I think that's it...

Clash of seasons - These guys rode the full lap of the parkway
Went for likely my last ski of the season on Sunday. Just a little tour up the parkway from P10 and out towards Black lake. Except for walking ~100m up the hill from the car to find the first snow I was surprised to see I didn’t have to take my skis off at all. A few spots had a narrow ribbon of snow along the edge but all were connected so the skiing was good. I took my waxless skis and was also nicely surprised to find the classic track was in pretty good shape – solid tracks with a slightly slushy base for good grip. Even with a good ski though I think that will be it for me. As I skied yesterday I met more walkers than skiers and even the pair of cyclists shown above. Perhaps that should be the sign of the end of the season more than anything. Today it is raining and by the coming weekend temperatures will be in the 20’s. That doesn’t bode well for the remaining snowpack so it’s time to clean up the skis and think of summer pursuits. I always say if you can ski into April then it’s been a pretty good year. Well I can almost see April and yet I don’t think I’m gonna make it. This has probably been one of the shorter ski season I can recall. A late arrival of snow and now an early departure (and not a lot to rave about in between). With luck that will mean next year will be A++ with snow falling early and often!


Headed for home

What a difference a couple of days makes

Friday the snow was pretty good – nice even consistency and good coverage pretty much everywhere I skied - with just a few little openings in the snowpack here and there. Saturday and Sunday those little openings started to grow and while I still managed to ski most everywhere without taking my skis off, it won’t be long before portaging from one block of snow to another becomes necessary (like as soon as tomorrow?). Saturday I skied up Burma which was still pretty nice. Made a detour up to the Ramparts which was a bit of an exercise. The backcountry trail doesn’t get the same compaction from the groomers that the main trails get so the snow was soft… or gone all together. A few spots had snow coverage but deep water (okay only a few inches deep) lurking underneath so extra care was needed. Managed to escape getting soaked but had to make the last little climb up to the lookout sans skis as the snow had melted through. Still, it was worth the effort to check out the view for the first time this year (how did I not get up here sooner?).

A nice view but it was slow progress to get up here
Sunday I stuck to the parkway and had a pretty good ski. Interesting that the trail up from P10 (last of the daily groomed trails) was well churned and soft with the masses of skiers trying to get in one last ski before the season ends. Closer to my starting point at MacKenzie King (where there’s been no grooming for a while) the snow was smooth and fast. As an added bonus there were small clouds of bugs floating over the trail at various points on my ski. That must surely be a sign of spring! Not sure what they were on about but I did swallow a few inadvertently as I skied along (extra protein?) and they didn't seem to be in a hurry to get out of my way.

Patches of asphalt opening up
The groomers are now done for the season – barring a late season snowstorm - and I for one want to thank them for their hard work on what has probably been one of the tougher years in my memory. First the big ice storm at Christmas time and then not much snow to work with… and yet the trails were still in pretty good shape throughout the year - or what there was of it. Many thanks indeed.

Sunset on the ski season?
Still a few more days to ski but I fear those days are dwindling. As the portages open up each skier must make the call as to what ratio of walking to skiing is still worthwhile to them. Time to start cleaning up the ski fleet and packing a few pairs away… but I’ll keep a couple of pairs handy for a few more days yet.

A sunny, lethargic ski...

Out for an easy ski today. Getting to be full on spring skiing season even if the calendar still says "winter" for a few more days. I opted to ski out of P7 and for the first few hundred meters thought I had perhaps made a mistake as I had to walk a bit. There were a number of open muddy stretches along the trail and where there was some snow it was covered in thick pine needles so skiing wasn't an option. Fortunately, as I got a little higher up, the snow returned and I was able to ski up the rest of the hill. A few little open patches here and there but a ribbon of snow on one side or the other made it passable.


Wattsford Lookout hill was still skiable
Once up top it was a whole different story with a good base and excellent skiing. Don't think there has been any grooming on Ridge for a while but the base is a pretty solid frozen mass so it doesn't matter. The heat of the sun only serves to make the top layer (maybe an inch or so) soft which makes for good edging. Even the classic track looked good in most places. Skied up to the Brule lookout and then spent a 1/2 hour or so enjoying the sun and chatting with skiers as they went by on the parkway below.


