I was looking for. Some parts of the trail are great while others a little less inspiring but you defiantly pass over some significantly changing beautiful countryside – rugged Canadian shield hills, rolling farmland, cottage country, carefully landscaped golf courses then suburbs and finally arriving in the city.


Things I learned this year:

· Several handfuls of cookies are an excellent source of motivation/energy to get you going down the trail… unfortunately they don’t last as fuel for more than the first few climbs… therefore carry more cookies with you (preferably enough to get you 70k down the trail).
· No matter how much of a “healthy living“ event you think you are participating in, you are still likely to see someone taking a smoke break mid trail… not sure what the lesson is here… except maybe it takes all kinds?
· Every farm in Quebec has a 40-year-old bulldozer parked near the barn. Of course I didn’t actually see every farm in Quebec but I think I saw enough of a cross section of farms (all with bulldozers) to feel safe in making this a rule.
. Some folks got on the bus in the morning headed to the starting point of the day (and rode it 40 min+ mind you) before realizing they left their skis back at the car! Lesson - try to remember to have your brain with you when going to an early morning ski event.
· Big “scary” hills are a lot of fun when they are covered with fresh powder (I probably knew this beforehand but this was reinforced).
· I have better skis in my fleet for powder skiing…. I should remember to bring them on my next powder day(and make sure they get onto the bus with me).