Top Notch Skiing

Top Notch Skiing

This weekend was about as close to perfect for skiing as I can imagine. Saturday and Sunday both dawned around –10 or -12C but it warmed to a couple of degrees below zero by the afternoon. The freezing rain we got last Monday proved to be a minor inconvenience and the trails are in just about ideal shape. There was even a full moon this week making for some great night skiing (lunar eclipses aside of course).

I opted for a little roadie out to Murphy’s Point Park to ski their trails on Saturday. I was once a member of the Tay Valley ski club (keepers of the trails) but the couple of years I joined they never had much in the way of snow to actually ski on (a tough reality that probably makes recruiting members a challenge no doubt). This has not been a problem this year. I skied pretty much everything they have to offer all of it in excellent shape. They have some really nice roller coaster terrain – lots of little ups and downs that can be a fun ride if you can keep your momentum going. Much to my surprise – despite it being a beautiful day for skiing – I only came across a half dozen people on the trails – ahhh the country! I’m sure this wasn’t the case on Ridge road!! The grooming conditions were pretty good for this volunteer driven ski area. They even have a short skating loop (I happened to have my skate skis so I gave that a go too – sweet). Made a nice change of scenery for a days ski.


Sunday I decided to brave the Gatineau Park, which I was sure would be pretty crazy with crowds. I drove up to P17 to ski the Wakefield triangle among other things. The lot was pretty much full when I got there at 9:30 but the crowds weren’t a problem at all. The woods just kind of “swallow them up” and I found it to be easy skiing occasionally passing small groups. I used my share of wax today starting with “special blue” wax and working my way through the range (blue, extra blue and finally carrot). As the day progressed, the temperatures climbed and the warm sun glazed up the tracks making for occasional wax stops. In fact I probably could have used another stop for purple (warmer still) by the end of my ski as I had little grip on the last few climbs but I hadn’t carried my full wax box with me (it’s big and metal so it would be awkward to ski with) so I toughed it out. The sun is indeed noticeably gaining strength now. I hate to say it but I fear spring may actually come. I guess it always does but I keep hoping for endless winter. That said, no worries just yet. There are a few good mid winter skiing weeks yet to go and with all the snow we’ve had I’m sure the spring skiing will be good as well.

Loppet Weekend
Well it was Loppet weekend again here in Ottawa.... and of course - for those of you that can't translate - Loppet means "f&**^! cold" weekend. Actually it wasn't as bad as it has been in past years for the newly named (but 30th edition)Gatineau loppet. I made the annual trek up to the park to ski/drive around and catch some of the racing action from various vantage points. Pretty sure this is my 30th year of chasing the ski races so at least I know where I'm going to be in the middle of February.

Saturday was a series of classic races and it dawned with -20C temperatures(not much wind though so that made things feel a bit better). I went to a few spots (mostly driving) to see the classic races. I had scanned the start lists Friday night and was pretty excited to see Lukas Bauers'(CZE) name in the 30k classic race! I suspect (okay I know) it wasn't the Lukas Bauer (current world cup XC ski leader). There was of course a World cup race in Czech the same day. Also, he was listed as starting in the "E" wave here in Ottawa which was probably another clue, but you never know... In the end it was pretty cold standing around waiting for Lukas so I didn't take in the full race. Instead I decided to head off to get in a ski myself. By then (~noon) it had warmed up nicely to -12C under perfect blue skies. I made a tour of some of my favourite backcountry trails enjoying some of the great powder we've had over the last few days.

Sunday was considerably warmer with -11C at the start of the skate race. I made the full tour skiing to the start line and the 5k point before driving and skiing higher up in the park to see the race develop. Ivan Babikov was here and he seemed to control the race pulling a small trio away on the Penguin hill and holding a good gap the rest of the way through. In the end he beat Robin McKeever by a few seconds at the finish line. Being high up in the park I couldn't beat them back to the finish line but I suspect it was a "no mas" sprint.

By lunch time, with a fair amount of skiing under my belt and a Texas low filled with freezing rain descending rapidly on Ottawa I opted to head home and watch the Daytona 500 from the warmth of my living room. We got a fair amount of freezing rain but nothing too severe and (as I write this) its switched to light rain so we shouldn't lose too much snow. Of course this means all the loose fluffy powder we had is now toast. I'll venture up to the Park tomorrow to see what the damage is.