Almost time for the short walk along the lookout
From there it was down Burma which was also in excellent shape. One short rocky "portage" and another spot with a downed tree but the snow was in excellent condition. Even the steep final descent to the parkway was pretty good although a few thin spots have started to open up. As I skied up the parkway on my way home I noticed that the "yellow line" is starting to appear through the snowpack. Not a good sign but it should be a few days before it melts into the open air. All in all a great day to be out on the trails. No real rush today just a chance to enjoy the sun and ski easy.


Tough waxing along here... do you wax for the right ski or the left ski...
Some colder weather coming (well, single digits anyway but below zero at night) and maybe even some more snow(?). Don't think it will be enough to "save" the spots that have melted through but a little bit of fresh snow could make for some nice skiing and maybe milk the end of the season a little longer. I guess we'll see.


Easy skiing along Ridge road

A Ski up "Windyface"

One of the objectives I had at the beginning of the ski season was to get out on my shiny new BC skis that I had picked up last year at an end of year sale. For the most part I had been hoping for a big dump of snow to take them out on their maiden voyage but they had sadly sat mocking me in the front hall for most of the season. As I stared out the window on Sunday into the driving rain I realized I was rapidly running out of time and these untested beauties would remain…well, untested. Without much forethought I decided on Monday to load up the car and head down to the Adirondacks to get them skiing… but was still working out where to go as I drove down. Most of the classic BC routes that I’m eager to ski go across large bodies of water which I’m thinking would probably be a little questionable in terms of ice thickness. They’d probably be okay but with 2m sticks tied to my feet I swim like a stone so who’d want to take that chance. Debated the Sewards but with the summer road recently closed and a lot of rain fallen in the last couple of days there might be a long walk up a slushy/muddy road to get to the skiing. But when you’re looking for snow, when all else fails and you don’t know where to turn - there is always Whiteface. Sure enough as I passed “Norman’s” in Bloomingdale it started to snow and it only got deeper as I drove up to the Toll House.


On the long march up to the clouds
The snow that fell was pretty wet (and probably 8-10”+ deep) but I knew it would get colder and drier as I gained elevation. I opted for klister on the skis to give me grip and stuck a colder wax in my pocket to improve things as the conditions changed. As it worked out I had good grip/glide for the first mile or so and then things started to ice and clump on the bases. The colder wax didn’t improve things and I was stuck at times hauling the snowpack up the mountain on the bottom of my skis. Made for slow going but things weren't too bad as 2 people had already snowshoed up the road and the resulting broken trail made life a little easier. Besides… when you’re going up the Toll road it’s not your typical rolling ski trail. It’s aaaalllll up hill until it’s time to turn around so too much grip on the way up isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Figured I could scrape off the klister at the top before making my way down.


Still winter up there
Finally caught sight of my trailbreaking crew as I approached the “Lake Placid” hairpin and I caught up to them at the “Wilmington” hairpin. Ironically it turns out they too were from Ottawa! Thanked them profusely for their hard labours and offered to do a little trail breaking for them from the Wilmington turn to the Castle… but as we rounded the bend the winds caught grip of us and the snowpack was a pretty solid, icy boilerplate so my turn at trailbreaking was pretty easy graft in comparison to their yeoman efforts in the soft, wet snow below. With the strong wind the temperature dropped significantly. What was maybe +5 C at the bottom of the road dropped well below zero (-10? plus windchill) so things were back to winter conditions. Fingers quickly froze as I took them out of the gloves to adjust straps on my pack or fiddle with the camera. Tucked out of the wind behind the castle (the end of the toll road) I dropped the skis and donned my snowshoes to try the short but extremely steep trail for the summit. Jeff and Lynda (the trailbreaking tandem) arrived shortly behind me and we discussed teaming up for a summit push. Lynda (probably quite wisely) had had enough fun climbing for the day and opted against a summit push as the gale force winds were pretty intimidating. Jeff and I tho’, well..., we both have a ‘Y’ chromosome which contains the genetic material that allows us to say (beyond all rational reason) “How bad could it be?” With two of us the climb seemed somehow safer. I am quite confident that neither of us would have tried for the summit had we been alone. In hindsight, if one of us had been blown off the mountain as we pushed to the top there would have been little the other could do except point the authorities to the most likely spot to find the frozen carcass but as I said… it seemed safer. Anyway, we we're just going to have a look and, if it looked bad, turn back.

