March skiing continues to be amazing. Still lots of snow and today was another perfectly sunny day that stayed below zero. This meant the skiing was in excellent shape just about everywhere I skied. It only got a little slushy towards the end of the afternoon but for the most part the trails were firm and fast.
I skated a good loop today and while the Parkways and Ridge road were pretty busy I still managed to find a few quiet spots to ski. After a warm up on the Parkways I flew down Burma and then - halfway along - crust skied up to the Ramparts (which was a fun challenge with skating gear). From the look of the trail I was the first to ski up there in a while. The crust is starting to get thin and the backcountry trail made it a bit of a challenge but I got to try some rarely used techniques to conquer the descents. The "grab for some trees" to slow down (when moving slow towards a drop off) or "clamber away from the trees" (when moving fast down the dropoff) worked pretty well and then there was the "all hope is lost, make a quick prayer" technique which worked twice (and failed once). At any rate I made it to the top and enjoyed the lookout for a while. I was also surprised to see that someone had recently skied up from the Meech lake side to the lookout... must of used skins to climb the precipice. Nice!
Next stop was the race trail near Camp Fortune. It was freshly groomed and looked like only two people had used it today. Its a great trail with lots of big climbs and fun, fast descents. I guess it doesn't see much use as - like most race trails - it doesn't really go anywhere but just snakes back and forth on itself.... but its a lot of fun regardless.
Tomorrow looks to be more of the same (sunny days and sweet skiing) but some seriously warm/wet weather is headed in for next week. It will change the consistency of the trails but should only go a short way to reducing the snow pack. Should be some good skiing next weekend as well.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Easter Ski
Today I went for an Easter ski. Its really rare to get an Easter long weekend this early in the year. Usually we are lucky to have any snow at all when Easter finally rolls around. In fact (shuffle, shuffle, digging through facts books), Easter hasn't been this early in the year in over 80 years.... and is not scheduled to be this early again this century. Since I don't anticipate being around for the next coming of such an early Easter weekend I was determined to take advantage of the long weekend to get some skiing in. Conditions have been much the same the whole weekend - a cloudless sky, warm spring sun, cool temperatures with a bit of a breeze and hard, fast tracks. Waxing for glide has not been a problem. I could have probably chosen peanut butter or wallpaper paste for my glide wax and still gotten good glide. These spring skiing conditions are likely here for the remainder of the season with warm temperatures (and sun) in the day thawing the tracks and then cold nights refreezing them. Makes for some fast skiing which is nice. 
I took a relaxed ski out to McKinstry cabin today. The trails were great but the crust skiing was even better. I can't remember conditions for crust skiing like this in many years.... just point and go! Through the trees can be a bit of a problem dodging the brushy stuff but when you find an opening its easy skiing. I imagine there are probably spruce traps to catch the unwary but I never got near any spruce trees so no worries on that regard. I jumped off into almost every bog, marsh, pond or lake I could find and, based on the tracks I saw, I was not alone (although I only saw one actual person off trail). Makes for some nice new vantage points of the park and new areas to explore. I even spotted some beaver activity... not the actual beavers mind you but there were lots of signs they are up and about and working hard already. I expect they have probably been surprised more than once by the odd skier cruising past their hole... something they would not likely have seen before (unless they are Frank and Gordon I suppose).
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Spring!
Spring may have arrived but it still looks a lot like winter. I got out on a Good Friday to get a little skiing in. Still not feeling great but I wanted to take in a little of the snow today so just a short ski. We got a bit of rain through the week so the tracks were decidely icy (even with the fresh grooming) but not so much so that it wasn't fun. It was probably a great day to skate but I inexpilcably brought my classic skis... which was pretty nice too. The icy snow was pretty abrasive though so I had to stop a few times to reapply wax which was quickly stripped off the skis. I even took some time to do some crust cruising through the woods as the snow (with this weeks rain) had frozen up nicely. This meant no more trails required... just point and go - sweet.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Too much of a good thing?
There has been some awesome skiing since the big storms came through last week. I've been skiing almost everyday in all kinds of conditions - storms, sun, clouds, rain... we've had a little of it all. In fact, I've skiied so much I may have picked up a bug of some kind and am feeling a little wiped out these days. Time to take a rest day or two to recover.... but the spring is charging fast and I don't want to let the good snow go to waste! Add to that its still daylight after work so I want to get skiing while the chance is here. Ah well, perhaps better to stay (get?) well rather than overdo it and miss out on the spring ski season. We have a LOT of snow so I expect the skiing should be good for some time.
I skied around the Lac Phillipe area on Sunday which was (appropriately) sunny. The sun has certainly gained some strength in the last couple of weeks and the trails were feeling its rath. Conditions were snowy in the shade and icy where the sun got to it. Made for tricky waxing. Probably would have been a great day to skate but I chose otherwise so you have to "run with what ya brung". It was still a beautiful day to be out and I found a few (windfree) spots to enjoy the spring sunshine.