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).

Busy day on Ridge road

Busy day on Ridge road
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Went for a ski in the park today. I was thinking I might head over to Nakkertok to check out the mass start races but the snow was so nice I just kept skiing and eventually it was too late to head over for the races. It was a busy day in the Park today. Tough to get a parking spot but once I got going things thinned out as you skied further from the lots. At one point I was going along Ridge road(pictured). There were predictably a lot of people along there tough easy to ski through the traffic. Nice to see lots of folks out enjoying the warm weather and fresh snow. Today was about -3C with some light snow falling and occasional sunny breaks. The tracks were nicely groomed from Fridays snow. Looks like we're getting some more rain in the middle of the week. We'll see how much we get and to what extent it affects the trails. Fingers crossed.

Groundhog day...

Powering down
Originally uploaded by kenmores

…and I find myself back at Nakkertok for another day of ski racing. Anyone see Bill Murray skiing the course? Actually this was a whole different set of races this week - Eastern Canadian Championships and I was simply a spectator this time. Quite a few more people this week as well on another stunning day. Mostly sunny with –5C weather although we lost the sun later in the day. We got a dump of snow on Friday afternoon/evening (~ 8-10 inches) so that was probably a headache for the groomers. Fortunately Saturday was sprint racing so they only had to have a 1.2k course up to racing snuff. It looked to be in good shape albeit a little soft but nothing that can be done about that with all the fresh snow.

I took the good camera gear and was armed with some ideas of where to stand to get some good shots based on what I saw last week. There was a pretty good field here. The world junior and U23 championships have been postponed (no snow in Poland) so all the best young Canadian skiers came here instead. Made for some good competitions. I got a handful of good shots, learned a few good photo lessons and enjoyed the ski racing - a good day. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay for the main event – the senior men’s and women’s heats – as I wanted to get a ski in myself before an evening appointment but I’m sure they were well fought. Not sure if I’ll go back tomorrow for the distance races. Tomorrow is Super Sunday and that means I have a lot to do before getting ready for some football. If I do take in the action I’ll post a few pics here as well.

P.S. a collection of rodents said 6 more weeks of winter… or an early spring. Depends which rodent you hold to be most trustworthy as a meteorologist.

Gotta believe

Approach to MacKing
Originally uploaded by kenmores

I woke up this morning and said to myself "a man's gotta believe in something so I believe I'll go skiing". The day looked stellar with the temperature drifting up towards zero and sunny skies. There's some "weather" coming over the next few days so it made for an easy decision. I lingered over the morning paper to let the "pre-work ski" crowd get cleared out of the park. Instead I got an alpine start just after lunch (good paper this morning). Once on trail I found the tracks were immaculate with everything I skied on being freshly groomed (is Krusty here?). I'm making a mental note that the groomers schedule has fresh grooming on Monday morning after the weekends hordes of skiers... and so should you... if indeed fresh grooming is what you're looking for. Made a nice long classic ski tour and was just wrapping up when I got a call from a friend. He was busting out of work early and did I want to go for a ski? Yes I did. He was going to skate but as luck would have it I still had my skating skis in the car from the weekend so - after a brief pit stop at the M&R to refuel I met up with him and we skated a nice loop. Fortunately he doesn't ski as much as he used to so I was able to hang on to his pace in spite of my earlier ski. Daylight held for as long as it could (~ 5pm or so) but by the time we were back it was good and dark. Time for a burger and beer.

Hmmm, classic ski + skate ski = duathalon.... perhaps classic ski+skate ski+ burger and beer = triathalon?

XCOttawa race day

Open category start
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Today I headed up to Nakkertok to help out with XCOttawa’s duathalon ski race. The duathalon is an interesting race where skiers race a loop in classic style and then swap skis and race another loop in skating technique. It makes for an interesting race and forces skiers to be strong in (or at least practice) both techniques (and remain calm when they are swapping skis). I was assigned a corner to marshal keeping the skiers on track. For the most part it was a well marked and flagged turn but, as a race director myself, I know its best to have a person actually standing there to make sure the racers make the right turn and don’t get off track (don’t even get me started about athletes missing a turn… I still wake up in cold sweats from that one… argggh). Today the races were run in waves (different age categories) so between races I was able to ski off to other parts of the course and watch some more of the racing action (making it back to my post for the next race of course). My only complaint was that my corner was in the shade (thus a bit chilly). I’ll have to grease some palms to get a sunny corner next time ;-) Actually it was a good day weather wise warming from –12 to –6 with a clear sunny sky.