Tunnel under the Whiteface Castle
[Mom? You reading this? Might be a good idea to skip ahead to the next paragraph] The trail from the castle to the summit isn’t actually too long – maybe 400m and climbs ~350 vertical feet. In summer it has a staircase cut out of the rock with 2 guard/handrails and takes maybe 5 - 10 minutes to walk up. It does however go across a steep, exposed ridgeline (called an arete) with a particularly dramatic drop off on the west side. In winter we found deep snow, cornices and spindrift greeting us. Heavy winds periodically buffeted us and progress was slow. The handrails in spots were completely buried and in other locations stuck out 4 to 6 inches… more of tripping hazard really. We took turns leading, making slow, methodical progress until we got to the crux of the climb. A steep, side-sloped snow drift, maybe 20-30m long, handrails buried and a gapping avalanche slope dropping away to our right. I wasn’t too concerned with triggering an avalanche as the snow wasn’t the right stuff to be conducive to slide (I think - no obvious slip planes anyway as I stomped deep into the snowpack) but progress across the slope was slow as the winds buffeted us around. Downhill leg was stomping a ledge to balance on while uphill leg was propped tight in the snow on my knee and my “high“ hand futilely clutched at the snow above…. “How ya doing back there Jeff”, “Ummm, Okay….” Shuffle kick, shuffle kick. Quick look down to my right… yep, thousand foot slide still there. “Still good? not far now.” To myself - "How you doin' Kenmore...hmmmm..." Shuffle kick, kick, shuffle. Finally crawled up to a more stable platform with some handrail showing and caught my breath. Final few drifts to clamber up and we tucked in behind the Observatory at the summit and out of the winds. Number 37 for Jeff - Woot!… but I reminded him we still had to get back down for it to actually count. A few photos and then the descent which actually proved pretty reasonable thanks to our already fading but still solid tracks. Interestingly Jeff and I both mentioned, once back down, that, had the other said “This looks a little sketchy, maybe we should turn around” – the other would have quickly agreed. Stupid ‘Y’ chromosome…


Safely back down to the castle I chose to walk the first section of the road to the Wilmington turn with Lynda and Jeff. It's hard, icy finish and a lack of steel edges on my skis would have made me more closely resemble Bambi on Ice so I stuck with the snowshoe crampons. At the Wilmington turn I donned the skis and bid adieu to Jeff and Lynda(many thanks!). As I descended the snowpack changed a lot. From the Wilmington turn to the LP turn I was met with mostly hardpack, windblown crud. Below the LP turn(which was windswept down to asphalt) the snow went from delightful soft powder to a heavier and heavier base finally ending at the Toll house in a mashed potatoes consistency. While initially I was a little unhappy (would have preferred champagne powder all the way!) I realized that in a span of ½ an hour I got to try out the skis in a wide variety of conditions so indeed it proved a fortuitous testing ground. They handled most of it well but are perhaps better conditioned to softer material. They’re a bit Kovalev-like in that they like to float! Perhaps I can find something with some edges to better carve through the heavier (or icier) stuff. Too late to hit the end of year sales at the local ski shops? (and therefore set another ski objective for myself next year). More pictures here


Descending to the Lake Placid Turn
Error on this trip – apart from the questionable sanity described in the summit bid -I forgot my thermos of hot soup in the car. It was tasty (and still hot) as I packed up the car to head home… but would have been amazing at the summit tucked in behind the castle with the frosty winds whipping around. So it goes.

Spring skiing is all about timing

Out for a ski this morning. Found the groomers had been out covering all the primary trails but I was still a little early for optimal conditions. While the grooming had chewed up a little of the surface making for nice skating I did find a number of (mostly shady) locations where the heavy rig had somehow floated over the bulletproof snowpack leaving almost no mark in the surface. The result was some very hard, icy sections that were difficult to get an edge in (See Jo-Ann – even I find it too icy sometimes ;-). Fortunately these were only in isolated spots so I pushed on looking for the next granulated surface to ski on. To be fair, the snow would likely have softened a little later in the morning once the sun got a little more power making for a beautiful surface. Spring skiing is all about timing!


