CSM 2013 and the Gatineau Loppet

Well we’ve gotten to the midpoint of the ski season. That meant I finally had to decide if I was going to get into the ski marathon this year or opt out. I’ve been steadily sick since Christmas and been unable to get any long skis in so the ski marathon was only going to be a touring route for me at best. Still, it’s a beautiful trail and only available once a year. Add to that the weather was shaping up to be a really stellar weekend… so I finally dropped the cash and signed up with a few days to go. As it turned out the rather crusty conditions I reported in my last post proved only to be a base as it snowed (and snowed and snowed) on Thursday/Friday before the marathon. A total of 25 cms was just the ticket for some nice skiing. Signing up late meant I had to race down to Montebello on Friday in the blizzard to get my number but in the end – while a slow drive – it wasn’t too bad.

Skiing in beautiful tracks on a sunny day
Saturday dawned with perfect blue skies and comfortable conditions. I opted to ski the last 2 sections of the first days track, from the Rouge river to Montebello proper. With a short (ish) agenda I took one of the later buses and it proved a real blessing. Only 2 riders on our bus to the checkpoint and an empty trail in front of me! The mass of skiers trying to do the whole trail were still toiling away behind me (in the days earlier sections) and it took me a while to catch those that had taken the early bus… so the wilderness was mine (except for the bear!). Even once I caught up to the other skiers it was easy to pass people and they were well spaced so I could ski my own pace for the most part. Arriving in Montebello was a little slower than I anticipated as the whack of fresh snow was a little slow(perfectly groomed but still…). With only two sections to ski I still got home with plenty of time and had all the “night 1” chores done in record time.

A bitter, cold start to day 2

Sunday I headed out extra early to take some night shots of the CdB start at 0530. As it turns out they were allowed to start earlier (about 0500) so I missed the shot of the “golds” I was looking for… but I got some other pictures of the silver and bronze group headed on their way. The reason for the early start was the morning had dawned a bitter -27C!! Even in all my winter clothes as I took pictures (and with a warm car nearby) I was pretty cold snapping shots. After the skiers went I stripped down to my ski gear and drove over to catch my bus. While I waited for it I seriously thought about bagging the day and heading home as it had only “warmed” up to -24C… but I dutifully got on the bus anyway and it proved a good choice by days end. The first section was a bit of a survival test but the temperature steadily rose and by the time I got to the line it was a delightful -7 or -8C… so a good day after all.

The Army checkpoints are always on call
I skied the last 3 sections on day 2. For the most part it was a beautiful, but uneventful ski. There was one new relocation of the trail near Mayo which caught me by surprise. I suspect the relocation was in part owing to my friend the escaped horse from last year as the new trail detoured around the farm in question. Perhaps the farmer had not wanted a repeat performance of his escaping livestock. Fortunately there were some skidoo club trails we could use that got us to the checkpoint in good stead – though it added some exciting ups and downs that weren’t part of the agenda in past years.

Skiing along the CSM trail
So another CSM in the books. I ended up doing ½ the course this year which – based on the amount I’ve skied this season seems about right. It was certainly a beautiful weekend so in that regard we lucked out tremendously. Had the Friday storm or the subsequent Monday storm arrived on the weekend it would have been a much tougher ski through the country side. Pics from the ski marathon are HERE.

Elite wave start is on course
This past weekend was the Gatineau Loppet and I usually run around the park trying to catch as many frames as I can as the racers do a big loop. This year there was a new twist in that the “big race” was now on a linear course from Lac Phillippe south through the park to the Gatineau high school. Being a linear course meant I couldn’t jump ahead of the racers (without a helicopter) so I decided to just take in the start at P19 instead. With such a small parking lot at P19 the organizers closed it to the general public until after the start. That meant I had a nice ski in from P17 to get in place for the start. I shot my pics as the racers blasted off and then had the northern reaches of the park more or less to myself – Nice! In the end I probably skied close to 35k on the day… so perhaps I should have left the camera at home and got a race number instead… maybe next year. Loppet pics are HERE.

A long string of skiers