After the races wound down I took a tour of the skating loop – a fun track. Conditions were really good, as we’ve had a little bit of fresh snow over the last few days. The race trails were in immaculate shape – hats off to the groomer who could teach the Park contractor a thing or two about grooming ski trails. All in all it was a good day and a good chance to see how much Nakkertok has changed since I raced here back in high school. I still recognize a few of the trails but that’s about it.

After the racing I loaded up and drove over to the Park for a twilight ski along the Kennedy road. This trail (53) is rapidly becoming one of my favourite loops. It’s a really nice mix of hills, forest and fields. I got halfway around the loop before total darkness fell. I was hoping for a nice sunset but alas a few clouds rolled in and hid the sunset. With the moon rising a little later in the evening it actually got darker than I expected on the trail but I made it out in one piece. A nice day of skiing (skating at Nakkertok and classic in the park – my own duathalon). More days like this one please.

Weekend skiing

Yellow Tape
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Got in some good skiing this weekend. I did a large loop up near Lac Phillipe on Saturday under a mixed bag of weather. It snowed hard, was gray, had some sunny breaks and a few patches of blue sky before snowing some more and then closed with a nice sunset – all at ~ -5C. The trails had a few interesting water hazards along the way (pictured) and a few interesting bumps where perhaps water once was. Still plenty of signs of the big thaw. Hopefully more snow and colder weather will cure that.

Sunday I awoke to much colder temperatures. First thing in the morning it was –20C and I was off to help out with the Richmond road races (5 and 10k runs). I thought it would be pretty frigid but with no wind it was actually quite a pleasant morning (got a free toque out of the deal so you can’t beat that!). With positive energy from the runners I raced home, had a quick lunch and headed up to the Park… but the wind had kicked up so it was pretty frigid after all. As luck would have it I forgot my water bottle (Freudian oversight?) so I made a relatively short loop and raced home to football, a fire and some hot food.

Unfortunately the Park seems to be falling back to poorly groomed trails again. The Parkways and “priority 1” trails are immaculately groomed (showing the new contractor knows how to “renovate” the icy trails after the January thaw) but anything off the beaten path hasn’t been touched since the big thaw – and they’re still recommending these trails on the website. The colder temperatures returned 10 days ago – seems like enough time to do the 1st priority trails and then move on to some of the secondary ones. I find that somewhat disappointing. It was still great to be out but I’m missing Lafleur more and more these days. (Will Krusty be here?)

Post-January thaw skiing

Was it something I said?
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Colder temperatures have prevailed and winter is back "on". As is typical of the snow after a big thaw things were pretty icy. I chose to skate over the weekend as I assumed the trails would be pretty slick. The groomers had rolled over the main trails crunching up the ice and giving a nice surface to ski but the base is solid and icy. Made for some good fast skating. Only the main trail network has been worked on so more snow is required before the smaller trails will be skiable. Up near the lookouts the rains actually washed away most of the snow and there is just asphalt remaining... with a little snow along the shoulders. It was here that I discovered the crust cruising was pretty good. Getting out of the track and up onto the smooth snow (ice?) banks one can ski pretty well - who needs groomers! Actually it would be pretty tough to control the speed on a downhill so this was only good for flatter stretches.

I didn't take too many pictures this weekend but the weather was actually beautiful. I think this was the first sunny weather since Christmas day. The temperatures hovvered just a few degrees below zero. Strangely the trails weren't too busy but I guess most people must have expected icy conditions and stayed home. We're supposed to get some more snow this week so hopefully this will draw people back to the trails (but not too many - I need a parking spot!)

Things were pretty hectic at the birdfeeders though. The birds and squirrels are still fighting over the seeds. No manners at all for this lot.

An extra ski.

the T... I think
Originally uploaded by kenmores

I got a bonus this morning. When I got to work - they were closed. Seems a power sub-station fire had knocked out the power to the whole campus - so they sent us home. After a long day of skiing on Saturday, and another long ski on Sunday.... I opted to go skiing today.