Traffic jam at Gossip corner
Rain clouds are supposed to be coming in for the next few days. While there is still plenty of snow for skiing in the park, a few days of rain could put a bit of a dent in it. Rain will also most likely change the consistency of the snowpack and perhaps open up a few bare patches. Can’t see not skiing next week though – still too much base. Seems far too early to be thinking about wrapping up the ski season but there may only be a week or two left unless we get a snowstorm in the near future. Wouldn’t take the ski gear out of the car just yet tho’ (Tripper, I’m looking at you!).


Fresh tracks on the Burma road

Would that every day were as nice...

Hard to imagine a better day to be out skiing. In spite of the “Bad conditions” sign at the parking lot I got out at just about the right time of day choosing to head out to P16 and ski the Pine road. The groomed trail was just a little icy as I started and then just starting to get slushy in the direct sunlight as I finished so my timing was good. The temperature rose from maybe a couple of degrees below zero to a couple of degrees above before shooting up in the afternoon (after I was home) to +8C and there was nary a cloud in the sky. The so called “bad conditions” were actually pretty good. The skating lane did have a few ruts and ridges in it… but nothing overwhelming or difficult to ski over. To be fair the classic track was a little shallow but I found it quite serviceable as I jumped in to coast on a few down hills. I skied out to the Lac Phillipe campground along the road before returning from whence I came. Quite a few people out along the trail enjoying the weather as well. Might have been a bit of a chore to get grip wax dialed in but the skating was fast and easy. Upon returning towards my car I made a quick detour over to Meech Lake to take a little time on “the bench” and soak in the sun.


Why sit inside on such a nice day?

Days like these are hard to beat but of course this indicates that the end of ski season is drawing ever closer… which just seems too early. The weatherman is predicting these warm days to continue but at least it’s getting pretty cold at night. That will be good for the snow pack as it melts down during the day before re-freezing overnight. I can certainly see another couple of weeks of skiing but will it make it to April? Time will tell I suppose. Maybe we’ll get a big dump of snow to freshen things up.


Enjoy it while it lasts

A Night at the Races

Time for the XCOttawa Pursuit race. New date, new Race Director, same good time. This time it was a night race under the lights at Nakkertok which surely added some new challenges for the racers. I headed out once more to help out with setting up the course and marshalling the route. Setting the course for a pursuit race requires a two loop course - one for classic and one for skating – and a great big pit area so the racers can swing in, swap skis from one technique to the next and tear off on to the skate leg. Takes a little while to get it all set and (hopefully) make it self evident for the racers. While looping the course to set up v-boards at various intersections – thus keeping the racers on course - I was also careful to look for any 3m deep pot holes along the edge of the course. I figured I would flag those hazards, you know, for safety. Wouldn’t want to have to call for Dr. Hakenbush (blog title? Anyone? okay that was "A Day at the Races" ;-) As it turns out we’ve had closer to 3 inches of snow rather than 3m so there were no big hazards to flag.


The main pack climbing the first hill
Course set I headed off to marshal a corner. Want to make sure people ski the right way and don’t head off into the gloom of the night down the wrong trail. For the most part however people had previewed the course during warm up so my marshalling duties were pretty light. Gave me an opportunity to take a few photos which was interesting. While I’m quite happy to take long exposure night shots of static things AND I enjoy shooting fast paced sporting events… fast paced sporting events at night is a new challenge. Probably one I need some work at but still got some interesting... ummm, artistic? shots. All in all another good event. Skiing the loops after the race to pick up the v-boards and clean up the course I discovered the real workout for the racers was probably on their optic nerves. We’d set the course with a little bit of daylight left but picking up the course it was full on night. From one light standard to the next (spaced at 200m or so) – at speed – light to dark to light to dark must have made for some interesting challenges. Sounds like a good time was had by all though so well worth the effort.