I skied around the Lac Phillipe area on Sunday which was (appropriately) sunny. The sun has certainly gained some strength in the last couple of weeks and the trails were feeling its rath. Conditions were snowy in the shade and icy where the sun got to it. Made for tricky waxing. Probably would have been a great day to skate but I chose otherwise so you have to "run with what ya brung". It was still a beautiful day to be out and I found a few (windfree) spots to enjoy the spring sunshine.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
The snowy day
Off he went, into the deep, deep snow(Ezra Keats). The storm of the season certainly lived up to its name. We got 50cm of snow over the last 36 hours and about 80cm in the last week. That’s a lotta snow to fall in such a short time. It’s made life in the city a challenge (thank you 4-wheel drive) but for the most part things are now looking good. This snow allows us to get closer to the record of snowiest winter ever…. But there’s still a ways to go and we’re running out of days. We need 40cm more in the next 10 days. Could be a tall order but we’ll see.
I skied in the Park before, during and after the storm and for the most part, the only challenge was the actual getting to the park. Once there the skiing was fine. Friday I dodged out of work a little early to try and get a skate ski in before the snow started to fall. I was a little late (ie it was snowing when I got there) and there was a good 5 or 6 cms down before I got back to the car but for the most part the skiing was great (on past Wednesdays great snow). The roads and parking lots were actually surprisingly empty but I guess people were hunkering down for the big storm to hit.
Saturday I got up to the Park around noon. There was a brief window in the storm Saturday morning where the snow tapered off for a spell. Many had taken the chance to drive up to get a ski in before the second wave of snow arrived. P7 was pretty much full when I arrived. That said I was a bit late getting going and the snow started to pound down on me by about 2pm. I did a tour of some great backcountry trails most of which had been broken out already. I met quite a few skiers on the trails and every one had a big smile on their face. The groomers were also rolling around on the main trails (Parkway, Ridge, Burma). They were clearly trying to get the first lot of snow packed down before the next layer came. Good on them to make the effort. As the storm picked up I ran into problems. While the skiing was fine, my glasses would either ice up or fog over. Both resulted in the same outcome - that I couldn't see where I was going so I slowly made my way back to the car. I’ll have to see if I can invest in defrosters for my glasses. When I got back to the car around 4 the lots were now all but empty – again I assume people had raced home to hunker down. The drive home was, umm... a slow crawl as the storm was really hammering down. The plows were out but it was a bit of a losing battle so I made slow progress to get home safe. Other drivers did not seem to exercise the same caution and I came across many cars in (on top of ?) snowbanks, crunched into other cars and so on… Seems common sense (slowing down in a big storm) isn't so common.
Sunday I woke up and loaded up to go for another ski. The roads were now cleared so the drive was easy. Once in the Park I found the parking lots almost empty!?! I guess people were home digging out or resting aching shoveling muscles so – for the most part - I had the trails to myself. The groomers had been around some of the main trails and were working on others. Even groomed the trails were pretty (really?) soft…. But that’s to be expected. With so much snow there’s no way to instantly lay down a solid base to groom. As a result things were a little slow. I broke out a couple of backcountry trails which was hard work (or maybe I’m just a wreck from shoveling so much snow) and skied around a few of the groomed trails. It was a beautiful day – a bit cold but the sun was starting to come out making it a nice day to be out. The depth of snow is amazing right now. Should make for some great skiing for the next little(long?) while.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Another snowy day
Wow!! Another foot of snow dropped over the last couple of days. We’re now sitting at the 2nd snowiest winter in recorded history for the Ottawa region with over 3.5 m of snow falling this winter. I went out and had a quick ski last night. The groomers had been out during the storm but not since it ended so there wasn’t really a groomed track… but there was a hard base under a thin layer of powder. Bit of a mixed bag in terms of conditions and it turned pretty cold after the snow finally stopped. I did a short loop around the Mackenzie-King estate and Pinks Lake to see what the snow was like. With such a lot of snow we should be skiing well into April but I know things can turn in a hurry and warm weather coupled with rain can eat away at the trails pretty fast. Time to enjoy these excellent conditions while they last. The temperature should stay several degrees below zero for the next week or two. After that – who knows? More snow is called for this weekend. Could be another big dump but it’s a little too early to tell. If we’re currently sitting at the 2nd snowiest season in history, I say we go for the record! I’ll have to have all kinds of skis ready for Saturday… just in case!