The January thaw started in earnest on Sunday and was still with us today. Temp's in the +5C range and occasional light rain. There was also a heavy fog throughout the region. The fog made for errie conditions and occasional scrambles to get back to the right hand side of the trail as skiers periodically came lofting out of the fog towards me. The trails have held up nicely so far. I skated on Sunday on a solid track.

Today things were a little squishy but still pretty good. I broke out the new classic waxless skis that I bought this past summer. I fully intended to use them on warm March and April days when the slushy snow called for a gooey klister wax (something I prefer to avoid)... but when the January "thaws" hit, why let these skis go to waste. They performed flawlessly giving me great grip and I'd waxed them with a yellow glide so they slide really well too.

Tonight it is raining... hard. Rain called for Tuesday to. Sometime Wednesday or Thursday the temp should drop again to more winter like conditions... and I'm sure there will still be some snow around at that point.

The big traverse - a failed effort

Along the Pine road
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Today I decided to try one of the big circle routes in the Gatineau Park.... but didn't totally succeed. The weather was near perfect after a cold snap we had earlier in the week. Today it was -5 when I started an it climbed to about 0 C when I finished. The snow (and grooming) were perfect. Tomorrow (and for the next few days) we'll be into a January thaw with double digit temps and rain so conditions are about to change. With the weather looming the crowds were certainly out in force this morning trying to get a ski in while the conditions were still good.

My route today started at P11 and went out behind Meech Lake before cutting over to Pine road and the trail to Lac Phillipe. From there it was up to Lusk Lake. The plan was to take the "lost and abandoned" trail 10 which climbs up to Ridge road from Lusk lake and then loop back along Ridge returning to P11 for a great circuit. Unfortunately it didn't quite go as planned. The trail 10 isn't maintained by the NCC anymore but it does still get skied in by those who remember it - backcountry conditions only. Today the snow was deep and soft - I guess not too many have gone this way this year. My poles - clearly designed for track skiing kept sinking deep into the soft snow making for difficult climbing. Finally - about a km up the traverse trail one pole slipped beneath the surface and broke the tip clean off. With a few more km of climbing before reaching Ridge road I had to make the tough decision to turn back and go home the way I came... with one pole. In fact I was probably ~ 1/2 way around the circuit but the long stretch of backcountry trail (uphill all the way) in front of me would have been a tough slog with only one pole so I opted for the easier route back to the groomed trails. So it goes. There'll be other chances to ski through here yet this winter so I'll be back for sure. The rest of the ski became a great "legs only" workout so not all was lost. Even with one pole it was still a great day to be out.... and I saw lots and lots... and lots of people out skiing who would surely agree with me.

New Years in Ottawa

Bridge "waterfall"
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Took in the New Years' Eve fireworks show tonight. There was an early show - (1857 hours) to celebrate Ottawa's selection as the capital. It was a decent show with all the explosions, cascades, precussion shots etc. that one hopes for in a fireworks display. I may run back for the midnight show... Just a quick post to wish all a Happy New Year.

Christmas ski

Kennedy Road
Originally uploaded by kenmores

I got an excellent ski in on Christmas morning. I went up to the Wakefield trailhead and looped around in the northern part of the park. The NCC has reopened the Kennedy road to skiers after closing it for snowmobiles for the last few years so I went to reacquaint myself with this trail. I looped around to the Lac Phillipe gate and then toured out to Taylor Lake and finally up to Herridge/Healey lodges before heading back to the car. Everything was freshly groomed so conditions were really good. In fact I perhaps lucked out a little bit as - once I got to Herridge lodge - the rest of Pine road connecting the southern part of the park had not been groomed as yet. I guess the Wakefield crews turned around there and went home at that point. There was one open "water hazard" right near the parking lot where the past weekends rain had ponded and not frozen over but it was easily avoided. For the most part I had the trails to myself seeing only 5 or 6 people all day. There were other cars in the lots tho’ and the lodges were pretty busy with skiers having a Christmas brunch. All in all a great ski out - and the sun shone the whole time I was out with clouds rolling in only as I got back to the car.

Almost Christmas

Christmas lights
Originally uploaded by kenmores

Been skiing a lot over the last week since the big storm. The conditions and tracks have been really good but for the most part the days have been dull grey and not particularly conducive(inspiring?) to picture taking. Sunday we got a lot of rain (a whole lot) so I stayed home. It looked a little too perfect for getting hypothermia with cold rain falling. In the evening we got a flash freeze so I ventured out in the afternoon today to see what the trails would be like. The sun was even out this morning but by the time I got out to the trails it had clouded over and started to snow again. The trails weren’t in bad shape (after the rain and freeze) but were nothing spectacular. I chose to skate as I expected the tracks to be hard and icy – and they were. The old grooming contractor often worked magic in prepping the trails after challenging weather to turn them into extraordinary tracks… the new contractor…ummm, not so much… but it was okay and they've improved a lot lately so I'm not complaining. I’m hopeful that tomorrow I’ll be able to get a good Christmas ski in the morning. With luck I can get up there before the crowds arrive with their new skis, new mitts, new toques etc. (not that I’m averse to new gear… hoping for a little of that myself) At any rate tomorrow should be good - the sun is even reported to make a brief appearance. Haven’t seen the sun in a while so it will be good to be confirm that it actually still exists.

When two weather systems fight...

stormy
Originally uploaded by kenmores

We got a little more snow on Sunday… then we got a little more, followed by some snowfall and then a bit of snow. Close to 40cm fell in all and it made for some challenging driving. Actually I drove up to the Park on Sunday morning and it wasn’t too bad at that time but coming home after my ski was a challenge. The storm really started to dump snow while I was out and the plows couldn’t keep up. In several places I faced white out conditions but luckily there wasn’t much traffic on the roads. I skied fpor a couple of hours in the storm making a loop in the lower half of the park. NO I wasn’t the only one out there. I actually met lots of people on the trail. If I could see under their masks, scarves and/or balaclavas I’m sure they were smiling also. It’s shaping up to be a great ski winter. I also met the grooming vehicle. This is the second time I’ve met them in the middle of the snowstorm. Seems strange to me that they wouldn’t wait (and save gas) until the storm stopped dumping snow before heading out to work the trails…. but I suppose they’re the experts (?).

The temperature was pretty cold (-13C and windy) but I stuck to the trees for the most part so it wasn’t too bad. These temperature changes are really putting a stress on my old waxing iron. I use a “Singer – no steam” iron to work my skis. It’s an old family iron that I “borrowed” many years ago. Yes I have been forced to apologise (many times) for what happened to Dad’s shirts after I borrowed it but I didn’t think wax would STAY on the iron…. And besides shiny (waxy?) shirts were briefly in style in the 90’s so maybe I did him a favour. At any rate the old iron is starting to show its age. Time to get a professional grade iron for the wax room.

A Friday ski

Making our way along
Originally uploaded by kenmores

I took Friday off and went for a ski with Mike and Bryan. It being Bryans birthday, his Dad came to town and joined us for the trip. We skied up to the Lusk Lake cabin, had a good birthday lunch and then headed around Taylor Lake. It made for a good ski and the conditions were really good with a few inches of fresh powder down on a solid base. This made for a good chance to spot (and guess at) lots of animal tracks in the fresh snow.

It was an interesting day weather wise. Cold then warm then cold again, calm then windy, light snow then blizzardy then clear... we pretty much had a bit of everything. Never was the weather a real issue though and a good time was had by all.

There probably wasn't enough fresh snow to justify new grooming but it was interesting to see that the snowshoe trail had been freshly rolled while the ski trail was untouched. There were a few other strange grooming "issues" that I spotted under the fresh snow but I am firm in my resolve. Just like Bart Simpson at Camp Krusty - "Krusty will be here!!" - I'm convinced the issues will be corrected. One lady we met was clearly not of the same mindset (and not too timid to voice her opinion to complete strangers) - each to their own. In the meantime I'm really happy to be skiing on December 14th - good grooming or otherwise. Besides a quick pitstop for a poutine on the way home improves anyone's mood.

What a difference a day makes

freighter
Originally uploaded by kenmores

A good nights rest and lots of carbs and I was able to erase Saturdays miserable effort off the books. The skiing went from "wondering if it would ever end" (Sat.) to "wishing it would never end" (Sun.). The temperature had dropped overnight and the clouds rolled over so it wasn't as nice a day but I felt 100% better. Again there were lots of people on the trails today.