Monday, March 03, 2008
Norway Day
Another great day of skiing. It’s getting hard to remember how many great days it's been this season… and March has only begun! Today I skied up to Huron for Norway day to get some vafels and warm solbærtoddy, a great treat courtesy the Norwegian embassy (Many thanks indeed!). Big crowds at Huron today – who’s kidding who, big crowds everywhere! Perfect –5C and blue skies brought every skier for miles out to enjoy the day! Bryan and Mike had also skied up to Huron to sample the Norwegian fare so we took some time to have lunch inside the lodge before heading out to explore some trails. Managed to score a table right by the woodstove which was handy for heating up lunch however keeping track of the tinfoil wrapped sandwiches on top of the woodstove was a challenge as it was loaded up with many lunches. In the end I think we all got what we brought. Always a risk to “upgrade” your sandwich off the woodstove. Tough to tell which ones are better when they’re all wrapped in foil.
After lunch we headed out to ski some of the trails. All the main trails had been nicely groomed so we started along the Burma Road. Usually trail 3 is pretty quiet but today there was a steady stream of skiers heading both ways. About halfway along I tempted the guys to try some backcountry powder so we headed along 12, 11 and 9 to introduce them “gently” to some of what the backcountry has to offer. Today was perfect as the soft powder snow makes for soft landings if things go astray on a tricky descent. They did great though and no one crashed (while I was with them) so perhaps the guys are ready for some more tricky runs… hmmmm. Finally we got on the freshly groomed race trails at Camp Fortune. With Mike making a short loop around, Bryan and I tried the “reverse amphitheater drop”. A tricky maneuver that we both successfully pulled off (although it was a close call for both of us in the final run out). Then it was time for us to part as Bryan and Mike headed north to their car and I headed south across Ridge to get to my own car. On Ridge road it was again pretty busy (did it ever stop being busy today?) but I made short work of it and jumped off for a little more backcountry powder before hitting the Parkway and the ski back to the car. Driving out was no easy feat either. The Chelsea Nordique ski club was having a “year end” party at P5 and the lot was filled with cars spilling out along the sides of the road for a quite a ways. Once in the village itself the heavy traffic had brought out the local constabulary trying to keep some order as happy skiers made the trek home. All in all a great day on the trails. Spent more than 8 hours out skiing this weekend in beautiful skiing conditions. Here’s to March bringing many more days like these.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Powder Day
Today was another perfect day but for a whole different set of reasons. March came in like a lion I suppose… albeit a lion treading softly on another 10cm of dry powder snow!! I wasn’t expecting this so I didn’t spring out of bed at dawn but when I did get up I sprinted around getting skis and gear together like a madman and then racing off up to the trails. I haven’t had decent powder since I skied up Whiteface back in November. Got stuck behind a snowplow(with a few thousand other skiers) but finally made it up to a crowded P7. The last few days have been bitterly cold skiing and the snow was groomed into a bullet hard concrete consistency. Very fast for skating but today things were very different. Despite the crowds I was surprised to find I had the honour of breaking trail on Skyline. This is great news to a powderholic like myself and enjoyed some sweet turns on the loop out. Alas from there on I found most of the trails skied in (I guess there are a few more out there like me :-). That’s okay – even with one or two sets of tracks it’s still great fun to ski in soft dry powder snow. In fact I found quite a few people out on the backcountry trails which was nice to see. Lots of families with little kids learning the joys of powder snow. Nice!
I looped out along some of my favourite trails like (name removed to maintain its secrecy) and (name removed to maintain its secrecy) all of which had some great soft powder to ski. No land speed records were set but that wasn’t the point and I spent some 4 hours pickin’ trails and jumping off into the fluff. My only mistake was that - in my haste to head out in the morning - I forgot to check if my camera had a memory card in it. It did not so my camera played a backup role as ballast on my descents (the photo is from my evening walk after I got home). My second mistake was not to bring any food with me so four hours proved a little long to be out there. I finally had to come in out of the snow to get something to eat…. Maybe I should have headed back after lunch? Ah well, once I was off the trails I would have had to come home for some dry clothes and then drive back, find a spot to park, etc. etc.. I’ll head back tomorrow – Its Norway Day - so I’ll have some vaffels to look forward to as I head out into the snow.
I looped out along some of my favourite trails like (name removed to maintain its secrecy) and (name removed to maintain its secrecy) all of which had some great soft powder to ski. No land speed records were set but that wasn’t the point and I spent some 4 hours pickin’ trails and jumping off into the fluff. My only mistake was that - in my haste to head out in the morning - I forgot to check if my camera had a memory card in it. It did not so my camera played a backup role as ballast on my descents (the photo is from my evening walk after I got home). My second mistake was not to bring any food with me so four hours proved a little long to be out there. I finally had to come in out of the snow to get something to eat…. Maybe I should have headed back after lunch? Ah well, once I was off the trails I would have had to come home for some dry clothes and then drive back, find a spot to park, etc. etc.. I’ll head back tomorrow – Its Norway Day - so I’ll have some vaffels to look forward to as I head out into the snow.
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