I skied up Fortune and out Burma before turning out towards the firetower. Finally I turned back and did an extra loop through the Fortune valley. The tracks everywhere were in great shape. This is probably the earliest I've skied on Burma... ever. Its often late into January before we get enough snowcover to ski it. There were a few thin spots here and there that the grooming machines likely churned up but nothing that couldn't easily be avoided. Ridge was nicely set and they've even taken a stab at rolling some of the black trails so things are looking up. Hopefully I can avoid the mistakes of Saturday (if I can figure out what they were) and keep rolling through the winter.

One of those days...

Wattsford Lookout
Originally uploaded by kenmores

I went out and did a long ski today. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the skis were fast, the snow was good.... and I felt like I was made of lead. None of my muscles showed the slightest interest in forward motion from the moment I clipped into my skis. No amount of coaxing could get them into action. I tried to do a bit of a warm up to see if I'd loosen up and feel better - no dice. In fact, by the time I realized it wasn't going to go well I was commited to a long loop. Shorter(almost) to go forward then back. So the slog was on. One of those days I suppose.

It was a truly beautiful day (this didn't cheer me up ;-) and there were lots of people out and about enjoying the fresh snow. The tracks were reasonably groomed with just a little fresh snow from last night on top of the groomed track. Speaking of(the track), I'm hearing grumblings from various sources that the new contractor isn't providing good grooming - either in a timely fashion or in terms of quality. I think folks were a little spoiled with the past years superlative grooming by Lafleur. I agree that things have been a little "off" but remain confident that the new contractor will pull things together. They got a lot of snow much earlier than expected and I'm sure they are working out some of the bugs in the system. I give them a solid "B" for the work they've done so far. Room to improve - which can also be said for my ski today. I'm sure a big bowl of pasta and a good nights rest will improve things on the trails tomorrow.

Snow Day

Feeder
Originally uploaded by kenmores

I can't remember such a big storm... and it coincided with my day off so I took full advantage. Around 40cm will have fallen over the last 24 hours. It was surprisingly cold for a snowstorm as well but this would not deter me. Took some wider skis up to the park and explored a variety of trails. Some had been rolled, some had been groomed and some hadn't seen action since last spring. I could hear the grooming tractors through the woods working the fresh snow but it must have been a frustrating job for them. At one point I skied on a beautifully groomed section of Parkway which was rapidly filling with snow - so I guess I got first - and only - tracks through there. In fact - while I did see a fair number of tracks in the fresh snow at various points in the day - I only saw 1 other actual skier. The parking lots were also pretty empty so I guess people were hunkered down waiting for the storm to pass before heading up to ski.... their loss.

Stopped into Keogan shelter for a little bit. Got a fire going and watched the birds at the feeder. It was pretty savage at the feeder as hordes of birds were scrambling for the last seeds as the snowstorm raged. Someone should put up a sign to let them know the feeder will be refilled so they don't have to get so aggressive as the seed supply drops. I suppose - with all the different kinds of birds (and squirrels) -it would be tough to pick the appropriate language to use on the sign to convey the message.

Renaud shelter

Renaud shelter
Originally uploaded by kenmores

I went skiing up at Lac Phillippe on Saturday. It was pretty cool (-15C). Worse when you got your nose into the wind but for the most part quite enjoyable. Much to my surprise there weren't too many others out and about - maybe 6 cars in the parking lot. I suppose all the early season skiers head to the more southern parking lots closer to the city. I stuck to the groomed trails which was pretty much the campground roads. Mostly good coverage although It was a little thin in a few spots but I still managed to get ~20k in. Also stopped in to the Renaud shelter at one point. The sight of smoke coming from the chimney is always welcome on a frosty day... too tempting to ski past.

I did run across two guys who were walking in to winter camp. They appeared to have enough gear to hunker down for the rest of the winter in the snow and were struggling to get their heavy sleds up the hills. As I doubled back past the campsite later I could hear their happy voices through the trees so I assume they made it in without incident.

Sunday I skied closer to town - and found more skiers out and about. Still great conditions but it was a bit of a gray day and still quite cold. Lots of snow predicted for tonight so tomorrow could be a big powder day.....